The Hunt

Two hunters and a young boy head into the woods to film a deer hunting video. But they enter private property and suddenly find themselves in a mess way beyond their control. Also, the story of a search party piecing together the whereabouts of the missing...

Director Fritz Kiersch (whose only claim to fame is "Children of the Corn") brings us this one. Yeah, I hadn't heard of him, either. And after people see this film, they most likely still won't bother to give him the time of day. Sorry, Fritz. Let's run down the list of problems with this film.

The cover has two problems, which is a bad way to judge a film, but think of it like this: if you care enough about your film, shouldn't you make it appealing? First we have a tagline that tells us "The hunters become the hunted", which is just about he most overused and weak excuse imaginable. I hope that guy didn't get paid. Next, they try to sell the film by calling it "Blair Witch Project meets Predator". I'm sorry, that doesn't make me interested at all.

They were right about the Blair Witch Project part, though, as much of the film is shown through the camera of one of the hunters. (If you know anything about cameras, though, look at the model he is using and look at the film quality -- clearly this is not actual footage.) This gimmick is nothing special, and the fact they already told us it was like the "Blair Witch Project" makes it seem somewhat derivative.

We have a kid who is a horrible plot device and a horrible actor. Maybe he needed to be written out, or maybe they needed a different kid. I don't know. But this boy, who the hunters keep accurately calling "wimp", doesn't really add anything to the film. He could add some family tension (his parents are divorced), but they don't really touch on that.

The biggest ripoff of all is when they offer "the twist". You know I can't say what it is, but I'll tell you this: take two guesses and one of the two will be correct. Sadly, the one that's far less interesting is the one they decided to go with.

The film isn't a complete waste of time, though how exciting is a movie with a couple guys walking through the woods? Obviously the body count can't exceed three, and the conversation is kind of limited when you have to talk about deer and trees. As with other slow movies, I would have suggested this had been trimmed into a one-hour Masters of Horror type episode. Except, of course, there's no nudity or gore and there was already a (better) episode about deer. This still would have been weak.

You might have guessed, I'm not giving this one my seal of approval. Compared to the other films I watched this past week ("Evil Ed", "Henry", "2001 Maniacs" and "High Tension") "The Hunt" is little more than pond scum.... or deer droppings. Look for something else.

Horrible acting

Plot is lazy and confused

Characters are annoying

Meh.

'The Hunt' is an interesting film for me. I remember the first time I watched it I was really quite taken with it. I know it's hardly 'fast-paced' and definitely more of a 'slow-burner,' but the final third was pretty terrifying. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I bought it.

A couple of years later, I re-watched it and kind of wondered what I saw in it. I've seen a few other reviews that describe it as 'Blair Witch with aliens' and that's pretty apt. It's about two hunters who take one of their step-sons into the forest in order to film a documentary on 'bow hunting.' Granted it's not all filmed from a 'POV perspective,' but there's enough first-person footage of people running through the woods and talking straight into camera to draw similarities.

I've watched it three times now and each time the only thing I'm left with is the feeling that I must have been in one hell of a forgiving mood on the initial viewing. I'm not saying it's terrible. It's okay, but no more than that. The acting isn't bad, but it has a really cheap feel - like a 'made-for-TV' movie. Even the aliens - when you finally see them - look like they've been animated on a Playstation 2. Plus don't expect many kills, or even gore on the few deaths you get.

I think if the film truly has a 'weak spot' it's the child actor who plays the little boy. I don't want to come down too hard on him as, due to his age, has hardly had many years of 'treading the boards' to perfect his acting talent. He just comes across a bit too weedy to really have much audience support.

Due to the film-makers deciding to tell the story as a kind of 'long flashback,' which is loosely interspersed with what is happening in the present, it does tend to rob the film of any tension as you kind of know what's happened and nothing really comes as that much of a surprise.

Overall, 'The Hunt' isn't an awful film, it's just so mediocre that you've seen a load of better horror/sci-fi films and this one is pretty forgettable (unless you're me, clearly).

Saw a screening of this movie in Oklahoma City. Loved it! Very well done. All the main actors were wonderful. The little boy did a great job, too. The effects are incredible and the cinematography and style of the whole film really works well. Some funny parts, too. I liked the guy in the restaurant scenes who was talking about squirrel hunting. Funny character! The plot of the film is creepy and it really makes you wonder what's out there. You keep thinking the whole time what's gonna happen next. I about jumped out of my seat a couple times. Glad it was showing in Oklahoma City. Hope this will be available for DVD rental/purchase. A good, suspenseful thriller!

I saw this film at the Chicago Horror Film Festival and I must say that it had a surprise ending that you just don't see coming. The acting in it is also very good, surprising to see in many Independent films that you see. Plus the effects were done very well. I can't believe this one didn't win best Effects at the festival.

I did see that it did win Best Actor which is good. Robert Rusler (Vamp) did a great job in this film. His character was just so far out there and fun to watch. The kid also did a great job in the film.

The film is a little confusing at first, with all the cutting in of different kinds of footage, but once the film gets moving, it stays flowing at a pretty smooth pace.