If you look up films that are comprised of the "found footage" and "based on a true story" premise, you'll most likely find a very long list of ones that I dislike the most. The last time I enjoyed one was in 1999 when The Blair Witch Project was released. It was a creepy, cool, new thing but flash forward 15 years and both of those concepts are way over played.
The Hunted centers around Jake (Josh Stewart) and Stevie (Ronnie Gene Blevins), two hunters out to shoot the pilot of their new hunting show. Dragging camera equipment along with them they set out into the dense woods of West Virginia in search of a massive buck named "Movie Star". Things are looking favorable until they start hearing screams coming from the darkness. After hearing it a couple of nights in a row, Jake insists that it's the scream of a bobcat but Stevie isn't convinced and goes in search of answers. During his talks with the locals, he discovers that Movie Star isn't the only thing haunting the woods but there is also the malevolent spirit of a vengeful ghost that roams in the darkness.
Stewart, first time writer and director of the film, managed to create very strong and likable characters whose dramatically different personalities enhanced both the tense and funny moments throughout the film; and the duo does an outstanding job playing off one another. What I enjoyed most about it was how both main characters propelled the story forward but in different ways. Jake's goal was getting the footage for the pilot while Stevie led the film into the supernatural direction by coaxing folklore out of the locals.
Nowadays, it's hard not to compare films from this sub genre to others. Films like Paranormal Activity and Quarantine have made it almost impossible to appreciate something as subtle and suggestive as say, The Blair Witch Project. But much like it's predecessor, The Hunted is a slow build until the final act when all bets are off.
The Hunted, however, is not without it's hiccups. The main issue I had was with the antagonist. It's hard for an audience to connect with a situation when they don't know what they're suppose to be afraid of. Viewers will know that something is out there but it's mostly subjective... like Pontypool. You get a sense of what's going on and that it's pretty bad but the rest is left up to the imagination. That doesn't necessarily lessen the value of the film though. Some people just aren't as imaginative as others and likely won't get it. At least not until the final act where it turns into a crazy, intense nail biter that's guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat.
Stewart has clearly learned the ins and outs of filmmaking during his many years as an actor and I applaud his efforts to branch out into other areas. While not a perfect film, The Hunted is leaps and bounds better than most I've seen and definitely worth a watch. Word to the wise, watch out for that Stewart gaze. Those dreamy eyes can make it a bit hard to concentrate, or maybe it's just me. Either way, this is a film I would've loved to have to added to the Twisted Tails Film Festival line up had I known about it in time.
The Hunted is available for download on Amazon and iTunes and on DVD at Walmart.
What's the difference between mainstream Hollywood horror/thrillers and Indie horror/thrillers? Money? Big names? Access to great locations? The answer is yes, all of the above. BUT, let's explore that a bit by using some of my favorite Indie horrors and comparing them to The Roommate. We'll start off with one I recently watched, Raymond Did It, which had an estimated budget of 40K, a couple of scream queens and they used the crew's houses (if I remember correctly) as their locations. Paranormal Activity burst onto the big screen on a budget of and estimated 15K, a cast of basically "unknowns" and was shot entirely in one apartment. The Dark Hours had a little bit of a bigger budget of 500K (estimated), a more "known" cast and was done in a cabin in the woods. Which brings me to Pontypool my Pontypool. It cracks the 1 mil mark and had the very well known Stephen McHattie in it but was done in the basement of a church. You're probably wondering why I'm bothering you with all this useless knowledge? I promise, I'll get to that and then you'll understand.
Sara (Minka Kelly) is a small town girl who comes to LA to study fashion. She ends up rooming with Rebecca (Leighton Meester), who seems nice enough at first. It's not long before the obsessive and extremely psychotic Rebecca grows envoious of anyone else in Sara's life and decides she would be better off without them.
I am not a Meester fan. In my opinion being able to pout your way through the entire film doesn't qualify you as a good actor. I've seen several of her films and I can honestly say that I didn't like her performance in any of them. Kelly just kinda grinned the entire time and I'm honestly not sure if Cam Gigandet can talk with his eyes open or not. Yes, it's cute and the teeny boppers will love it but come on! Characters that could've elevated the level of the film were ignored, i.e. Billy Zane and Danneel Harris, to the point of one minute they were there and the next gone with some stupid, shitty explanation of what happened to them. Maybe the oddest thing about the whole thing is after going through all the trouble to get rid of all the other people in Sara's life, Rebecca doesn't even target Gigandet. No, giving him a stupid look through a bookshelf is not considered scary or creepy it's just... weird.
This film was just all over the place. Almost like it was shot one way and then someone who wanted to fuck with Christian E. Christiansen snuck in and chopped the fuck out of it. Scenes that could've and should've been left out dragged on for what seemed like an eternity. There was very little discussion of Rebecca's psychosis... HELLO MCFLY... isn't that the whole focus of the story? If someone is a fucking nut job there's always a reason for it, be it an outside influence or just being dealt a fucked up hand in life. Either way, explain it! Someone should tell Sonny Mallhi that a simple little pout or pissy look can't tell the story for him. And not only that, it can sometimes be mistaken for constipation. When it was all said and done, this was nothing but an over glorified CW show that should've just been made for TV. See how nice I am, I'm not even gonna point out the fact that this was merely a rip off of the far superior 1992 Single White Female... oops, I didn't it anyway. My bad.
So, back to my opening remarks... If Paranormal Activity and Raymond Did It can come off as good as they did with a budget of less than 40K and unknown actors, why the fuck is Hollywood still throwing money into huge productions and overpaying actors who wouldn't know what to do with a script if the directions were tattooed on their eyelids. The Roommate cost 16 million dollars to make and what did they end up with... A ripped off (Single White Female) belly button ring and no blood, a tumble dried little kitty and no blood, a murder and no blood and a sex scene so bland a Baptist preacher could sit and watch with his teenage daughter. Kinda makes you wonder where 16 million dollars went huh? Calling this film a thriller is like calling Twilight a horror film, no one will believe you and it's quite possible you might get hit. Avoid this film, avoid the DVD, it's not even worth a free Netflix instant queue viewing.
