Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good afternoon flick, May 8, 2007
The film was very well done for an independent film. The plot was fun, there was mystery, suspense and definately a top thriller.
The only issue I had was the ending was a little too mainstream for an independent film. Definately worth the money.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Basically the hunters become the hunted and film what happens, May 1, 2007
I always remember that "Star Trek" was sold as "'Wagon Train' to the stars" and that "Miami Vice" was simply "MTV cops" to the network. "Hollywood," by which I mean the entire entertainment industry, always likes to pass off something old as something new. They are never interested in breaking new ground, just in making more money, and God forbid that they do not have ample cinematic references to make them feel that they on the right track. On our end of the entertainment universe we only get to watch these things, but it is fun to work on the cinematic math on a movie. For example, "The 13th Warrior" equals "The Seven Samurai" plus "Beowulf" with "Clan of the Cave Bear" thrown in for fun. I bring this all up because it does not take you long to figure out that "The Hunt" equals "The Blair Witch Project" meets "The Most Dangerous Game" via "The X-Files" (if you are old enough to remember "The Most Dangerous Game" substitute "The Twilight Zone" for the "X-Files," but if you have never heard of "The Most Dangerous Game" think of something more recent like "The Eliminator" or "Hostel" instead, although the flip in the story reminds me of "Audition" these days).
The tagline for this 2006 film is: "A great number of hunters - a great number of deer. Statistically something was bound to go wrong." This is certainly an interesting tagline, but not especially on point for describing "The Hunt" (it makes the movie sound like that video game where the deer hunt the hunters). Jack Hamberg (Joe Michael Burke) wants to make a commercial video about deer hunting using a bow and arrow and he has hired news cameraman Atticus Monroe (Robert Rusler) to film it. He gets funding from Jon Kraw (Cliff De Young), whose ex-wife Tessa (Amy Briede) is now married to Hamberg. Just to add to the mix, Hamberg is taking his stepson, Clint (Mitchell Burns) along to make the video. While out on their hunt the trio crosses over into a private preserve, at which point the hunters become the hunted. It takes a while for them to catch on, but there are just too many familiar warning signs for us to avoid and so we know full well what to expect.
That is obviously "The Most Dangerous Game" part of the proceedings, and the fact that Monroe is filming most of what happens is the "Blair Witch Project" part of the equation. "The X-Files" part comes at the end, and between the caption on the cover of the 0VD ("They went on a hunt. They became the hunted") and the eerie picture of the "beast" depicted, I really think they are giving away too much of the game here. But my main complaint is not that the people who put the DVD package together are spoiling their own film, but that in addition to all of the above the movie adds a second major thread that takes place after the Hunt. With the three people missing, Jon Kraw is doing everything he can to find his missing son and the others. So as we follow the events of the hunt we know that the search for them is going to last more than a week. To continue the "Blair Witch Project" element, Kraw videotapes what is happening with the search and his investigation. But unlike "BWP," not everything shot in "The Hunt" is "filmed" by the characters, which makes it a sort of half-hearted conceit. Much is made that this film was directed by Fritz Kiersch, who has some cult status because he directed "Children of the Corn" (I think the fact it was a Stephen King short story might have something to do with what people think of that particular film). But by telling the story through the two time frames and mixing the first-person and third-person camera bit, things get needlessly complicated. The same happens with all of the interpersonal tension that develops between the trio being hunted. The point was to add the elements together to make this movie and not multiply by them insteadm which is why I rounded down on "The Hunt."
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1.0 out of 5 stars
Fences are there for a reason, August 4, 2008
I have to admit that I'm a fan of some thriller/horror/slasher/sci-fi flicks, but I didn't get this one. I happen to like Predator, and I thought Blair Witch was good by playing on a different set of fears than the usual movies in this genre. This movie basically came across to me as a one hour and ten minute family drama tacked on to an instructional bow-hunting buildup to 7 minutes of transparent effects. We kept checking the remaining time, trying to figure out how they were going to squeeze any action into it.
They didn't.
And, just because the fence is bent up, don't go under it.
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