HUNTER HUNTER (2020)
Label: Scream Factory / IFC Midnight
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 94 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo and 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Shawn Linden
Cast: Devon Sawa, Camille Sullivan, Summer H. Howell, Nick Stahl
Survival-thriller Hunter Hunter (2020) is set the remote wilderness, where rugged fur trapper Joseph Mersault (Devon Sawa, Idle Hands) and his family live off the grid, living in a modest cabin and trapping fur-animals to eek out a meager existence, it's a tough life. His family consists of wife Anne (Camille Sullivan, TV's Shattered) and teen daughter Renée (Summer H. Howell, Cult of Chucky), the latter of whom he takes along with him as he checks his trap-lines daily, showing her how to bait, trap, and skin the animals, and how to generally survive in the wilderness. His wife Anne mostly sticks to tending to the family and the household, fetching water from a nearby river to wash clothes, and prepare meals, but she's not too involved in the trapping and skinning.
While he and his daughter check their trap lines Joseph finds a trap that's been triggered, but only the leg of the animal remains. He begins to believe their traps are being purloined by a rogue wolf, which is implied to have been a nuisance before, leading him determined to kill the wolf, so as not to affect his families sole source of income. He heads out on his own to hunt the predator, leaving his wife and child behind, but when he does not return home within a day Anne grows increasingly anxious, particularly since he is not responding on his walkie talkie.
With food growing scarce Anne ends up hunting for food herself, shooting a small fawn, and has to learn from her daughter how to skin it. As Joseph’s absence continues Anne's worry grows, particularly when the wolf begins to prowl around their property, and later she finds an injured man named Lou (Nick Stahl, Sin City) in the nearby forest, taking him in and treating his wounds — and soon the threat of a predator in the woods becomes a threat much closer to home.
I don't want to spoil much more of this one, it's a terrific and suspense filled watch and worth seeing unspoiled. It starts off a bit slow but quickly the tension is being applied, leading to some truly suspenseful and gut-wrenching moments, and a final ten-minutes that is absolutely explosive, set to the droning psychedelic rock of tune "Hypnotized Narcissist" by Tales of Murder and Dust, which propels the grisly finale into the upper atmosphere!
Audio/Video: Hunter Hunter arrives on Blu-ray from IFC Midnight and Scream Factory in 100p HD framed in 2.35:1 widescreen. Shot on digital it looks fantastic, crisp and colorful images abound, I love the way the burnt orange autumn leaves contrast against the pines in the forest. Largely full of earthy natural colors things are crisp and well-defined, clarity is quite pleasing, and the blacks are solid. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround with optional English subtitles.
Sadly, the only extras on the Blu-ray is a theatrical trailer for the film. I do wish we had a featurette or commentary, this is such an assured and well-made thriller by writer/director Shawn Linden (TV's In Plain Sight), shot in the ruggedly gorgeous Manitoba, Canada, there must be some good stories about the writing of it script, casting it, and shooting it. Certainly a missed opportunity there.
The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork, along with a slipcover featuring fairly shit floating heads artwork with the superior original movie poster on the flipside, the disc features the original artwork as well.
Special Features:
- Theatrical Trailer
Hunter Hunter (2020) is a powerful and gripping survival thriller with some fantastic rugged scenery, strong performances from the cast, and enough tension and suspense to have me white-knuckled for the last ten minutes, highly recommended.
Screenshots from the Blu-ray:
