The Wild Hunt

The Wild Hunt is dark. The LARPers for the most part come across as craven, reminiscent of Vikings, nordic warriors and pub-dwellers alike.

The lovers are morose throughout. The actors in the background were largely mute. The real gems of acting come from the King, the Viking leader and Shaman. But these were inconsistent.

The film stood out because it evoked emotion and worry throughout, the soundtrack created mood and the well delivered tirades of screaming and begging encompassed tangible fear. The question of, "How far will they go?" really carried the film for me. Not wanting to have the dark side of humanity revealed but far too intrigued to stop watching.

The cinematography was realistic, with the tone and music really pinpointing the despair of being locked in a false reality at the behest of others.

There were moments where the film lulled to a crawl but this same failure, that of dragging time, really allowed the dramatic moments longevity.

While I didn't enjoy all of the movie, I give it 7/10 for the innovation and emotions it evoked.

this film is out of whack, but that is where it is supposed to be.

you have a real viking, rescuing a fake princess from a fake celt, and throughout, all become something they really didn't want to be when the game started.

they are nerds playing at fantasy violence without realizing that their modern skins mask a real violence hidden in their real history, and it just waiting for the right catalyst to prompt its release.

and then there is the ending. it is a mixture and manifestation of both fantasy and reality.

and that is the truth that surrounds us all. we all live in a mix of fiction and the other. and it is up to us which wins out and when.

when we give ourselves up to the impetus of a group, we also relinquish individual immunity from the crimes of that group--just ask albert speer.

I wasn't sure what to expect when i started this film. I really wnjoyed the fact that it combined several genres without coming off as farce. Incredible dialog, great acting, perfect production.

Reviews Of Unusual Size!

Re: An intense session of LARPing (Live Action Role Playing) gets out of control when a man breaks the veil of fantasy in an attempt to win back his girlfriend.

Outstanding: Some very strong performances here. Great sets and physical effects. Despite the dark tone of the film, there are some moments of humor. I love the poster.

Unacceptable: Some actors were a little questionable, but thanks to the blurring of reality and LARP life, that never impacted the emotion of the movie. Some reviewers claim that the world of LARPing is inaccurately portrayed. The music could be overbearing at times. I have no idea how Erik managed to speak in his angry viking voice the entire movie without losing his voice.

Summary: This was a very bleak film. I figured it would go down the path it took, but I was surprised at how cohesive the entire movie felt as a whole. There are some excellent performances, especially from the two brothers and the referee, who deserves more praise for her part. This is not a pleasant movie - it's almost Coen Brothers-esque and you wont leave it with a good feeling, but it is worth watching. An interesting take on the potential violence within us.

4/5

The story follows Erik, who "crashes" a LARP (Live-Action Role Play) camp in order to confront his estranged girlfriend, Lyn. The event is one that is held supposedly once a year, and the other role players are not pleased to have a modern non-player spoil their fun. Things escalate quickly during Erik's stay; acute conflicts arise between the players, and the game soon stops being a game and becomes a nightmarish brawl.

The main themes and motifs in the film are prevalent, yet not applied so thickly as to be too artsy and obtrusive to the enjoyment of the story. The most upholding traits to the film are the diverse characters and their realistic relationships with one another--Lyn literally says nothing about what she thinks, and even appears to be non-committal to her own feelings in the way she interacts with other characters. Erik is highly aggravated, brutally honest and unforgiving, yet he genuinely cares for Lyn's wellbeing, even though she shows no sort of reciprocation. And Bjorn, Erik's eccentric brother, is so in love with his Icelandic roots that he embraces the game as his reality, and cannot break the boundary between a time for play and a time for seriousness until it's too late.

I found myself trying to guess the next outcome in the string of events, and found that the story was, for the most part, unpredictable in a satisfying way. Just the right amount of popular archetypes were applied to the film to give it a comfortable feel of a typical story while infusing the realistic. Not all characters are heroes or villains, and not all humans see right and wrong in the same way.

I would recommend this film to just about anybody who wouldn't mind squirming in their seat, or watching something on the darker side. You won't necessarily feel like you just saw a double rainbow after watching this, but you may be able to walk away with something on the human condition.