Review of Blood Hunt

Blood Hunt (1986)
6/10
Proof that drugs are bad!
5 July 2009
Ever since The Most Dangerous Game was released in 1932, there have been films copying the central plot idea. These have ranged from trash (Jess Franco's Tender Flesh) to commercial efforts such as Surviving the Game and Hard Target. The Most Dangerous Game's influence apparently also spread to the obscure realms of cinema; and Blood Hunt takes heavy influence from the classic horror film. The plot of this one isn't just a rip off, however, and to writer Joaquín Oristrell's credit, the film has some original elements. In fact, the plot is rather weird and I don't know how he came up with it! We focus on a small Spanish village. A new doctor turns up and immediately realises that the people there are a bit strange. He eventually discovers a 'clinic' for drug users; but is surprised when he discovers that the clinic more closely resembles a prison. The doctor then finds out that some years earlier, a bunch of drug users caused the death of some villagers; and the locals are taking revenge by keeping other drug users prisoner...only to release and hunt them down as sport.

The plot sounds very interesting and certainly seems like it's enough to build an intriguing film from. While the film does have its moments; it's just not interesting enough overall, and that's what lets it down. The film is very much of the 'slow burning' persuasion, and it's actually rather boring for the majority of the runtime; the central doctor character doesn't help things much either as the character does not have a lot of interesting elements about him. All this is not helped by the poor dubbing, and I'd much rather have seen the film in its original Spanish with subtitles. The music is rather strange too and doesn't always fit the film. Thankfully, it does get more interesting as it moves along and the big action scene is good, although really over the top in terms of dramatics. You get the impression from very early on that the film is building towards something and we do get a pay off with the ending, which is good...although it's debatable as to whether or not it was worth the wait. Overall, this is an obscure film; and while it does certainly sound interesting...I wouldn't say it's worth the hassle of tracking down.
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