The Hunt

I know that none of the bad reviewers even watched this movie. It's not really a left or right movie but it shows how bad both of those sides are and the hero actually seems to be like most of us, somewhere in the middle. I hope people will give it a watch before passing judgment on it.

If there's one horror/thriller premise that already got turned into plenty of movies, it's the "hunting humans for fun/sports" idea. There are far too many titles to list, but some of my personal favorites include the 1932 original "The Most Dangerous Game", but also "Blood Camp Thatcher", "Deadly Prey", "The Woman Hunt" and "Surviving the Game". There's always room for anther favorite, though. In fact, there's even room for another twenty favorites, as long as they deliver suspense, gore, fresh & inventive killings and insane characters. Craig Zobel's "The Hunt" is definitely a new favorite!

This film's strongest assets are the eccentric but strong female lead, versus the overall "worthlessness" of the rest of the characters. By this I mean that literally everyone can die at any given moment - and many of them will - regardless of how significant or insignificant their roles have been up until then. I love that. The strong female lead speaks for itself. The woman is quite petrifying, unpredictable, not very eloquent, nihilistic, and deadlier than a whole army of vengeful liberal democrats with guns. She's also quite weird, since she shamelessly pees in front of people and narrates disturbing variants of classic children's stories.

Admittedly, I found the political "satire" very exaggerated and far over the top. Many taboo subjects, like refugees and the free possession of firearms, are inevitably included and the views of both "obnoxious" democrats and "imbecilic" republicans are shoved down our throats, only to conclude that all extremist opinions are deplorable. Yeah, fine, please blow away some more people Mrs. Gilpin! The obvious thing to enjoy here is the extreme violence, the gore and Betty's stoic face.

Much more enjoyable than expected.

The beginning of it is funny enough, but it is the ensuing few scenes which are riotously HILARIOUS and make it worth watching- I literally laughed until I cried.

Toward the middle of the film, there is a wide gap where the laugh-out-loud moments are slowed and further and further apart, but still bring a smile or giggle here and there. The ending while good, is overshadowed by a preceding fight scene that is one for the books. It was really, really well done.

The best part of the entire movie though, and what makes it stand out, is that if a person watching has more than two brain cells, the dialogue is spot-on close-to-perfect in mocking BOTH SIDES of the political divide. And here, is what I think people are missing: NEITHER side is depicted as being 'better' than the other. Or worse. It has fun at the expense of everyone and it doesn't do it in any overtly mean way, but in a way where we can nod and nod and nod and laugh ... at ourselves ... no matter who we are or where we stand.

Lastly, a horror film - it is not. Somewhat gory, yes. A "horror" film? no.

8.6/10

Reading all these conflicting comments is hilarious..."It's bashing liberals, this is awesome!" "No! This movie is horrible because it's for liberals and makes conservatives look bad!" "NO, it's bad because it makes liberals look bad!!" Well, in reality, it's a satirical movie about how people on both sides of the political spectrum can be garbage humans. The movie has liberals killing conservatives, then conservatives killing liberals. Both parties are exaggerated with all the typical dumb stereotypes, and both sides are equally made fun of with characters that act like idiots. Anyone who thinks this movie is "sticking it to those darn liberals/conservatives!" are the exact people this movie is making fun of.

It had similar vibes of Ready Or Not, ideas and themes of The Purge and the unpredictability of The Cabin In The Woods. The first act is pretty strong and it really throws you off course as to who you think the main protagonist will be. That just set me up nicely for not having a clue of where it could go next. It moves at a good pace, the violence is brutal but cartoonish in its execution, the gags are solid and go down brave but potentially dangerous routes. I was fine with them. But it wouldn't surprise if some might offend the SJW cinema-goers. While the end was the most formulaic part of the film. The journey getting there made it a worthwhile watch.