The Hunted (2013) Reviews

• In the woods at night, and you were worried about bugs?

  barrylyman2014-09-26

  When I was a kid, we used to tell ghost stories or re-tell urban legends around the the campfire. With the advent of the "found footage" genre, we've found a whole new way to keep our kids awake all night, even camping in the backyard. "Blair Witch" did it first. But in my opinion, Josh Stewart has done it best. 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 the next 'event' (don't want to spoil what happens). This is a very well crafted, well presented and well produced film - unlike so many other "found footage" projects that make you wonder if maybe someone's dad bought them an editing suite for Christmas. Next time I pitch a tent around a campfire - if I'm ever so brave after watching this - I'll bring along a laptop and share this tale. Then, spend the night in my SUV with the doors locked. Ironically, the only thing missing in this film was an actual campfire. Otherwise, very very well done and the cast and crew deserve an 'A' for effort and an "A+" for execution.

• excellent directorial debut

  alucardvenom2014-09-10

  I went with this movie not knowing much about it, so when I first saw it was POV\FF format I thought "Oh boy, not again" because last movie I saw as in fact a terrible found footage movie (not to be named here). Then I saw Josh Stewart and thought "Ok it might not be that bad". and to my surprise, this turned out to be not only really good P.O.V. movie, but also a very effective horror movie. Even bigger surprise was "Directed and written by Josh Stewart". Starring in all those horror movies recently really payed of for Josh, because he clearly picked up few tips on what scares the people... and that's coming from a horror veteran who nearly lost all hope in new(er) horror movies for relying either on too much jump scares or too much gore, or just plain old stupid guys doing stupid things in stupid screenplays, surviving only because script said so. 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... Then they soon realize they are the prey and something else in the woods in hunting them. Honestly, if you want to be surprised like I was, don't read anything about this movie. Don't even read cast listing (it gives too much). It's has good atmosphere which is missing a lot from new horror movies, it fallows "the less is more" logic which works well for the movie, it's really tense in "night in the woods" scenes and it becomes very tense and creepy when things finally get going. Now, Josh clearly got influenced by Blair Witch Project (maybe unintentionally) because he manages to capture similar mood of that movie (only better in my opinion) and feeling of unease while characters are all alone in the woods surrounded by pitch black of the woods. It's a horror movie that relays heavily on the sounds, which is perfect. Think original The Haunting. You'll hear that sound and know something is there, something is right in front of the characters. Sometimes it's falls alarm, sometimes it's there. Big thanks to Josh for not relying on jump scares too much, there are few of them, but they are not annoying like in most of modern horror movies. They are not accompanied by loud orchestra music that will pierce your ears, they come naturally and usually have good build up before it, so they are earned and you as viewer are satisfied. (first jump scare is actually really good because there's a huge build up to it) "The Haunted" reminded me of John Carpenter's "The Thing" at one point. Josh was very effective in building up tension where most of the tension comes from expecting things to happen, just like J. Carpenter played with us with "The Thing". You knew Thing was going to pop up eventually, it was just a question when it will show up. It's a same thing here. You know it's going to happen, it's just a matter of time when it will happen. so this reminds me, why are you still and actor Josh? You're a good actor in my opinion, but you're even better director, and horror director on top of that and all of us horror fans know we need more of those these days!

• Solid first effort!

  theflixerdotcom2014-09-26

  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!

• Is there a worse movie?

  dhollis122014-09-19

  Seriously, how many friends and family members reviewed this movie? It was terrible from start to finish. Lots of suspense, but not very interesting suspense ... and ... nothing ever happens. Childish crap. Can't think of a worse movie. OK I have to add more, I guess I need 10 lines, not sure why, what more can I say, a useless movie, by retards, no reason for it to occupy the internet, a waste of bandwidth, people would be better off smashing their head against the wall for 2 hours. There I hope that is enough of a review. Good God, I have to have 10 lines ... that is egregious, this movie rates one sentence - ridiculously, horribly, stupidly, wastefully, terribly, bad ... so bad that ISIS wouldn't even like it. My goodness, how do these turkeys ever get any funding ... much better to burn your money.

• I'm giving this a score of 2 and that's being merciful !!

  MikeHH1230-12014-12-09

  The phrase "pretentious drivel" comes to mind. Nothing happens in this film. Let me repeat that - Nothing happens. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. If your idea of a scary film is hearing a woman scream in the woods, do yourself a favor - find some woods close to your home, go there at night with a woman you know, and ask her to go into the woods and scream. You'll waste far less time than if you viewed this pitiful excuse for a "thriller". Trust me - I LOVE horror films (and I've been a fan for 54 years, and have seen 'em all). Watching paint dry is far more exciting. The really scary thing is that there are those who think this crap is worth making. They should be ashamed of themselves. Please, please don't waste your time - there are far better films to see. Avoid this at all costs !! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !!