Did you ever get that feeling that you felt like you were watching more of a boring action drama flick instead of a horror film? That’s the way I felt when watching the first forty five minutes of this film titled The Hunt. However the films conclusion is all worth the boring plot and character development, as we soon find out who is really hunting who.
The Hunt was a film that was shot for around five hundred thousand dollars in the deep forests and cites of Okalahoma. The film was co-written & directed Fritz Kiersch, who’s name might sound familiar because he directed Stephen’s King’s Children of the Corn back in 1984.
The movie revolves around two guys; Jack Hamberg and Atticus Monroe and Jack’s young nine year old step son Clint. They set out on a deer hunting trip but their purpose is not only to find and kill a deer, but they are filming a hunting video We find out that towards the beginning both men are in some what of a financial dept. Atticus is a professional camera man, why Jack is somewhat of a professional hunter. They rig Clint with a helmet cam to catch the action from the point of view of a young kid, and he’s also a subject in the video about how to teach your young kids how to hunt and hunting safety. Well in a nutshell, the trio follow a deer deep into the woods when they come across a fence in the middle of nowhere. They decide to follow the buck under the fence, however what they don’t realize is that they have entered some kind of top secret government base, where alien devices are being used. And that our government officials have a deal with an alien race for; well I won’t ruin it for you. So you’ll just have to watch the film.
I’ll admit at first I thought this film was boring, for the first forty five minutes or so the movie plays out like one of those hunting shows that are on ESPN at six o’clock in the morning. There was a lot of bickering between the characters as well, to kind of get the plot and character development going, but the characters were pretty much developed from the get go within the first fifteen minutes of the film. The problem with the script was the pacing in the beginning. which I believe affects the film and will probably be the reason most people will turn the film off, and miss out on the surprise ending.
As far as the acting goes don’t expect any great outstanding performances. The acting in the film played out well enough that I can say everyone was good in the film. Enough to be convincing at least, and they were able to keep themselves in character long enough so that their roles are convincing. I do have to give praise though to Mitchell Burns who played the young boy Clint in the film. After watching the behind the scenes documentary on the DVD, you can tell that Mitchell is a real outgoing kid and is nothing like the character he played. I have to hand it to the kid, he was able to play a wimp, and was very convincing in the role.
The effects in the film are pretty decent. There was really not a lot of gore or over the top make-up effects. Just some blood here and here, a dead deer and a few small body parts, but nothing crazy. The CGI in the film does not come until the very end, and why the aliens do look somewhat real, there are times where you can just tell; especially in close up shots that they are in fact Computer generated images. However for the most part the effects hold their own and do look good enough that they do look pretty close to real.
Overall The Hunt is not a bad film. It starts off slow but gets better once the action starts happening. It’s a film with a basic plot and it tells the story without leaving the audience feeling cheated. I think most people and horror fans especially will agree with me that this film is an alright movie. It has it’s moments, but it’s nothing great, but at the same time it’s not that bad either.
– Horror Bob
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