Hunters

I'm a horror genre freak...so I think reviews for this genre should be done by its fans to give an unbiased opinion. Disclaimer at start of film warned us of extreme, disturbing images and they weren't joking. Pretty much non-stop torture, murder, rape, and gore galore. You definitely haven't seen any of this content in a horror flick before. Plot is non-existent and the female lead Linnea Quigley is a bad actress...despite being an 80s scream queen. Gotta say this one was too brutal for me to handle.

The hunt for obscure independent horror will sometimes find a diamond in the rough. This was not one of them. A little false hope was brought on by Linnea Quigley and Ellie Church in cast credits. Something tells me they were duped into doing this one.. because it's kind of a no budget stinker. Is it gritty and explicit? Sure.. and most will find it a little much. For me, it just didn't work. It was painful to watch, but not in a "I have to look" good way. The switching back and forth between color and B&W was obnoxious, as was the fragmented "plot" technique. There was an opportunity to do this with style or elements that matched grit with some actual talent. It just didn't come together that way in my opinion. I appreciate the daring and unapologetic nature, but because of the way this was just sort of clipped together with (way overdone) home video simulation (which is really just an excuse for zero budget camera work), it just seemed like some experimental video project. The whole was not good enough for a few good scenes.

A brutal film where two brothers throw on ski masks and proceed to shoot snuff movies. They target campers and anyone else they happen upon. A group of people making a film themselves head to the woods not knowing what's in store for them.

This was pretty disturbing so it won't be for everybody. They always find more depraved things for their victims to do for their film, each time more vile. Linnea Quigley had a role as a victim taken with her daughter. I thought it was odd for her to be in this as she usually doesn't do dark ones like this and she does have to do unconventional things. Ellie Church appears as another victim who I got to meet at Shock Stock one year.

It will freak you out and have you wincing in disgust that's for sure. The film is half found footage mixed with regular footage. It does have that grainy 8MM look giving it a real snuff look. They go all out on the gore making it realistic as possible. There is abundant nudity as well (Usually really bloody nudity). If you got a strong stomach check this one out. Not a very good family movie.

Whereas The Cemetery was a bit of a letdown for me, I absolutely loved The Burnt House. What an exquisite piece of night that film was! From the first frame I was entranced by the filthy disharmony that was being vomited from the screen, every single frame voiced wrongness, the unholy atmosphere being conveyed in that film was what I consider the epitome of horror, a nightmarish sense of dread. Horror done the right way!

While Hunters is a different kind of beast, I am glad to say that I loved this as well. This time around it's centered around two brothers who find delight in the offing of man while at the same time filming their ravenous deeds. It has to be said, contrary to the warning stating that what you are about to see is ultra-violent, it's certainly not the most extreme film I've seen regarding acts of the unspeakable. It's most certainly a cruel and callous piece of work and the violence and murder on display is certainly up there on the extremity scale, but not to such a degree that it merits a warning.

That being said, I think the essential element here is the life-denying atmosphere, the darkness that hangs over every frame, and Ahlbrandt certainly is one director who has mastered the art of atmosphere, sadly a rather rare trait in this day and age of horror-poverty and popcorn-scares. Any idiot with a bit of cash and a working knowledge of how to make blood and prosthetic limbs can always gather a few friends, pick up a camera and make an "extreme" film, not that hard. Just look at the sorry state of horror these days. But to actually convey through the visual medium a truly horrific atmosphere, to leave an emotional impact, you have to have a vision, a vision obviously born of a profound insight into the darkness in our hearts. Hunters has my warmest recommendations! I wish the director good luck in the future, looking forward to his next piece of filth!