User reviews

A familiar premise, only a small twist away from I Spit on Your Grave/Last House on the Left, etc. A fun ride nonetheless. It's low budget shortcomings came through on a couple scenes, but what was lacking in a groundbreaking cinematic vision was made up for with the enthusiastic performance of the cast. Especially the lead (Lucie Debay) put her whole heart into this and gave us a craved final girl above and beyond expectation.

Spends too much time with our antagonist and fails to make them likeable or interesting. Would have given it an 8/10 but the sound mixing is atrocious. There was a point where I farted and it overtook the soundtrack and I had to rewind to make out what they said.

Found it likeable...in a High Tension sort of way...An updated I Spit on Your Grave perhaps, but without the rape-y scenes that make most squirm in their seat. It's not a "depth" film, as some of the reviewers apparently were led on to believe, but a throwback to the 70s-80s slasher/exploitation. I guess there wasn't much plausibility in those films either---stare at the screen and just take it in, stop looking for plot holes and believable script. It's almost like a full generation missed the boat on these sub-genres of film and race to the imdb page to pan a decent film.

These are probably the same people that walk out of films at Sundance, as some form of self-righteous protest.

Let's just say, this is one of those throwback films, but with a different spin, and not necessarily because it is European---but some symbolic references in nature to the 'Big Bad Wolf' and the "babe in the woods" (ala Red Riding Hood), campside storytelling--- nothing, again, too deep, just adds to the story a bit.

If you liked the film 'Revenge' from a few years back, this one sits in the same headspace, but less of the desert and more of the woods. Good cinematography and sound editing and very tautly directed.

Have you ever seen one of those movies where it's obvious that the writer ran out of ideas two thirds of the way through, then said eff it and started throwing in whatever nonsensical idea that came into his mind? That's this movie. Either that or he wrote the screenplay with a plastic bag tied around his head. Please do not waste your time on this idiotic piece of trash. This movie is so terrible, that I cancelled my Shudder subscription immediately after I finished it. It's that bad.

This was a movie that I got turned on to when Marknado shared a list of horror movies getting released in January. This can be a tough month to find new horror, especially with theaters not being fully opened and being early into the year. I did confirm with him along with my buddy Tim, who both had already seen this, as to if this was horror or not. Both confirmed it was, so I decided to make this as a Featured Review for Journey with a Cinephile: A Horror Movie Podcast. The synopsis here is once upon a time, woman meets man. Woman dances with man. Man kisses woman. Man grips woman. Woman escapes man. Man chases woman - nothing new. Or is there?

Now I'll be honest, I don't love that synopsis. I get what they're doing as it is giving that this is a story we've seen before, but framing it as a fairy tale. That really takes us to where we start. There is a woman who is credited as the huntress, Simone Milsdochter, telling a story to her son of Jeremy (Vladimir Ryelandt). It is the story of the Wolf Girl and that is what she is claiming they're hearing on the wind. They are out camping as she tells this story of a priest by the name of Nicodemus who raised an army and met his demise in this woods to a woman he branded a witch. He did so as the woods came to her aid and the wolves killed him along with his followers.

We then meet our lead of Ève (Lucie Debay). For work she is overseeing a construction project. There seems to be issues and her boss isn't happy with her, he is Kevin Van Doorslaer. She is stressed from this and to make matters worse, her boyfriend of Alex (Alexis Vandendaelen) is not giving her much space. That night to unwind, she goes a bar for a drink. There she is hassled by a guy trying to buy her a drink and take her home. She is saved in this situation by another guy, Arieh Worthlater. The two of them hit it off, drinking and dancing. They end up outside for a cigarette where they kiss. The two of them go to his car, but this is where things take a turn. His friend, Ciaran O'Brien, gets in the front seat and drives away from the bar.

As fear sets in, Ève demands to be let out. She is and goes to a nearby gas station for help. She is hoping that the guy and his accomplice will leave her be, but this is just the start of the nightmare. The gas station attendant is killed and she is kidnapped. Through a conversation in the car, we see that our main villain is a bit unstable. He isn't paying attention and they end up getting in a car accident in the woods. Ève is able to escape, but the two men are pursuing her. It becomes a game of cat and mouse as Ève tries to survive her attackers and the elements to find safety. She will need to find the strength to go from the hunted to the hunter if she wants to survive to tell her tale.

That will be where I end my recap of the movie. What I should point out about the synopsis on the Internet Movie Database is different from what I saw on Shudder, which was that this is a take on the tale of 'Little Red Hiding Hood'. That makes a lot of sense with the story that we get in the beginning of this. It is really setting the stage for how things will play out here. There are also some nods in the movie to this fairy tale. Ève is where a red hoodie. She gets lost in the woods. The guy that she ends up being interested in at the bar is a 'wolf in sheep's clothes', things to that effect.

Now I've already lain out, and even the synopsis did, this isn't a story we haven't seen before. It is a fairly tired if I'm going to be honest. Heck, a movie from last year that I dug with a similar premise is Alone. Both that movie and this one end up with our lead being lost in the woods and trying to find herself in more than one way. This movie though, Ève makes some bad decisions. I don't really have an issue with her not being sure if she still wants to be with her boyfriend of Alex or not. That isn't my business. They aren't married. What I do have an issue with though is the bad decision of getting into the guy's car. If she wants to sleep with him great, as that again isn't my business. There has been drinking, so I get that her guard is down, but it just seems that it isn't smart. I hate that we have to protect ourselves and she shouldn't have to worry.

I don't want to just harp on her though. What I do like is the growth of her character. It is interesting to see Ève getting yelled at by her boss in the beginning. That is showing us she isn't as confident as she needs to be. Her ordeal in the woods forces her to have that growth. There is a great scene that is on the poster of her just breaking and screaming. This is giving away her position, but what I think works there is that we see she's at the end of her line. She is becoming the wolf girl from the story in the beginning.

If you know me, I tend to focus on the villains in movies and I like what we're getting here. He is never given a name. He is credited as The Guy on IMDb. I actually really like this idea. His friend goes by The Accomplice as well. As a way to annoy him, our villain calls the other Andy, but this seems to be something he hates. I actually really like not giving them names as that can humanize them when we see them as monsters. The guy is definitely charismatic, which allows him to control his weaker minded associate. It also happens to someone else later in the movie and he can sway people with things he says. He has issues though too. There seems to be a lack of real confidence and uses violence to exert his dominance over others. He also has a fetish to film the bad things he does so he can relive them. These are all interesting things that we get to see throughout the movie without over explanation.

Not everything works for me though. I think that up until late in the second act, I'm on board with what they're doing. It gets ridiculous from there in my opinion though. I like that they encounter the huntress along with her son of Jeremy (Ryan Brodie), who is now older. The problem I have is that they run through a paint ball game and then it just goes downhill for me. I do like what they do at the end of the movie though. We get to see Ève finally descend into full rage and there is something with a dog that comes full circle as well.

Where I will go next is the acting. I have to give a lot of credit to Debay. I think she does an excellent job with the character growth. We see that she isn't in control of her life in the beginning and this ordeal makes her into the strong woman that she has to be in the end to survive. Worthlater is great as this villain as well. He is a manipulator, but I like the subtle things where we see that some of this is an act. O'Brien is great as his counterpart who is weak minded and easily controlled. I think the rest of the cast also rounds this out for what was needed and helping to develop these character into who they need to be. This is really a two person movie though with Debay and Worthalter.

Next would be the effects of the movie. It isn't really one where we get a lot of them, but they all seem to be done practical for the most part. The blood we get looks real. The accomplice gets wounded in the car accident and I love seeing that. It looked quite good. We also see the effects of things happening to people that worked for me. There is a kind of animation for the telling of the Wolf Girl story that was a good choice. I also think there is some really good cinematography throughout as well.

That would take me to the last thing, which would be the soundtrack. I think what they do here works. None of the music necessarily stands out to me, but there is this great scene where Jeremy is listening to headphones. He's shocked by something he sees and we can hear dramatic music. When they're taken off, the music stops and I thought that was done brilliantly. I would say that the soundtrack works for what was needed as well.

In conclusion, I thought that this was an interesting take on the 'Little Red Riding Hood' story. It isn't traditional in that sense, but it is an empowering take on feminism as we see Ève trying to survive this ordeal. The growth of the character and performance of Debay works. The rest of the acting was good as well. I thought the effects, cinematography and the soundtrack were all as well. It does lose me later in the movie as it almost goes whimsical which is a shame as I thought it was pretty strong until that point. Overall though, I still found this to be an above average movie overall. Some changes and I think this could have been good, but it just had those missteps for me.

This movie is not horror but is the next level of stupidity and bad acting, it's so bad that is entertaining, people that give high ratings are probably from the crew

Postmodern lense filters Red Robin Hood through the story of a woman kidnapped who fights for her survival. Raw and visceral acting can make this either very intense or confounding for those that have difficulty with abstract presentations. But, as I enjoy this type of format, I found this film intriguing

It's not the typical "chase and revenge" movie. It's influenced in a children tale (any guess, anyone?). Visualy stuning and at the same time raw and realistically violent. It's a terrorising adult horror fable. With a refined black humor. I strongly recommend it.

Wolfs and a woman in a red jacket? I mean I could be wrong ... but there seems to be some similarities to a certain fairy tale. Of course that doesn't mean that you get that story retold (as in there is no grandma here for example). And I reckon as with the fairy tale, our main character does some questionable things. And I don't mean the going out having fun part. But leaving your cell phone because you are annoyed by it ringing so much .... I guess she hasn't heard of silent mode for example.

But this has to happen for her to be without a cell. I think there are better ways to tell something like that, but hey ... it is what it is. And the second half of the movie really pays out well ... there is a turn and certain things happening that work in favor of the movie. Also the mean bad guy has more than a couple of moments - all in the context of this being a movie. Because I can understand that some people may be offended by things seen and heard here ...

Was "I Spit On Your Grave" and "The House on the Left" too cheerful for you? Maybe this is the movie for you.

I usually don't bother to write negative reviews. I will make an exception here because (a) I am angry (b) there was obviously some budget involved that was squandered.

In sum, this is basically a 20 minute chase-and-revenge short that managed to bloat to 1:25. And each step along the way, the director seems to have said to the writers: "Make it worse. Make the main male character more vile. And make the action sequences more unbelievable, drawn out and ridiculous than they already are." They succeeded. Some scenes here belong in a "Monty Python" sketch where at least the viewer would have the benefit of humor.

I feel bad for the lead actors. They definitely were not paid well enough for the loss of whatever dignity they had going into this project.

The woman who plays the lady who gets messed with is a really really good actress. I thought this was going to be boring but she learned me on so much of this story. I dont know what it is, but as a man i like watching women get back at the evil men. As scary as horror movies are I think women can learn alot from these kinds of movies.

I wouldn't say this was laughably bad, but you really do need to turn your brain completely off to find anything of worth here. Uninspired, over-the-top pervy, characters that I couldn't care less about, and even with an 86 minute runtime; it felt like it dragged on.

This took some wild twists and turns with some wtf is happening moments.. was he hallucinating or..?? But it definitely pumps your adrenalin and keeps the action going.

The plot is stupid, the acting is stupid, the ending ia stupid, even the beginning is stupid, the woman is stupid, but i guess the dog is a bit clever better than the director hinself

"Hunted" is an Action - Thriller movie in which we watch a young woman trying to survive in the wilderness after some incidents that occurred after meeting a man in a bar. She tries with all of her power to survive and protect herself.

I have to admit that I did not have high expectations from this movie so, I was not disappointed by it. The plot did not make any sense at some points and the direction which was made by Vincent Paronnaud was below average since he did not present very well his main characters, something that created plot holes which were not covered. I did not expect it to be a masterpiece but I also did not expect it to be so bad. Lastly, I have to say that "Hunted" is not a good movie and I do not recommend anyone to watch it because I am sure that you will waste your time.

'Hunted' may not be a perfect movie, but I really enjoyed it. The premise was right up my alley to be fair. I'm a big fan of non-supernatural stalker films (even if the things characters are able to survive sometimes feel a little supernatural). The kind of stuff that can actually happen to someone will always be scarier to me than the things that can never happen in the real world.

There are some quite strange accents and voices in this movie. It almost felt like some of the characters had been dubbed over (however everything seemed to match their mouth movements perfectly so I don't think that was the case). It's possibly just the oddness of European characters all speaking English. Some of the sound-mixing was a little off in a few scenes as well.

This felt like a film where anything could happen next (and some truly bizarre and unexpected things did crop up along the way). I like that in the film. I like when nothing feels predictable. Some people don't seem to be connecting with the film based on the small sampling of reviews I've seen. I can understand this film not being for everyone. It certainly isn't made in a conventional way. It worked for me though and I got a lot of enjoyment out of it from start to finish.

Oct. 11

Here's The 4K Lowedown on "Hunted" (NR - 2020 - Blu)

Genre: Horror/Psycho My Score: 6.3

Cast=3 Acting=8 Plot=6 Ending=7 Story=6 Scare=6 Jump=4 F/X=8 Psycho=8 Twist=7

A woman decides to unwind at a local bar after work one night. There she meets a stranger and a one night stand turns into a fight for survival.

"The company of wolves is better than man." This was a pretty good film...I felt a little red riding hood vibe while watching it. I loved the acting from the female lead...I felt the futility in her eyes. There were parts of the story that didn't make a lot of sense. I just didn't seem to mind. It's not a great movie to look for, but you could do worse.

So I did watch it all and "Long Ride" was an understatement. It went on for far too long. A failed attempt of a nightmarish little red riding hood story. I had to see what happened in the end but was it worth watching all the way through, no. Not to mention I had to back track to the beginning to hear the story the mother told her son and then it made sense. I mean who really pays attention to the beginning story when the rest of the movie has nothing to do with it until the very end!

I really liked this. Uncompromising, raw, unsettling. Well acted and a nice new take on cinematography. Too bad about the few inconsistencies every now and then and the not so great last 20 minutes.