War Hunt

War Hunt explores the possibility that a decorated and successful combat soldier can also be a dangerous psychotic killer.

The film is set during the last days of the Korean War. Endore (John Saxon) conducts voluntarily patrols to Chinese outposts, and is valued by his commanding officer. The other platoon members appreciate Endores courage and toughness under fire, and probably love the fact his solitary patrols keep them safe in their own lines. But Endore has his own personal motives for his nocturnal sojourns. He gets to kill people, and he probably enjoys it. As a matter of fact, he most likely is a serial killer. No doubt he is a social outcast in civilian life and would be even in the peacetime army. In any other environment, hed wind up in a prison or mental hospital. Luckily (for him) the Korean battlefront is his element.

John Saxon plays Endore to frightening perfection. Blank, emotionless facial expression. Psychotic stare, just a hint of malevolent violence seething beneath his limited social skills. In the films scariest scene, Endore knifes a Chinese soldier to death unnecessarily, then dances around the body. A ritualized killing. Endore is one scary stranger. Id stay away from him, so would you. Hes the guy we read about in the papers, maybe even joke about nervously.

This crazy mans nemesis arrives in the form of Roy Loomis, a young and frightened recruit. He is shocked and disgusted by Endores actions, but is rebuffed by his CO and squadmates. Loomis isn't worth anything. It's Endore who is valuable, who can kill, who can do the dirty work. Loomis is annoyingly innocent however, and you know there's going to be a big confrontation coming up.

The confrontation arrives in the form of a cease fire.The Korean War is ending, but has Endores war just begun? Check it out and see. Fast moving, suspenseful, frightening. Best line: Endore(explaining how he can sneak up on the enemy without being seen) "Because I'm invisible---the truth blinds you."

Dark, atmospheric, stylish film telling the story of combat as seen through the eyes of a newcomer, baby-faced Robert Redford, at a wartime trench camp in Korea, 1953. The story basically follows this man's experiences dealing with the others in their little platoon barracks - particularly a very odd man (played by John Saxon) who first appears on screen in a most memorable style - his mud-covered face suddenly appearing in close-up, completely filling the screen. This man likes to go out alone at night with his face darkened, on his own private "war hunt" as he knifes to death Koreans hiding in trench holes. This man's sidekick at camp is a young, orphaned Korean boy who seems to worship the older man. At one point, we watch Redford's character as he faces great fear during his first experience in combat; he also desires to help the young boy and faces many confrontations with the "war hunter"/mud man.

This is a very unusual film - powerful, gripping and interesting, the story moved along via voice-over narration by Redford as his character relates his experiences. The film features excellent, thoughtful camera-work including many facial close-ups, and many dark, night-time scenes that gives a haunting feeling to the action. The background music reminded me in style of that often heard during "Twilight Zone" or even "Star Trek" episodes - a sort of 60s sci-fi feeling to it, in a way. The film opens and closes with a nicely done, sentimental chorus of Korean children. An excellent film all around.

If memory serves, the Sanders brothers came out of the UCLA film program at a time when film schools were still forming and not yet the minor leagues of movie-making. The brothers made their mark with a prize-winning amateur production entitled Time Out of War, about quiet moments during the Civil War. I may be wrong about details, but I believe the thrust is accurate-- I wish IMDb's profile of Terry and Denis were more complete than the meagre data provided.

Anyway, my point is that this was a non-studio production of stark originality at a time when war was still being celebrated by a WWII-besotted studio industry. War Hunt is not exactly an anti-war film on the order of a Paths of Glory or Attack-- after all, Endore's scary psychopath can be shrugged off as a wild exception to the average GI. What the movie does suggest is that a deranged mind like Endore's can prove highly useful in wartime, even get a medal slapped on his chest for the tactical value his obsession with killing provides (on a more strategic scale, consider the intellectual value of the equally deranged Dr.Strangelove).

Because of his battlefield information, Endore is allowed to fight his own war, by his own rules, free from the restrictions placed on normal soldiers, while command looks the other way. In short, Endore's particular form of psychosis finds a home in combat where it not only thrives, but also proves of real instrumental value to the higher-ups. In peacetime, he would get a strait-jacket; in wartime, he gets a commendation. Whether his psychopathic actions also promote a greater good amounts to an unspoken ethical dilemma not taken up by the picture-- and is likely why the script fudges the dilemma by having his obsession threaten the very truce itself. (An unlikely consequence since truces are notoriously slow to take hold, anyway.)

The movie itself is no unmixed triumph. There's no motivation for Loomis' standing up to Endore over the Korean boy, unless we extrapolate some symbolism about youth representing the future and Loomis standing for American idealism. In fact, the film's very last line supports some such surmise. Moreover, John Saxon's Endore is truly frightening-- until he opens his mouth. I don't know whether it's the uninspired lines given him or Saxon's rather pedestrian delivery, but neither measures up to Saxon's coldly menacing presence nor the character's bold concept. Then too, the scene with battalion command fails because no one, including Saxon, has a good grasp of how a unique character like Endore should handle it. (And on a more minor note: How could he possibly get through Basic Training since he doesn't just resist authority, he can't even comprehend it!-- as the battalion command scene shows.)

On the plus side stands Redford's nicely understated Loomis, whose character wisely resists heroic proportions. Charles Aidman too, comes across intelligently as a weary and beleaguered company commander willing to bend the rules for tactical advantage. At the same time, as others point out, the photography is appropriately grainy and gritty, blending well with the occasional stock footage. But most of all, there remains that frighteningly eerie glimpse of Endore's demonic little dance around his latest slashed throat. What mysterious god of madness is he invoking somewhere inside that dark pool that is his psyche. And what strange secrets has he imparted to the boy to carry into the future. I've seen nothing like this peculiar ritual before or since, and it is truly more unsettling than the gallons of fake blood spilled by contemporary horror-fests.

Judging from the Sanders' profile, it looks like their careers petered out on television. What a disappointment after such a promising beginning. There must be some inside story here that I wish I knew. Be that as it may, War Hunt remains truly one-of-a-kind, a really scary glimpse of a mysteriously psychotic figure freed up by the dogs of war.

This character study remains one of the best intimate views of conflict ever filmed, and features Robert Redford's first film appearance. There's also a major appearance by actor Sydney Pollack, before he made is mark as a major director. It's starkly made, grim, and engaging, without any of the jingoism and/or sentimentality applied to most older and recent Hollywood product. The moody score was provided by jazz composer Bud Shank. Nice.

This has got to be one of the least expensive movies ever made outside the Roger Corman organization, shot on a bare lot in a few weeks. Redford (not yet a heart throb) plays Loomis, newly assigned to an infantry company under the command of a curiously unassertive captain who shows an especially protective attitude toward John Saxon's enlisted man. No homosexuality is implied on the part of the captain. He seems more fearful of Saxon than attracted to him, and he depends on the information Saxon brings back from his nightly solo patrols behind the Chinese lines. The reason for the diffidence shown Saxon by the captain, and by all other members of the company, becomes clear when we see him in action at night, his face painted a ghastly black, slitting throats and doing a little war dance around the bodies. Killing is what Saxon does. It's practically ALL he does. He sleeps while the other grunts work, and whistles loudly and heedlessly while others sleep and he cleans his weapons. Except when murdering or teaching his young Korean orphan friend how to play the game, he maintains a vacant expression, doesn't remember to call officers "Sir," and is convinced with absolute certainty that he's doing what he does flawlessly. While being debriefed after a night patrol in which he discovered a heretofor unknown Chinese listening post ("One of them was asleep," he comments smoothly) the captain asks him if, you know, well, this is kinda important and, does he think he maybe should go back and make sure his information is accurate. And Saxon looks up from his coffee blankly and asks, "What for?" Saxon is quite good, actually. Redford hadn't yet got control of his minimalist style. The two of them represent sets of entirely different values: Saxon, who is driven by the same demons that move any ordinary serial killer; and Redford, whose convictions are bourgeoise. The focus of their conflict is the Korean orphan. Redford wants to put him into an orphanage where they will at least feed and clothe him and teach him how to play baseball instead of how to murder people. He tells Saxon this and threatens to take the matter to higher authority, generating from Saxon a withering stare filled with hellish and unfathomable emotions because, aside from serial killing, the Korean boy is the only meaningful thing in Saxon's life. It ends as you'd expect. Saxon would never have made it in civvy street anway. This is the trouble not only with efficient and committed killers like Saxon (and like Steve McQueen in "Hell is for Heroes," as another commentor pointed out) but with many military heroes, alas. So many of them seem prompted to extraordinary things without being too clear about whether their circumstances are extraordinary or otherwise. Francis Ford Coppola was a driver on one of the army trucks in this movie.