Hounded

I thought I'd watch HOUNDED (2022) because the class subtext looked promising. It's a low budget British horror with a familiar plotline that reminded me of THE COLLECTOR and its ilk, about a quartet of thieves who break into a nice house only to find the tables turned on them by the owners. Before long the young 'uns find themselves pursued by a quarter of fox-hunting toffs with murder in mind...

This is one of those films that screams cheap throughout, with plenty of unconvincing moments and even a scene that openly rips off BREAKING BAD to poor effect. The most interesting part is the bad guys are played by familiar actors including Samantha Bond (Miss Moneypenny), James Faulkner (GAME OF THRONES), Nick Moran (a Guy Ritchie regular) and Larry Lamb (EASTENDERS). The gore is in short supply and the outdoor scenes strive for suspense but scream cliche instead.

An attempted robbery of a grand family home goes wrong for four young thieves.

Firstly, it's nice to watch a film that has a ninety minute running time, they seem to be a rarity these days, the problem.....the last ninety minutes.

I liked the storyline of the movie, and I liked that it featured Samantha Bond and James Lance (even if I haven't fully recovered from his atrocious accent in The Canterville Ghost.) Both are a somewhat flat here unfortunately.

It's a story of revenge I guess, but it's just impossible to have sympathy with any of the characters, a set of thieves, or a set of vigilante aristocrats in riding gear. None of the characters feel real, they are caricatures and stereotypes.

It felt pretty cheaply made, I guess that it clearly didn't have much of a budget, but it's such an unimaginative production.

I don't think it's worthy of a 1 or 2 star rating, nor can I see anything to warrant it getting anything towards the higher end of the scale either, it's just too flawed.

4/10.

Well, at first after seeing it has only 4.7/10 I did not expect much. I actually thought it might be one of those movies you stop watching after first 15 minutes of it....however I was in for a quite surprise :) It has huuuge potential and great general primesse. It was shot nicely, some interesting scenec and concepts. Samantha Bond is just brilliant. Now, the plot and the screenplay do suffer from cliches and obvious expectations, hence I almost gave it 7/10 if there weren't for such a messy third act. In all generalsenes I would enjoy a sequel. Anyhow, nice little indie film. Do give it a watch and don't let such a low ratings turn you away from it. Cheers.

I don't know why, can't explain the reasons, but I would have supposed that movie was directed by Ben Wheatley, some kind of social horror British film, rather offbeat, with a strange but daring topic. Yes, Ben Wheatley, at least at his early career. I recognize here the British touch, so subtle, surprising, quite different from the Hollywood standards. Yes, very interesting B Uk film. It uses the home invasion scheme, very popular since one decade now, even more, with the delightful social touch, I repeat, very suntle, using for instance characters from the suburbs, instead of hardcore criminals. They use characters in which many audiences, those to whom this film is mostly destined, can recognize themselves. Of course any moviegoer will recognize here the MOST DANGEROUS GAME inspiration. Rich against poor people, with a very unusual ending, that's the main positive point of this film. And as in any horror movie, you can admire and appreciate a "cosy" countryside landscape, British, the THE AVENGERS series from the sixties charm. France could do such a film, with the same topic. French countryside.... In the fifties, Roy Boulting made RUN FOR THE SUN, more or less the same topic; now Tommy Boulding makes also more or less the same topic too. It could have been set, and it has already been, in a desert area, in New Mexico state surrounding, with a small town, a rotten sheriff, a cattle baron fond of hunting....

British thriller, produced in 2022, with the main theme of manhunt. One of the most common topics. A group breaks into a house for theft and is caught. Then they become the prey of hunters. Although it is not such a high-quality, high-tension movie, it is watched. It is not difficult to predict who will survive, which hunter will die first, and other events within the film. In these, just like in Hollywood movies, jokes can be made 2 minutes later, even if there is a deceased sibling or relative. The ending was not what I expected.

All the characters are repulsive. The most innocent is the first to be sacrificed.

There is no sex or nudity in the movie.