The Hunting Party

One of those "lost" films that only shows up on cable once in a while, THE HUNTING PARTY is a blood soaked western that is an obvious response to Sam Peckinpah's THE WILD BUNCH. Made in 1971 by Don Medford and starring a young Candice Bergen, a vicious Gene Hackman, and Oliver Reed with an American accent. This is certainly one of the most violent westerns ever made with slo-mo gunshot wounds and more agony and gore than most horror films. Nihilistic and extreme without hope or redemption. The soundtrack is excellent as well as the photography and editing. The Hunting Party will hopefully be rediscovered on home video soon, or else make sure you catch it on FLIX this month!

Others see this film as bland or metaphorical. I saw it after considerable reading about the West as it truly was, not as a Zane Grey work of fiction or morality play. What I saw in this film was a fictional story powerfully based on accurate historical fact. Many of those facts are not pleasant or moral and violence is as much a part of this Western movie as it is of most others. What is unique here is the accurate inclusion of the actual methods and attitudes surrounding that violence. The Lone Ranger it is not. Neither is it metaphorical. My interest in, and modest knowledge of, the methods and technology of that time led me to be strongly involved when watching this movie. Some of the scenes brought out a strong feeling of dread: dreamlike realism. In that way, it is, in my mind, one of the most honest Westerns of all time.

Hunting Party, is violent and bloody. Just like most Westerns. I really like Oliver Reed in this film. He is great as the rough and tumble cowboy who kidnaps the woman of the richest man in the territory. Best part is his tenderness. She never had someone treat her tenderly, and love her. Did not care for Candice Bergen's acting. She was just was not believable in the part. She walked through the film with her mouth gaping open. But the film was worth seeing, I watched it over about 3 times, mainly because of Oliver Reed. Gene Hackman played his part well of a controlling and manipulating husband. You will see many character actors who had bit parts who became bigger actors in the present. All in all it is a must see film.

Why this film is still so obscure and unknown goes beyond my – admittedly limited – comprehension. It has a good plot, albeit obviously a response to "The Wild Bunch" and basically just another (western) interpretation of the legendary classic "The Most Dangerous Game", the cast is excellent with both Gene Hackman and Oliver Reed in great shape and there's plenty of rough and gritty violence. The filming locations are exquisite and – possibly to further cash in on the success of Italian Spaghetti westerns – the producers even hired and Italian composer. Riz Ortolani's music is definitely one of the best elements about the film. Gene Hackman was never as vicious as here in this movie, portraying Brandt Ruger; a rich, obnoxious and egocentric bank owner who enjoys throwing hunting parties for his selected circle of equally depraved and wealthy friends. When a posse of bandits, led by the ever handsome Oliver Reed, kidnaps his wife, Brandt alters the route of their planned hunting trip and goes after them. Not so much because he loves his wife (played by the ravishing Candice Bergen), as he actually neglects and abuses her all the time, but because he's Brandt Ruger and nobody is supposed to touch what belongs to him. Ruger gets crazier and more determined to raise a bloodbath with each minute that passes, whilst his wife and her abductor fall in love. Hackman's character is truly the nastiest and most hateful type of villain there is: relentless, mad and unpredictable, but also cowardly as he continuously avoids confrontation with his opponents and shoots them from a safe distance with his technically advanced riffle. "The Hunting Party" is slightly overlong and contains a handful of tedious sequences, notably the romantic parts and the whole sub plot revolving on Melissa learning her kidnapper how to read. Still, there's always some type of ominous atmosphere, since you expect Gene and his docile accomplices to pop up out of nowhere at any given moment. The climax is very powerful, haunting and even quite depressing. The action is of course rather monotonous, since we exclusively witness people getting shot, but the images of cowboys dying in slow motion (and bathing in blood) are gritty and exploitative. The three leads are amazing and "The Hunting Party" comes with my highest possible recommendation if it were only for witnessing the final showdown between Reed and Hackman, two of the greatest actors that ever lived.

Advertisements for "The Hunting Party" misleadingly portrayed the scenario as a western riff on the old "Most Dangerous Game" ploy: man hunting man for sport. Instead, this William Norton-Gilbert Alexander-Lou Morheim script is an old-fashioned revenge tale studded with new-fangled blood and sex. Gene Hackman plays land baron Brandt Ruger, an amoral sadist living in the rural town that bears his surname, who leads a somewhat-leery pack of well-wrought gentleman friends on a hunt to kill the gunslingers responsible for kidnapping his wife (he also appears to want his wife killed as well, since she's obviously been raped and now may be carrying a bastard child!). Taking his cue from Sam Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch", director Don Medford takes great delight in blasting his supporting cast away to Kingdom Come in a hail of gunfire, blood-packs spurting in slow motion. Medford hasn't much originality (or versatility), and several of his scenes are downright sloppy. However, Ruger's unmitigated relish for treating humans as cattle allows Hackman to revel in some mangy, dastardly deeds--he's a marvelous villain. As the head of the kidnappers, Oliver Reed disguises his British accent fairly well and is surprisingly tender with captive Candice Bergen (as sort of a Sweet Hostage). Opening scene juxtaposing the knifing of a cow with Hackman forcing himself on his wife in the bedroom is heavy-handed at best, distasteful at worst. But the picture improves from there and gives us a brutal, fairly realistic look at the lawless West. Very good performances from all three stars, excellent work as well from Mitchell Ryan as Reed's faithful friend Doc. **1/2 from ****