Customer Reviews

Daddy's Gone A-Hunting [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mark Robson directed this film set in San Francisco which is entertaining and has its exciting moments. Naive young woman, new in town, falls for handsome psycho...and then the fun begins.

The great Ernest Laszlo did some fine cinematography, the John Williams score (except for that interminable, awful title song) is excellent, and the script by Larry Cohen and Lorenzo Semple Jr. has some well thought out scenes.

Carol White (who looks and sounds a little like Julie Christie did during the same time period) is Cathy, the tormented woman, Paul Burke the strong and solid husband, and Scott Hylands is Mr. Weirdo, and they all do a nice job of giving you a few scares.

This film is a piece of memorabilia for me, as an early "Vernon" portrait hangs on the wall of Cathy's apartment...so many thanks to Charles Thompson, who did the Set Decoration, for having such eclectic (and good !) taste in art.

This is a little-known movie from the late sixties/early seventies that is actually very good. It has a pretty good premise and there is a lot of suspense. Carol White is very good and very pretty although I must admit, I don't remember seeing her in anything else. Scott Hyland is excellent as a disturbed former boyfriend of White's who finds out that she aborted his child. After she marries a politician (Burke), Hyland goes about trying to exact his revenge by kidnapping their first child. There are a few chilling scenes and a great ending.

The Pre-Row-v-wade 60's horror take on the abortion issue, it still works today. Creepy ex is much like the ex from Fear (Mark Wahlberg) and has the same energy as Scream and Fatal Attraction blended in the late 1960's. A must see if you like to be freeked out without all the gore and use your head...

This movie is definitely unnerving, so don't watch it alone. Carol White plays a young woman who meets a handsome young photographer( even in the beginnig he uses sadistic ways to meet her or be around her) who has some mental problems to say the least. When she becomes pregnant he throws her out and she gets an abortion. Months later she meets a wonderful man and after they are married they have a son. Her ex finds out about her and finds a way to manipulate his way back into her life, still resenting the fact that she aborted his baby. He eventually kidnapps the baby with disasterous consequences. I acctually wanted to see this because it was one of Ron Masaks earlier roles. ROn, best know as sheriff Mort Metzger on Murder She Wrote, was reduced to a few seconds on screen with someone else doing a voice-over for him.

When Producer Val Lewton was inducted to head the Horror film unit at RKO Radio Pictures in the early Forties, he may not have known the talent that was placed in front of him. Out of this wonderful team came three great directors: Jacques Tourneur, Robert Wise and Mark Robson. Robson was always the lesser of the trio but in retrospect his films deserve to be resurrected. 'DADDY'S GONE A-HUNTING'-1969 may be forgotten today but it is the closest that Robson got to a Lewton hommage utilizing a nail biting script by future Horror writer/director Larry Cohen and Lorenzo Semple Jr. and predating giallo styles which emerged by Director Dario Argento around this time. Scott Hylands shines as super sicko Kenneth Daly in a way ahead of its time performance selecting Kathy Palmer beautifully played by British actress Carol White as his perversion. When their affair goes awry and she aborts their child, Daly decides to pull a 'STRANGER ON A TRAIN' scheme with Kathy's new husband played by Paul Burke as he blackmails her into killing her newborn child thereby relieving him of his torment. The film takes a while to get going but the last 30 minutes is chair clenching cinema of the first order. Although the photography by Ernest Laszlo resembles a television production, Robson makes up for it by forming many visual tricks throughout the proceedings. It also has a nice early score by John Williams before his bombastic classical ripoffs showered over the works of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg throughout the late seventies. You will also see a blink or you'll miss performance by B-movie starlet Mala Powers. Warner Archive releases it in a nice, crisp DVD-R 1.85 transfer with no extras. A film which deserves a modern day remake, it is definitely in need of a resurgence and shows Mark Robson at the peak of his talent.

Dramatic little movie from the late 1960s follows the story of a young British girl (Carol White) adjusting to life in San Francisco as she first meets Mr. Wrong, discovers who he is, then meets Mr. Right. Unfortunatly like in so many cliche's and in real life, Mr. Wrong does not take "NO" for an answer, and doesn't leave the couple alone.

Paul Burke, well known from TV series such as "Five Fingers," "Naked City," and "Twelve O'Clock High" has a starring role. He always brought a competent believable performance to the screen.

If you haven't come across this movie yet, do so..it is worth it. An late 60's 'Fatal Attraction', Carol White stars as a budding artist who arrives in San Francisco and falls for the charms of the dangerously psychotic Scott Hylands. When she becomes pregnant, and doesn't want the baby, well, I won't tell you the rest, but with a cast including Paul Burke and Mala Powers, and James Sikking in an early role, and the gorgeous scenery of San Francisco, taut direction by Mark Robson (who's last movie 'Valley of the Dolls' a year earlier proved he could keep an audiences interest, despite the over the top dialogue...'Valley', not this one)it keeps you on the edge of your seat, including the nail biting finale..Carol White is excellent as Cathy, but a word of warning: she comes across as a bitch, and somewhat unsympathetic at times. But Scott Hylands is down right sinister as Kenneth. A well done shocker, worth your time and money.

This 1969 thriller is the granddaddy of all modern thrillers. Before there was "Play Misty For Me" (1971) and "Fatal Attraction" (1987) there was "Daddy's Gone-A-Hunting". I saw this film at a drive in back in the summer of '69 and it scared the hell out of me! (I think "Eye Of The Cat" was the other movie showing on the drive-in double bill). Suspense and plot twists galore. Scott Hylands rocks as the psycho - awesome, underrated actor - Paul Burke & Carol White are excellent too! Tight script & direction to match. And John Williams score is effective if dated at times. Overall very well done thriller.

I remember this movie from when I was in high school and all my friends watched it at a slumber party once. We still remember the suspense and talk about it at reunions today. I'm going to give this tape away as a door prize at our next reunion! It'll be a hit! Sad about the lead actress, Carol White, later in life though. She reminded me of Julie Christie and I figured she had made a similar name for herself oversees. Sadly, she fell into the drug scene of the era and never recovered, I guess. Still, the movie is great and I'm glad it was available!

In addition to the other reviews, let me say that this thriller sneaks up on you. It is so "normal" at first - a guy and girl having an affair. But the psychotic twists to the plot are horrendous.

A minor note of interest: The song lyrics are by Dore Previn (Andre's first wife) and the music is by John Williams - although there isn't a lot - and is his cosmopolitan style at its best (before the bigger style used for Star Wars)