Review of The Hunted (2014) by Bryan B — 10 Sep 2014

THE HUNTED IS MERCILESS PERFECTION!

Two Hunters go into the woods...

One hunts with a bow.

The other a camera...

What they "capture" over the course of a few nights grows into a heart-stopping event sure to rattle the nerves of the even the most steadfast of scary cinema.

Halloween's candy has come early... THE HUNTED is the shriek-inducing-slam-dunk of fall's fear season! A tremendous achievement of heart and horror; Josh Stewart's debut as writer/director/star is a bulls eye of craftsmanship. Stewart's rapport with co-star Ronnie Blevins is a gift to the terror as these two able-bodied men soon find themselves stalked by a disembodied prescience all to eager to scrape them from our earthly plain. Stewart and Blevins imbue their characters with genuine kinship, planting both feet firmly in reality, before isolating them in the dark and letting the worst fears of their imagination take hold.

This is an accomplished, briskly paced motion picture with the astute touch of a storyteller who lived his role to the molecule. There is an authenticity to Stewart's performance that lures the audience to join a state of sheer panic when the supernatural unleashes upon him. The hunting gear, the steady aim... the flayed layers of skin on the calloused outdoorsman's trigger-finger are in plain sight to assure the viewer we are in the company of a professional.

When Stewart and Blevins realize it is they who are the prey of something outside of the wild kingdom... the dedication to detail in their humanity pays off in spades. We're hooked. We're with them. We're praying to all God's they make it home...

This adrenalized scare-a-thon is an original beast worthy of praise also for the copious clichés it avoids: Not one woman is under-dressed and over-exploited. Not one bucket of gore is thrown. Not chock full of curse-words or floods of bombastic score... No... THE HUNTED is a pure, uncut terror experience for the viewer.

This film doesn't need the aforementioned production crutches... nope... it kicks your ass all on its own.

THE HUNTED stands tall in the hallowed grounds of horror.

This film announces Josh Stewart as a multi-hyphenate talent to be reckoned with.

And... it just may change the way you look at the "great outdoors" forever...