HUNTER HUNTER is a new horror-thriller from the IFC, and it's a survival story, which is always my thing, basically. The movie has a limited number of characters as the plot plays out in the remote wilderness. It also does a better job of explaining how much this family is struggling to survive.

The very simple fight for food is a priority early on, which is why the mother in this woodland family wants to relocate to a small town. All of these are so that their daughter can go to school and get food on the table. Although this is not the main plot, I'm sure the horror of not having enough food to feed your child can be understood by everyone. Especially right now!

Who is the real hunter?

I always have high expectations from IFC movies. Of course, this one is about a small family working as fur trappers, which really isn’t my thing. While they do tend to eat the meat from animals caught (or use it as bait) rather than just using the fur, I still don’t like it.

So, when it seems like a wolf has begun hunting the family – always watching them from afar – I quickly find myself being on the side of the wolf. Sorry, not sorry. Especially with the kind of traps used. This is not the point of the movie, but it does become how I watch this film.

Of course, Hunter Hunter isn’t actually about the wolf chasing them. As any horror fan will know, the real danger always comes from other people. And this is when I begin enjoying this movie a whole lot more!

The small cast

As mentioned earlier, the plot and location of this movie mean we only need a small cast to tell the story. The father, Joseph, is played by Devon Sawa, who still makes me think of Final Destination wherever I see his face. Not a bad thing at all, since I love the franchise. More recently, he was also in The Exorcism of Molly Hartley (2015).

The mother, Anne, is played by Camille Sullivan, who you may have seen in the Helstrom series on Hulu, which was just canceled (unfortunately!). Finally, young daughter, Renee, who is always out hunting with her dad when she isn’t being homeschooled by her mom, is portrayed by Summer H. Howell.

The young Summer H. Howell is no stranger to horror movies. Her debut role was in Curse of Chucky (2013) and she was also in Cult of Chucky (2017). In between these two movies, she was in The Midnight Man (2016). More recently, she was in season 2 of Channel Zero. Summer H. Howell is a lot tougher than she’s allowed to show in this movie.

Finally, I should mention that Nick Stahl (Terminator 3, Sin City) is also part of the cast. He appears in the final half of the movie, but I won’t get into that here since it would be a major spoiler.

Watch Hunter Hunter in select theaters and on VOD

Shawn Linden is the writer and director of Hunter Hunter, which is his third feature film as a director. The style and vibe of this horror-thriller worked really well for me. Yes, despite the fact that I cannot stand when animals are hunted for fur, which really hasn’t been necessary for decades. Especially as a trade!

In any case, my issue with this IFC movie was more the fact that the mother and daughter were portrayed as too weak for much of the movie. Not all of it, at all. But I did have a hard time buying that these two female characters would react as they do when we’re supposed to think this is all they’ve known for many years.

Then again, maybe that’s just my bias. Actually, I don’t really believe that since I’m going on what the story shows and tells us at first. In any case, the ending is strong and brutal and I did like it. Not what came just before the ending, but the actual ending!

If you tend to like survival movies, then Hunter Hunter is definitely worth checking out – despite my misgivings for certain aspects.

Hunter Hunter is out in Select Theaters, on VOD and Digital from December 18, 2020.

Details
Director: Shawn Linden
Writer: Shawn Linden
Stars: Camille Sullivan, Summer H. Howell, Devon Sawa, Nick Stahl

Plot
HUNTER HUNTER follows a family living in the remote wilderness earning a living as fur trappers. Joseph Mersault (Devon Sawa), his wife Anne (Camille Sullivan), and their daughter Renée (Summer H. Howell) struggle to make ends meet and think their traps are being hunted by the return of a rogue wolf. Determined to catch the predator in the act, Joseph leaves his family behind to track the wolf. Anne and Renée grow increasingly anxious during Joseph’s prolonged absence and struggle to survive without him. When they hear a strange noise outside their cabin, Anne hopes it is Joseph but instead finds a man named Lou (Nick Stahl), who has been severely injured and left for dead. The longer Lou stays and Joseph is away, the more paranoid Anne becomes, and the idea of a mysterious predator in the woods slowly becomes a threat much closer to home.