Whereas The Cemetery was a bit of a letdown for me, I absolutely loved The Burnt House. What an exquisite piece of night that film was! From the first frame I was entranced by the filthy disharmony that was being vomited from the screen, every single frame voiced wrongness, the unholy atmosphere being conveyed in that film was what I consider the epitome of horror, a nightmarish sense of dread. Horror done the right way!
While Hunters is a different kind of beast, I am glad to say that I loved this as well. This time around it's centered around two brothers who find delight in the offing of man while at the same time filming their ravenous deeds. It has to be said, contrary to the warning stating that what you are about to see is ultra-violent, it's certainly not the most extreme film I've seen regarding acts of the unspeakable. It's most certainly a cruel and callous piece of work and the violence and murder on display is certainly up there on the extremity scale, but not to such a degree that it merits a warning.
That being said, I think the essential element here is the life-denying atmosphere, the darkness that hangs over every frame, and Ahlbrandt certainly is one director who has mastered the art of atmosphere, sadly a rather rare trait in this day and age of horror-poverty and popcorn-scares. Any idiot with a bit of cash and a working knowledge of how to make blood and prosthetic limbs can always gather a few friends, pick up a camera and make an "extreme" film, not that hard. Just look at the sorry state of horror these days. But to actually convey through the visual medium a truly horrific atmosphere, to leave an emotional impact, you have to have a vision, a vision obviously born of a profound insight into the darkness in our hearts. Hunters has my warmest recommendations! I wish the director good luck in the future, looking forward to his next piece of filth!
