The Hunted (2014) Review!!

Synopsis – Chasing their dream of landing their own hunting show, two hunters head into the dense, secluded mountains of West Virginia only to realize they are not alone.

My Take – For a first film, director/actor/writer Josh Stewart has taken a huge risk by filming a horror film in found footage film, as even though economically its a good idea, the sudden pour of films in the same genre has resulted in a negative backlash from a certain section of the audience, However being a fan of the genre itself I thought it was pretty well done! This was a solid found footage suspense/horror movie in the vein of The Blair Witch Project. The filming wasn’t so obviously orchestrated as to suggest a D.O.P., but then again, this stuff doesn’t just ‘happen’.

The editing was great and the thrill of terror and suspense was heightened by the anticipation of their next move. Yes, their are a bit 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 close. I appreciate the fact it appears he is trying to honor that film, but there is a fine line there. It’s very clear this was his influence (maybe unintentionally). The movie is about two guys, one of them being hunter Jake (Josh Stewart), the other his friend journalist Stevie (Ronnie Gene Blevins), who go out on private ranch to hunt animals and record it so Jake would get enough footage for his planned hunting show, they soon realize they are the prey and something else in the woods is hunting them. 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. It’s a horror movie that relays heavily on the sounds, which is perfect. Sometimes it’s falls alarm (well mostly), sometimes it’s just right there.

The performances were quite natural; 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 likeable and believable. The only thing which didn’t work for me was the abrupt ending, which are quite common in found footage film, but most films end in a direction allowing the audience to decide how it would have ended! Here Josh fails by literally crapping all over the brilliant build up. On the whole The Hunted, for a 1st film was very well crafted & well presented unlike many other films of the same genre but a disappointing climax may play a spoil sport for many viewers. Nevertheless give it a watch!