Hunted

To be sure there's nothing particularly original in this. It's a fairly standard chase movie as a woman is chased through the night by a gang of thugs out to kill her in revenge for her having left a nasty note on their car when they double parked in a busy parking lot on Christmas Eve. So, yeah, it's a variation on a pretty standard theme. There are no real "surprises." You know the woman is going to survive somehow, and in all honesty I thought there was a fair bit of tension and suspense through the whole thing. It's a bit unbelievable, sure - but that's the nature of this kind of movie. Unoriginal, yeah - but anyone who reads the description of the movie going in has to know it's going to be unoriginal so don't watch it if you want something brand spanking new. I liked the basic story from the point at which Della began to be pursued to the point at which she escaped. I thought it was well done.

The movie was helped by having a better than usual lead. Kim Basinger played Della and did well with the part. So many of these movies feature a complete cast that you've never seen before and that you'll never see again that it's kind of nice to see a familiar face. Ironically, perhaps the weakest part of the movie was also Della, though - not Basinger's performance but the character's background. From the opening scenes of the movie Della is portrayed as a victim of an abusive husband, apparently trapped in this unhappy marriage. That really served little purpose and had few connecting points to the remainder of the movie except to allow for a "shocker" in the very last scene, which, again, wasn't necessary to the story.

Go into this with your eyes wide open. If you like this type of movie then this is certainly on par with (and maybe even a bit better than) most "chase" movies you'll come across. But if you're looking for originality, forget it. It all depends what you're expecting from it. Personally, I rather liked it. (7/10)

Despite the first act being trope after trope for the setup, I really enjoy this one. Personally I think going to a mall on Christmas Eve is horror enough on its own, but this is one of those situations that could happen to anyone. And make no mistake, guys like the antagonists in this movie, bored punks trying to prove how hard they can be or just getting off on harassing women, are literally everywhere, so the situation is highly believable and frankly, terrifying. But what I really like about this one, without blatant spoilers/details, is Della's (Basinger) character growth throughout. She goes from terrified victim of spousal abuse, just trying to put on a brave face for her children and fake it in front of friends, to this horrible situation where she is once again put into the role of victim, now fighting for her life and to get back to her children. As the film goes on we see her go from victim on the run to being forced to defend herself, unwilling to be a victim any longer. It cathartic. As for the details of the events throughout, yes, it sometimes feels a bit over the top and full of tropes and clichés, but guess what, it's a horror thriller, not a documentary.

So this is what actress Kim Basinger has succumbed to? Mmm… to tell the truth the film's title is something quite eye grabbing to getting your interest and plot outline reads so basic, but simplicity can have its strengths. Anyhow by the end of 'While She Was Out' I was left feeling rather indifferent. Not the worse (despite being engulfed by negatives), but there's easily way better in what is an causally lukewarm, but compact and unbalanced late-night survival fable of a feeble suburban housewife stranded in the woods trying to fight for her life after she witnessed the death of a rent a cop that came to her aid, when she provoked an ugly exchange with some punks in a shopping car park.

The problem here falls on the misguidedly erratic and foreseeable material (taken from a short story), along with the very variable performances. The flimsy script was poorly thought-out (which isn't so good when your plot has a slight structure to hang off), so many wretched inclusions and dubious actions just go on to find its way in this endless chain of events. As for the bunch of stereotypical goons (led by an unconvincing Lukas Hass as a loose canon) terrorizing Basinger, well they were less than threatening, but hopelessly clueless. Watching Basinger scrounging around in the dank wilderness with a red tool box in her hand (don't ask me why?) knocking off these wannabe punks one by one became ridiculous because it didn't elicit tension or emotion… but instead clumsy jolts that were absurdly daft because of the stupidity of the lead up. Basinger's performance is stout-like, but doesn't craft much empathy. Craig Sheffer shows up as her hot-headed husband. Strangely I couldn't keep my eyes off the screen… thinking to myself that red toolbox is hypnotic (why would she be constantly carrying it) and what tool was she going to use to dispatch the next thug… her choices were quite disappointing. Watching her transformation through the traumatic situation when things are finally turned around is rather empty, due to its unsure tone and the ending is something you could see miles ahead.

Susan Montford's soberly slick direction lacks cohesion and energy, as it pretty much chugs along. I liked the opening credits though, with its hauntingly sullen score (which is the most effective thing throughout the feature) and polished photography.

No great shakes. Doesn't ask much of your time, but I wouldn't care to see it again. However with the inclusion of a Joy Division song, it made me grab a couple of their albums for a listen.

The genre of suspense films really takes a dive in this one. The big problem is IMPLAUSABILITY. I realize that you need to create difficult situations which would cause suspense and the tense feeling of whats going to happen next, but this movie was so predictable, and is just not believable. I find that the more I watch this kind of movie, the more I am continually saying things to actors to direct them away from danger. Continually making bad decisions just borders on being plain stupid. If they took the time to make it more realistic, I might have enjoyed it a little. Having said that, you might be better off staying away from this one.

An abused housewife (Kim Basinger) goes shopping for wrapping paper on Christmas Eve, and finds herself alone and confronted by a gang of thugs who wish to do harm to her. But she finds herself to be stronger than she thought, and fights back.

Right off the bat, I didn't much care for this film. I found Basinger to be the wrong woman for her role, and not particularly good at what she was doing. The story of an abused wife is certainly terrifying in its own way and I felt for her character... but I never found Basinger believable. The box cover quotes a critic raving about her performance, but I just didn't see it.

From there, we run across stereotypes and clichés. Why is this taking place on Christmas Eve? The film is released in April... and do we really need another Christmas movie anyway? We have yet another dead cell phone, pretty much standard in films today. And then we have a woman who is alone in a big city, somehow able to find secluded woods... there's no one around? Really? But let's just ignore these things.

Another critic points out the "politically correct" casting choices for the thugs -- why are they all racially different and lead by the white man? I guess I don't have a problem with this, but I am forced to wonder if the writer consciously thought that it was important to mix the racial makeup of the group. Which is over-thinking the story, really.

The use of the toolbox was a nice touch... others have compared it to Batman's utility belt (I guess Basinger recalls her time as Vicki Vale). I don't know how realistic it is to carry a toolbox along when you're trying to run away silently from thugs, but I can't deny the nice splashes of blood that come from driving tools deep into a bad guy's head. Which, as a horror reviewer, was a nice surprise from the generally more tam "thriller" genre.

Overall, I found the film predictable and not containing the best acting. There are a few memorable scenes and the ending wasn't exactly what I expected... so that's good. I'd say the film might be worth a rental if you want a bit of suspense on a rainy Friday night, but there are better options out there if you really want to be "thrilled".