Don't be misled by the synopsis. This is not what you think. For some reason it's being pitched as a paint-by-numbers teen slasher movie, and that's the last thing it is. So, before writing it off, allow me to inform differently and advise that The Hunters is an atypical horror/thriller that takes a different approach to the serial killer genre.
There are several interlinking plot threads:
It's the run-up to Christmas, and our hero (of sorts) is Le Saint. He is a partially recovered traumatised war veteran with PTSD, caused by setting off an IED in Afghanistan. He is reinstated into a mostly bureaucratic role as a law enforcement agent. His obnoxious boss lands him with the job of bringing a local mob figure into witness protection. Due to circumstances beyond his control, the original contact point is compromised and so Le Saint arranges to meet his new charge at an old abandoned military fort.
Meanwhile, Le Saint has met Alice whilst jogging in the park and there is a mutual attraction. However, Alice's aspiring boyfriend has arranged to take her somewhere "different" for a little sightseeing on her birthday.
The hunters of the title are two disaffected middle-aged men – a teacher and a computer repair technician. They hang out around the old fort and surrounding forest area with two young thugs who it seems they are in the process of mentoring as part of some sort of social rehabilitation process. Every weekend the four go "hunting."
Then there is Le Saint's boss who has warned him explosively and in no uncertain terms to stay away from the fort and to drop his interest in the high percentage of missing persons cases within a thirty mile radius of the city.
All of these characters and their trajectories are on a collision course. And the abandoned fort is at the centre of the impact.
It's a slow burner, but it sets up its premise with care and skill. When it kicks into action at the mid-point it becomes a relentlessly tense and convincingly violent fight for survival and the four hunters are revealed for what they are as well as what they've been doing. The mystery of the statistical excess of missing persons in the area is uncovered, along with the link to Le Saint's boss. This leaves Le Saint fighting for his life against almost impossible odds.
The Hunters is well filmed, exciting and visceral without lapsing into the standard overload of gore and pornographically explicit torture effects beloved of such mainstream flicks as SAW and Hostel. It has more than its fair share of sickness and sadism, but just as much is left to the imagination as is actually shown.
Yes, it has problems; the narrative relies on contrived coincidences to drive it and there are a few head-scratching wasteful scenes – like the freak handing out the fortune teddy bears. These elements drag it down somewhat, as does some of the occasionally painful overacting. Still, stick with it until it boots into high gear and it's a good investment of time.
Hopefully it now sounds more like what it actually is and less like the cookie-cutter teen-slash brain-drainer it is inexplicably being marketed as here.
There are several interlinking plot threads:
It's the run-up to Christmas, and our hero (of sorts) is Le Saint. He is a partially recovered traumatised war veteran with PTSD, caused by setting off an IED in Afghanistan. He is reinstated into a mostly bureaucratic role as a law enforcement agent. His obnoxious boss lands him with the job of bringing a local mob figure into witness protection. Due to circumstances beyond his control, the original contact point is compromised and so Le Saint arranges to meet his new charge at an old abandoned military fort.
Meanwhile, Le Saint has met Alice whilst jogging in the park and there is a mutual attraction. However, Alice's aspiring boyfriend has arranged to take her somewhere "different" for a little sightseeing on her birthday.
The hunters of the title are two disaffected middle-aged men – a teacher and a computer repair technician. They hang out around the old fort and surrounding forest area with two young thugs who it seems they are in the process of mentoring as part of some sort of social rehabilitation process. Every weekend the four go "hunting."
Then there is Le Saint's boss who has warned him explosively and in no uncertain terms to stay away from the fort and to drop his interest in the high percentage of missing persons cases within a thirty mile radius of the city.
All of these characters and their trajectories are on a collision course. And the abandoned fort is at the centre of the impact.
It's a slow burner, but it sets up its premise with care and skill. When it kicks into action at the mid-point it becomes a relentlessly tense and convincingly violent fight for survival and the four hunters are revealed for what they are as well as what they've been doing. The mystery of the statistical excess of missing persons in the area is uncovered, along with the link to Le Saint's boss. This leaves Le Saint fighting for his life against almost impossible odds.
The Hunters is well filmed, exciting and visceral without lapsing into the standard overload of gore and pornographically explicit torture effects beloved of such mainstream flicks as SAW and Hostel. It has more than its fair share of sickness and sadism, but just as much is left to the imagination as is actually shown.
Yes, it has problems; the narrative relies on contrived coincidences to drive it and there are a few head-scratching wasteful scenes – like the freak handing out the fortune teddy bears. These elements drag it down somewhat, as does some of the occasionally painful overacting. Still, stick with it until it boots into high gear and it's a good investment of time.
Hopefully it now sounds more like what it actually is and less like the cookie-cutter teen-slash brain-drainer it is inexplicably being marketed as here.