La chasse est ouverte

As has been pointed out 'Open Season's basic premise takes inspiration from Richard Connell's classic suspense story 'The Most Dangerous Game', first filmed back in the 30s with 'King Kong's Fay Wray, and continually used ever since. Many a trash classic has been indebted to it, not least of which the ultra-cheesy 'Turkey Shoot' (with Steve Railsback), and John Woo's 'Hard Target' starring Van Damme and Lance Henriksen. The reason it gets reused over and over? Because it bloody well works every time!

'Open Season' isn't just another rip off in my opinion. The actual "game" only takes up a small segment of the movie, and the focus is more on the relationship between the three hunters and their guests. Some complain it's boring or two slow movie. Not me, I loved every minute of it. The main reason being the three leads are played by Peter Fonda, John Phillip Law and Richard Lynch, three cult film legends. Even one of these guys being in a movie is enough to get me viewing, but having all three is manna from heaven!

Peter Fonda was going through his strange post-'Easy Rider' period where he was starring in lots of b-grade Drive In fare like 'Dirty Mary Crazy Larry', 'Race With The Devil' and 'Futureworld', and wearing orange shades a lot. John Phillip Law will never be forgotten for his roles in 60s camp classics 'Barbarella' and Mario Bava's 'Diabolik'. At this time he was about to reach his commercial peak playing Sinbad in 'The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad' before slowly descending into video hell. Richard Lynch had recently had a small but memorable role in the excellent Gene Hackman/Al Pacino road movie 'Scarecrow', but would go on to appear in Larry Cohen's 'God Told Me To', William Peter Blatty's cult classic 'The Ninth Configuration', and innumerable z-grade action, horror and sci fi flicks.

Fonda, Law and Lynch play Ken, Greg and Art, three middle class family men and war buddies who go on their annual hunting trip. Along the way they meet a couple having an affair and "invite" them to be guests in their cabin on a small island. The couple think it's a kidnap attempt and are puzzled why no ransom is discussed. The guys attempt to show them a booze fuelled "good time" with mixed results. Eventually the holiday is over and the "guests" are free to leave. However there is a slight catch...Yup, you guessed it! What nobody realizes though is that they aren't alone on the island, and things may not go exactly to plan this year.

Movies like 'Open Season' are what I live for! A 1970s exploitation classic ripe for rediscovery.

This film is a revelation in terms of editing technique, the use of stills right in the middle of the action (this is 1974, a long time pre-John Woo)and several passages of pretty associative editing. The photography is stunning with spectacularly framed images. There is a very thought-out way of using sound, with a change of perspective (from clos up to a wide shot and vice versa) that is counteracted by the sound - a lot of close-up conversation takes place on wide shots. and finally, because some folks think this is boring - the way the topic of the movie - the use of humans as living targets - is introduced is pretty compelling - the audience is not given a clue, or a well-worded plan - we are kept just as informed as the victims, and when seeing the movie for the first time, stuff like putting the chain on the woman in the kitchen really comes as an awful surprise - yet Fonda delivers this as if it was routine as usual (which it obviously is for his character) - thrilling stuff. They did a lot of experimenting with editing and imaging in the 70s which should not be lost. this movie should be put on dvd!

I saw this strange film on late night cable way back in 1983 and found it oddly appealing.Obviously not filmed in the USA with dubbed dialog, weird atmosphere and the eventual appearance of William Holden as an added bonus. After searching on the internet recently I found an uncut version VHS tape for sale.* SPOILER *William Holdens character is arrested at the end which didn't occur in the edited version. The stark direction,unconventional editing techniques and haunting music make this one a seldom seen gem. I usually don't indulge in films of this type( like the repulsive, house by the lake ) but open season has enough

going for it to elevate it above other films of this genre. For Fonda/ Holden fans this film is highly recommended,others beware!

What can we say about Ken, Greg and Arty? Fine upstanding citizens, respectable family men, hard workers who enjoy blowing off steam with a little bit of adultery, kidnapping and murder!

Once a year these wonderful human beings leave their families behind for a few days and head into the arms of Mother Nature. Fast flowing rivers and endless empty forests are just what the doctor ordered, the perfect place to unwind and more importantly, the perfect place to muffle the screams of their latest victims.

This year they stumble across a couple with car trouble and take them to their isolated cabin in the woods. It's a crime that is committed with such ease and bravado there's no doubt these men have done this before. In the cabin the man is handcuffed and humiliated, forced to cook and clean. His girlfriend, on the other hand, is subjected to horrors of a different kind. When the fun is over the next day the couple are told they will be set free, however, this is no cause for celebration, as they soon realize the true nightmare has only just begun.

The three men are played by Peter Fonda, Richard Lynch and John Philip Law. Apart from being war vets, little is known about the characters they play, but judging by their pastime of kidnap and murder we can guess they are struggling somewhat to settle into normal life.

Released in 1974, smack-bang in the middle of the exploitation era, Open Season is both low budget and violence heavy. Think of it as cross between a spaghetti westerns and Deliverance. It is certainly not a movie for everyone but Peter Fonda calmed it was one of his favorite. "I had a good time on that one. That was my first chance to play a really evil guy. "

Out of the comments I have read about this movie, including the locations where the movie was supposedly shot, it appears that someone did not do their homework, or has not done much traveling. I saw this movie at a theater when it first came out, and recognized the scenery immediately. As the guys were headed out on their vacation, it showed them crossing the Mackinac Bridge, which separates lower Michigan from the upper peninsula, as they were obviously headed for Canada on their hunting trip. Whether the rest of the movie was shot in Canada is questionable, and the bridge may have been a "file shot" which is why it wasn't mentioned in the shooting locations. I have been wondering for years why this movie isn't mentioned in most of the lists of his movie credits. Good, bad, or indifferent, I for one, would like to see it again, just for old times sake. Please... would someone release this on video or DVD?!