The Hunted (2014)

good back-story, and good acting

Don't Believe the Hype

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

As found footage films go, this begins with one of the most persuasive scene settings I've seen for some time. Whilst testing his camera equipment, Jake (Josh Stewart, who also wrote and directed) is enjoying a laugh with his tiny children, who in turn are screaming with delight at the images on the camera. They don't know they're part of a horror film, they're just having fun; as an audience member, I'm instantly thinking that surely such an appealing family unit isn't going to be wrecked by anything 'orrible.With little further build-up, Jake and Stevie (Ronnie Gene Blevins), are deep in the forests of West Virginia. They meet the quietly threatening Tony (Skipp Sudduth) who lives in the forest, and his daughter Jessie (Jessi Blue Gormezano). As the two friends hunting monsters, not a huge amount happens. This is a slow burner, despite wasting no time in setting up the premise. But if you're happy with that - and I am - this is worth your time.The acting is very naturalistic. You really believe these two are good friends. So when their footage appears to be tampered with, and the Blair-Witchy-woodlands behave strangely, it is effective. Most potent, however, is the child-like screaming of whatever is 'out there'.Whilst the ending is disappointing, I enjoyed this for the most part. It is strange to once more glance at reviews and see the marks given for 'Dark Forest' 10 out of 10 and plenty of praise, or 1 out of 10 for the obligatory 'worst film I have ever seen' nonsense. The truth as I see it, is about halfway between the two.

I'm a huge fan of horror, found footage, and Josh Stewart. How could The Hunted not be good? It has all the right ingredients: a creepy setting, two promising actors, and a nice low budget feel. Somehow, The Hunted is just plain awful. There is no sugar coating it. The script feels like a skeleton. The "screams" that scare these two throughout the movie are just plain not scary. Why is there music in a found footage film? You don't need suspenseful music to create a mood - let the situation speak for itself. The ending is frustrating and enough to make you question why you even bothered watching in the first place. Josh Stewart, always reliable, is actually kind of bland here. It is probably to blame on the characters, which feel as hollow as a chocolate Easter bunny. I wouldn't have minded not seeing the entity stalking these two if the film itself had come out on top in the end and really delivered some great moments. The film was clearly heavily influenced by The Blair Witch Project: if you're going to imitate one of the greats, you had better be bringing something original and awesome to the mix. The one and only compelling aspect of this movie lies in the ghost story told during the middle. Sorry, Josh, but it's time to go back to the drawing board for your next movie. I'm rooting for you!

....should have been the title.*SPOILERS*I cannot put into words how bad this found-footage nonsense really is. I've seen some good ones in my time (Paranormal Activity, V/H/S 2, REC, and the Grave Encounters movies spring to mind) and I'm open to all horror movies as a life long fan...but my word: THIS IS THE WORST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN.Zero shock factor, zero interesting footage, zero believable characters that made Blair Witch kick-start this whole fiasco, and to top it off as the title says, the hysterical factor is that that after well over an hour you literally realise you're watching two men run from the sound of an impressive orgasm. Maybe that doesn't sound like I'm dating normal people, and I'm fine with that. I'm more concerned that I had the patience to watch this garbage to the end.I'd love nothing more than to tell you why its so bad in a critical manner, but I only have one lifetime. Full credit to the "Movie Star" Deer Buck in it though, he stole the show...along with the trumpet player that informed us so hysterically when something he thought happened never did.Horror fans = Avoid.

The Hunted was director/actor/writer Josh Stewart's first film project I believe, and I thought it was pretty well done! This was a solid found footage suspense/horror movie in the vein of The Blair Witch Project. Very much in the vein in fact.Let me start off with what I didn't like.First, and this is a fairly minor gripe, was the fact there was music added to build suspense. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but unfortunately in this case it's supposed to be a found footage film so it seemed very out of place and actually distracted me to the point I exclaimed "Where is this music coming from!?".Second, I found too many similarities to The Blair Witch Project. I don't mean similarities as in they are both found footage films, but similarities as in some scenes and scenarios seemed very very close. I appreciate the fact it appears he is trying to honour that film, but there is a fine line there. It's very clear this was his influence.Finally, it was a little to formulatic. I think Josh was trying to play it safe and stuck to a tried and true found footage formula. Not a huge deal but I would have been excited to see something a little different. This whole movie felt a little bit like I had watched it before.Now the good. I loved the premise, two hunters alone in the woods when things start to go awry. The reasons for being out there make total sense, and it also makes sense why they would continue to push forward even with the strange goings on. They are trying to film a hunting show and need to get the footage of the hunt completed in order to secure their TV deal. Everything is on the line for them.The acting was very good; both Josh and Skipp do a great job with their characters. You can tell this is something they were very excited about doing and their heart's were into it. It felt very natural and they were believable.I enjoyed the story, it was very well written and very well done on what was obviously a very teeny tiny budget. I watched Willow Creek a couple of weeks ago and felt this was a far superior found footage film.Even with the small problems, this is one of the better found footage films I've seen in a little while. Perhaps the fact that it was heavily influenced by what I consider the original found footage film was a smart move, and not a negative after all. I enjoyed it, and hope to see more work from Josh Stewart in this genre in the future. A great first effort!