Maneater, Ironically enough is the third film that is part of RHI Entertainments and Genius Products Maneater series. The fact of the matter is that yes, this was a sci-fi pictures original movie that premiered on the Sci-fi Channel. However the fact that most of the films that have made their premiere on sci-fi channel are pretty bad, this one for the most part is actually not half bad at all.
Maneater is about a tiger that has made it’s way into a small town in the Appalachian Mountains when it escaped from an over turned truck that was transporting the tiger. A young boy who lives in the mountains with his god fearing mother, befriends the tiger in his dreams, or so he thinks. People go missing and bodies are being discover half eaten and mutilated. Now the towns Sheriff Grady Barnes (Gary Busey) must try and track down and get rid of the tiger before more people end up dead. But this tiger is very smart and knows how to hunt. The sheriff will need more help to take down this beast, and now it’s up to him, the young boy, Roy Satterly (Ty Wood) and an English hunter named Colonel Graham (Ian D. Clark) are the only ones that have any change to take out the beast. But it’s a question of how they will, and will it cost them their lives.
The script is actually not half bad. The plot is flows very well and the story is really easy to follow. It’s not a very hard plot to follow and its’ pretty straight forward. The character development is pretty decent and the over all dialogue is not that bad. But it does have it’s issues here and there. It’s noting great, but it’s not half bad either. It’s your typical, normal script about a killer tiger. How great is it really going to be?
The acting is a toss up in this film. The leads in the film give pretty good performances, Gary Busy is good as Sheriff Grady Barnes and for the most part is the most interesting character in the film. Young actor Ty Wood is pretty good as the young and naive Roy Satterly, and Ian D. Clark is great as the smart and intelligent hunter Colonel Graham. Not to name names in the supporting cast but there were a lot of horrible performances by some of the supporting cast in this film. Not all of them were bad, but the ones that are for the most part are very noticeable.
The production value for for this particular film is actually very good. I for one am impressed that their was not an over abundance of cheesy special effects in this film like there is in so many of these sci-fi original movies. You really can’t even classify this film as a sci-fi film really, as it’s more just about a killer tiger than anything else, nothing more and nothing less. Sure it has some blood and some gore here and there, but that’s about it. The majority of the shots used to show the tiger are actually those of a real tiger instead of a CGI one.
Overall, Maneater is not that bad of a movie, but it’s nothing great either. It’s a really easy film to follow as the plot and story are very simple. It was enjoyable for the most part and why It did have it’s issues it was entertaining and thrilling. It’s a film that I would probably sit down on a Saturday night and catch on the Sci-fi channel if they ever repeat it and nothing else was on television. It’s also a horror based film that might be suitable for younger viewers to watch as it’s not an over the top scary film, but it has an easy enough plot that an eight year old will know what’s going on. Overall it’s a film that is probably worth picking up if you enjoy killer tiger films. Nothing more and nothing less.
– Horror Bob
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- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
