Manhunt

Patrick Syversen and Ninni Robsahm must be the most dangerous couple in Norway. Together they transformed the harmonic Norwegian woods into a dark nightmare. When this film kicks in you can either love or hate it, but that's how it should be with this kind of movies.

The title music by David Hess(taken from Last House on the Left) sets the mood and from there on you can just lean back and get scared out of your mind. This is not the sterile dreamy and slightly funny kind of horror that we usually see these days. Rovdyr has taken back the hardcore thrill ride story telling we saw in American and Italian horror movies during the 70's.

I hope Syversen and Robsahm will continue on the route they have started because they are most interesting as makers of Norwegian horror.

I'm all for films paying homage to other 'genre-defining' movies, however 'Manhunt' doesn't so much as pay homage to its predecessors like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Wrong Turn, as completely rip them off.

It's about a foursome of young students who go into the mountains, only to be picked off by various redneck hunters. There's nothing wrong with that as a premise, but only if it's done in an original or slightly different way. However, it's just not. Manhunt is basically every other film of that genre, just set in a different country (oh, and there's subtitles for those of you who don't like non-English speaking films).

Unfortunately, some of the teens being stalked are completely unlikeable, one man even going as far as to practically terrorise his girlfriend and physically abuse her BEFORE the rednecks even get them. With characters like that, you can hardly work up much sympathy when they're murdered by the (real) baddies. And those we are supposed to like are just too stupid to relate to. When being hunted they never stop giving away their position by screaming for their separated friends.

Also, the film adheres to every slasher cliché in the book: chased through woods. Check. Rednecks. Check. Camper van and hitchhiker. Check. And so on.

We're never told anything about the redneck hunters and their motives. They don't even speak, leaving us to wonder why they're doing what they do.

Apart from the gore (which is very good/brutal, depending on what you like) and the cinematography (which is also nicely shot, creating a bleak and brooding atmosphere with the use of colour pallet), Manhunt will never be a classic. Just a rip-off that offers nothing new. I know I've slated it here, but actually it's not that bad. It's only real flaw is how totally unoriginal it is. Pity.

The backwoods/survivalist horror genre is one of my favourites, but the films do have a tendency to follow the same formula, Manhunt being no exception. A typical example of 'doing things by the book', it starts in time-honoured fashion with four friends travelling through the wilderness in their VW camper-van (the film is set in 1974, a tribute to that classic of the genre, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre perhaps). After the predictable run in with hostile locals at a roadside diner, they do the expected thing by picking up a scared hitch-hiker, inadvisably stop in the middle of nowhere, and, in yet another retelling of The Most Dangerous Game, fall prey to a group of hunters who prefer killing humans to animals.

Despite all of the familiar trappings, this sort of thing can work very well just so long as there are regular thrills and inventive bloody kills, the protagonists are likable, and they don't behave like absolute idiots; Manhunt is suitably vicious in tone and features some reasonable splatter (although it's not as creatively bloody as I would have liked), but sadly its young victims aren't very appealing and act like morons. They constantly bicker with each other, stupidly insult the locals, and repeatedly make ill-advised decisions that only worsen their already dire situation. In short, I couldn't care less if they survived or ended up as trophies lashed to the bonnet of a Norwegian maniac's Landrover.

Especially the characters. But it still captures your attention, because it's lean, mean and fortunately short (running time wise). Yes it's not logical, yes the characters are not likable (see above and/or summary line), yes there are plot holes ... but those are things (cliches) that you see in almost any(every) horror movie these days, it's up to you to decide how bad you think it is.

Another reviewer wrote that the whole thing seems to come from nowhere and that there is no explanation for what's happening. For one thing, I'd rather have it that way, rather than some stupid "had rough childhood(s) and this lead to ..." explanation. But if you really look for something, a reason, than the first "meeting" will give a little bit of a clue. For it's low budget heritage it's OK. Not special, but with better written characters, this could've gone a long way :o)

Really only 5 stars? you have to be kidding me this film was great. From start to finish it kept me on the edge of my seat, I felt like my heart was going to pop out of my chest.

It is quite a basic movie as are most movies of this nature, there is not to much time spent on plot as we need to build suspense and see how the reactions of the characters play out. Its a basic story of good Vs Evil set in a 1970s Norwegian woods. A group of friends travel to the middle of nowhere to go hiking and camping(what an original idea) and end up in a fight for survival. Its your usual everyday plot for a survival horror, But for what it lacks in originality it makes up for in bucket loads everywhere else. The acting is above par along with suspense and some pretty gruesome effects. Its obvious to me that the makers of this film are big fans of the genre and have stayed true to its spirit, which for another fan makes it a great joy to watch.

As I've said the acting is superb, as we get immersed deeper into the action and the dialog becomes ever more sparse we start to see the real capability of the troupe, convincingly portraying the terror of being trapped and hunted by unknowns pushing the suspense level through the roof. Henriette Bruusgaard as Camilla stands out here in the lead role who to my surprise has only played in one other role after this.

Visually it looks great, nice grainy quality to the picture along with some solid cinematography. It feels like watching something of a similar nature from the 70s which helps add authenticity to the project. From the main titles to the ending credits it feels like an exploitation movie from the heyday of the 1970s which many movies lately have tried to achieve and haven't managed to pull off half as well as this. The sound design is also very impressive and offers a great soundtrack.

I really would like to congratulate everyone who worked on this obviously they put so much effort in and it shows. I cant find any reason to complain about this movie I enjoyed it immensely and can't recommend it enough, like a gruesome flashback to the 70s this movie stays true to the genre pushing you to the very edge of your seat chewing down your fingers to nubs. So put on the oven mitts, glue yourself to the sofa and enjoy the ride.