hunter hunter movie review

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Hunter hunter, common sense media reviewers.

hunter hunter movie review

Brutal violence toward animals and humans in gory thriller.

Hunter Hunter Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

The movie seems to be working with the "the hunter

The characters are stubborn and often foolish. A w

Gory dead bodies; one female body is tied to a tre

Non-sexual nudity: Naked breasts on female corpse.

Uses of "s--t," "son of a bitch," and "damn," plus

Cigarette smoking.

Parents need to know that Hunter Hunter is a thriller about a family living off the grid in the woods that must contend with a killer wolf. It's tightly constructed and often tense, but it ultimately has very little point and has frequent harm to animals and heavy gore. Expect to see dead bodies, gory remains…

Positive Messages

The movie seems to be working with the "the hunter becomes the hunted" idea, but, aside from adding a few more flip-flops to it (with other hunters also becoming hunted), it doesn't go very far with the concept. It also brings up themes about people trying to be at one with, or control, nature, but, again, doesn't go very far.

Positive Role Models

The characters are stubborn and often foolish. A woman takes charge of her own destiny toward the end, but her choice involves quite a bit of shocking brutality.

Violence & Scariness

Gory dead bodies; one female body is tied to a tree. Severed human arm. Gory remains of animals in traps. Dead humans. Dead dog. Dead baby deer. Dead bear. Character snaps a rabbit's neck offscreen. Guns and shooting. Woman torturing man, slicing face and flesh from his body. Person with gory wounds. Person scoops up roadkill/guts with shovel. Character licks blood from a blade. Character catches limbs in animal snap-traps. Strangling. Twelve-year-old girl handles her own rifle. Scary wolf. Screaming and panic.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Uses of "s--t," "son of a bitch," and "damn," plus "Jesus" and "Jesus Christ."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Hunter Hunter is a thriller about a family living off the grid in the woods that must contend with a killer wolf. It's tightly constructed and often tense, but it ultimately has very little point and has frequent harm to animals and heavy gore. Expect to see dead bodies, gory remains, severed body parts (both human and animal), a woman's corpse tied to a tree, a woman torturing a man, guns and shooting, a 12-year-old girl handling her own gun, a character caught in animal traps, and much more. A female corpse is shown topless. Language includes a few uses of "s--t," "son of a bitch," and "damn," as well as "Jesus Christ." A character smokes cigarettes. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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hunter hunter movie review

Community Reviews

  • Parents say (2)
  • Kids say (3)

Based on 2 parent reviews

Lots of animals died to make this bad film a reality

Absolutely bad., what's the story.

In HUNTER HUNTER, Mersault ( Devon Sawa ); his partner, Anne (Camille Sullivan); and their 12-year-old daughter, Renee (Summer H. Howell), live off the grid in Manitoba in 1990, hunting and selling furs to survive. Mersault becomes worried when he finds the remains of a raccoon in one of his traps: Something tore it out and ate it. He goes hunting for what he thinks is the culprit, a killer wolf. He finds a campsite full of dead bodies and more gory remains in traps. Meanwhile, Anne and Renee try to defend their home against wolf attacks while their food supply runs low. Then a wounded stranger ( Nick Stahl ) appears.

Is It Any Good?

Undeniably well-made and brutally effective, this gory thriller soon becomes sour and ugly due to its ruthless depiction of violence toward animals; it also ultimately lacks a real point or theme. Hunter Hunter is neatly constructed to build dark tension, using sound design and an unknown lurking in the woods that could be anywhere, at any time. Certain elements are kept deliberately off-camera to increase the sense of uncertainty, and the various plot turns are a step above the run-of-the-mill. The title indicates the movie's attempted theme, that the hunter becomes the hunted, while the story's final half-hour offers a few more twists on an old chestnut.

But it really boils down to revenge, and the movie has little to say about the subject other than that it happens. It likewise has very little to say about why the story might be set in 1990, or what it means to "live off the grid." It might be a story about humanity's folly, about how people might unwisely consider themselves to be smarter than nature, but once that point is made, Hunter Hunter still goes on for a while longer. The final nail in the coffin is the constant depiction of animal-killing, plus dead, dying, and mutilated animals. That might not bother everyone, but the movie's cruelty also extends to humans. It's a lot to ask.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Hunter Hunter 's violence . How did it make you feel? How much blood and gore is shown, and how much violence is just suggested? How does that affect its impact?

What does "living off the grid" mean? How difficult do you think it would be to live off the land?

What happens when humans try to control nature -- or show their superiority to nature? Does this theme make for interesting stories?

Why do you think the idea of revenge appeals to people? What are the main flaws with revenge?

How did you feel about the movie's treatment of animals?

Movie Details

  • In theaters : December 18, 2020
  • On DVD or streaming : December 18, 2020
  • Cast : Camille Sullivan , Summer H. Howell , Devon Sawa
  • Director : Shawn Linden
  • Inclusion Information : Female actors
  • Studio : IFC Midnight
  • Genre : Thriller
  • Run time : 93 minutes
  • MPAA rating : NR
  • Last updated : April 11, 2024

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‘Hunter Hunter’ Review: Backwoods Horror Movie Packs the Year’s Grisliest Ending

Ryan lattanzio, deputy editor, film.

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In the world of “Hunter Hunter,” director Shawn Linden’s backwoods horror movie, humans are carrion in the talons of nature. This survivalist thriller set in the Manitoba wilderness packs a gut-twisting punch in its final moments as a family of fur trappers (led by a grizzled Devon Sawa) faces the cruel indifference of the forest. While “Hunter Hunter” initially primes audiences for a man-versus-nature story about humans trying to outdo a cunning wolf, the film spirals into much darker terrain as the sun turns anemic, the body count rises, and hope fizzles out. While the grindhouse levels of shock and gore piled on in the third act may seem out of the cold blue, “Hunter Hunter” carefully lays the groundwork throughout for a brutal tale sure to please genre fans looking for a jolt to cap their 2020.

An almost post-apocalyptic vibe hangs over the Manitoba forest, bringing to mind films like “The Road” and the video game “The Last of Us,” soon to become an HBO series. That’s because this film’s primary focus, at first glance, is the relationship between father (Sawa, as Joseph Mersault) and daughter (Summer H. Howell, as Renee) eking out a life amid the elements. For a minute, as Linden almost tenderly captures Joseph and Renee as he teaches her how to hunt and skin wild game, “Hunter Hunter” even evokes the innocence of Deborah Granik’s survival story “Leave No Trace.” Back at home in their rural cabin far flung from civilization, mother Anne (Camille Sullivan) does the less gory grunt work, while Joseph traps the animals they try to peddle in the economically depressed nearby town.

But such a fairytale-like day-to-day is not for long, as the threat of a very hungry (and very angry) wolf hovers on the periphery of their remote lives. Linden’s screenplay smartly situates the film sometime in the 1990s, which means technology, outside of a few unwieldy walkie-talkies, will be of no use here. Determined to entrap the wolf gobbling up their livelihood, Joseph journeys deeper into the woods, only to stumble upon a horrifying, almost ritualistic mass grave of grotesquely positioned bodies that’s straight out of “True Detective” Season 1. Suddenly, that wolf seems like hardly the worst the Mersaults are up against.

Hunter Hunter

A lakeside encounter with the wolf — an impressive CGI creation — leaves Renee and Anne shaken, and their dog missing. (Those sensitive to the grisly fates of pets in any horror movie will know where this is going.) Meanwhile, Joseph is nowhere to be found, and the local forestry, reminding Anne that their makeshift home on unincorporated land is outside their jurisdiction, is comically useless. Played by Gabriel Daniels and Lauren Cochrane, the authorities have a chummy rapport that Linden briefly explores. But don’t get close to anybody.

For those wondering what the hell happened to Nick Stahl, the ’90s child-turned-teen star whose tormented personal life derailed his big-screen career, well, here he is, in a spooky supporting role that gets the gears rolling toward the film’s grim finale. The job in drumming up the genre elements in the film’s back half feels quite rushed, with the wolf turning out to be just one of several red herrings, the early promise of character development among them.

A fierce young performer, Summer Howell recedes as the movie makes way for stomach-churning shocks. The film becomes almost nihilistically pointless, with the first hour basically all smoke and mirrors to introduce the harrowing last. The dialogue, for the most part, is plain and expository. (“Our daughter should be worrying about math and boys, not hunting!” Anne barks at Joseph.) But the actors ably carry the script, as if aware they’re pawns in a genre exercise.

The ending of “Hunter Hunter” could send those squeamish about viscera (human and otherwise) to the vomit bucket, but director Linden plants enough harbingers of doom throughout the movie’s lean and mean 90 minutes that it shouldn’t come as a surprise. While there’s no supernatural threat to be found here, the film has an uncanny atmosphere, conjured effectively by cinematographer Greg Nicod, who doesn’t flinch at cinematic violence’s inherently garish appeal. This corpse-littered movie grins its bloodied teeth in a final shot that’s sickly over-the-top and as hard to shake as a rusty bear trap gnashing on an ankle.

An IFC Midnight release, “Hunter Hunter” is available in select theaters, on digital, and on VOD Friday, December 18.

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Review: Nature has its say in gory and dramatic thriller ‘Hunter Hunter’

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In writer-director Shawn Linden’s survivalist thriller “Hunter Hunter,” Camille Sullivan plays Anne Mersault, who reluctantly lives deep in the woods with her fur trapper husband, Joseph ( Devon Sawa ), and their resourceful daughter, Renée (Summer H. Howell). The family barely ekes out a living, so when a wolf stalks their land and starts stealing from their traps, the threat taxes an already fraying marriage.

That’s the setup for this film — and it’s plenty dramatic. But Linden uses that premise as the jumping-off point for a surprising and often repulsively gory story, which kicks into high gear when Joseph tracks the wolf and discovers several dismembered bodies, clearly tortured and murdered by a human.

Before “Hunter Hunter” becomes about the standoff between the Mersaults and a deranged serial killer, it’s a portrait of a lifestyle. Linden contrasts the family’s “use every part of the animal” ethos with the carelessness of well-to-do nearby tourists, who call on the overworked local rangers whenever their strewn garbage attracts bears. The film also emphasizes Anne’s concern that Renée has been warped by growing up with a father who has taught her how to use animal brains to tan hides.

The movie’s final act takes too grim a turn, leading up to an ending that’s overly dark and disgusting. But even as it goes way over the top, “Hunter Hunter” stays focused on the fragility of the Mersaults, who want to live by their own rules but discover that nature has its own agenda.

'Hunter Hunter'

Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 32 minutes Playing: Starts Dec. 18, Vineland Drive-in, City of Industry; Mission Tiki Drive-in, Montclair; and in limited release where theaters are open; also on VOD

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Hunter Hunter Reviews

hunter hunter movie review

Redefining the big bad wolf, this gut punch of a film is suspenseful, unnerving, and brutal.

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“Hunter Hunter” is a movie that quietly lures you in by building an interesting family dynamic worth investing in. The characters feel authentic which makes their tense and eventually frightening story resonate.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 17, 2022

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Sneaks up on viewers with strong writing and a deliberate choice to not take it easy the participants in this suspenseful movie.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Jul 11, 2021

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Ultimately, there's more to fear out there than wolves, and our unfortunate family learns too late that they were right to shun humankind.

Full Review | Jun 5, 2021

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Simplistic as it is, this is smart filmmaking, anchored by stunning, accomplished performances that add psychological weight to its undecorated core.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 7, 2021

Hunter Hunter is a hell of a movie.

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A film that could be seen as a fairy tale, a horror, a survival thriller, or a dish of food for thought, Hunter Hunter is tough to watch, but tense and ultimately satisfying.

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Hunter Hunter is a twisted journey into the darkest parts of the forest where only the most bloodthirsty animals survive with the most effective, macabre, gut-punch ending of 2020.

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Hunter Hunter has a relatively small cast, but the movie is big on gradually building suspense, which culminates in a shocking and very gruesome ending ... Hunter Hunter doesn't want to offer easy answers on issues relating to morality or death.

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A creepy and intense watch that climaxes with an uncompromisingly brutal final act, Hunter Hunter subverts expectations and forces its audience to reflect on the savagery of our world.

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It's honest in its cruelty. And honesty counts for something.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jan 11, 2021

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Hunter Hunter offers no easy solutions, no uplift, no salvation, redemption or reassurance. It's too viciously honest to do that.

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Hunter Hunter eventually turns into a helping of horror with an ending that sears itself into memory.

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When that needle drop ends, souls have been broken. That's what makes Hunter Hunter an extraordinary entry in the modern horror canon.

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Hunter Hunter builds towards a progressively engrossing third act that climaxes with an absolutely jaw-dropping and spellbinding finale...

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 3, 2021

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Hunter Hunter is a case of style over substance and your ability to appreciate that more than denigrate it will be the sole barometer of whether you leave satisfied.

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Though more meat is needed on its narrative bones, Shawn Linden's backwoods horror creepfest is a mean-spirited parable about finding out who the ultimate monster is - beast or man?

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Hunter Hunter's atmospheric, woodland nightmare barrels through like a boulder down a hillside and depicts a ferocious battle between man and beast.

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Hunter Hunter is at once more straightforward and more gripping.

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Writer/director Shawn Linden cuts off the gristle and serves up the grisly with a savory slow-roasted tale of tension and terror with Hunter Hunter.

Full Review | Dec 29, 2020

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The Critical Movie Critics

Movie Review: Hunter Hunter (2020)

  • Federico Furzan
  • Movie Reviews
  • --> February 17, 2021

When I browse social media I find a very common practice, which is also very curious. People ask about certain kind of movies to watch to suit a particular mood. Sometimes they want to cry themselves to sleep. Other times they want to be scared out of their wits. But if there’s a request that’s more common than those, it is when they ask to be thrilled. They want a movie to shake and rattle them. Posting horror movies as an answer is a very ordinary response. But on some occasions, it’s something more specific than just frights needed. Even though answers vary (it’s hard to explain succinctly), that bag of feelings was the one I got when the credits rolled in Hunter Hunter .

Hunter Hunter is the answer those hungry viewers have been on the look out for.

In the film, we meet a family who’s living off the grid in a cabin on the edge of the woods. The father, Joe (Devon Sawa, “The Exorcism of Molly Hartley”), hunts. The mother, Anne (Camille Sullivan, “A Dog’s Way Home”), cooks and sells the fur from her husband’s kills. The daughter, Renee (Summer H. Howell, “Clouds”), learns. Anne is not very happy with how their lifestyle has taken the family towards the edge of permanent hunger. But her spouse insists on staying that way. A wolf is on the premises of their cabin and Joe promises to protect them at all costs. When he goes out to hunt the animal, he happens upon a horrid scene in the middle of the woods. His wife tries to find him when he doesn’t reply via walkie-talkie (the only tech at the homestead), and in her desperation she finds evidence that the wolf may not be the most dangerous threat.

And that’s it. This is how this well-crafted thriller begins. One with enough twists and turns to convey an experimental sense in scripting. It’s weird, but in Hunter Hunter , you can almost feel a screenwriter (in this case Shawn Linden, who also happens to be the director) who’s working while observing how the audience reacts. It is a fine collection of possibilities that slowly materialize to leave you speechless and out of breath.

Linden doesn’t show remorse for the viewer and the direction he takes deviates from what the basic formula always does and/or is expected to do. It doesn’t have to do with a happy ending (this genre is not well known for ending with one). Its third act is one that will go in history as one of the boldest, sickest, and fairest ways to end a movie. You will never expect it because this is how surprises work when they relate to something new. Yes, maybe there are enough signs along the way if you are paying close attention, but even so, you will never be prepared for this. I guarantee it.

Hunter Hunter is an affirmation in genre that does a great job of resuscitating two good actors from oblivion (I was especially happy to see Devon Sawa back on his feet!), but it’s also a great example of how independent cinema can surpass the industry we have come to know as a commercial vehicle. Linden’s film is a fantastic piece of work about humanity and the unraveling of the true nature of fighting for survival without known rules, limits or boundaries.

You’ve been warned.

Tagged: cabin , hunting , survival , wolf , woods

The Critical Movie Critics

Federico is a film buff who's been writing about movies and TV for more than ten years now; he's the founder and editor of Screentology.com. He's also a member of the Online Film Critics Society, as well as a Rotten Tomatoes Certified Critic. He lives in Argentina and would love to hear from you!

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‘hunter hunter’: film review.

A family of fur hunters runs into trouble in the wilderness in 'Hunter Hunter,' Shawn Linden's thriller featuring Camille Sullivan, Devon Sawa and Nick Stahl.

By Frank Scheck

Frank Scheck

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Hunter Hunter

Since my parents inexplicably failed to instill in me a love for killing at an early age, I’ve never gone hunting. But I can imagine that it takes a lot of patience and exactitude before achieving the satisfaction of the final result.

Shawn Linden’s new thriller Hunter Hunter is a lot like that.

Release date: Dec 18, 2020

The film’s title is repetitive by design, providing a not-so-subtle hint that there will be more than one stalker of living creatures on display. The first of these in the 1990s-set story is Joseph (Devon Sawa, of  Final Destination  and  Idle Hands ), a fur trapper who lives with his wife, Anne (Camille Sullivan, veteran of many Canadian television dramas), and their teenage daughter, Renee (Summer H. Howell), in a remote wilderness region of Manitoba. The rugged Joseph prides himself on his self-reliance, so when his prey are regularly snatched from his traps by what he assumes to be a wolf, he disdains Anne’s suggestion that they seek help from the local wildlife authorities. Instead, he sets out to kill the rogue animal on his own, a decision that will have fateful consequences.

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Director-screenwriter Linden ( The Good Lie , Nobody ) sets a slow and steady pace, at times threatening to become tedious, as he carefully establishes the family’s complex emotional dynamics, which include Anne’s growing doubt about their off-the-grid lifestyle and Renee’s desire to follow in her father’s footsteps. For a good portion of the running time, the film revolves around Anne and Renee’s growing anxiety during Joseph’s prolonged absence. Along the way, they have a scary encounter of their own with a wolf, in a scene in which Anne demonstrates her ingenuity and fierce protectiveness toward her child. As their food begins to run out, she is also forced to kill a rabbit with her bare hands, breaking down in hysterics as she does so.

When they a find a seriously wounded stranger ( Nick Stahl ) not far from their cabin, Anne takes him in and nurses him back to health. It’s another decision that that turns out to be ill-advised.

It’s in the film’s final act, which seems a long time in coming, that Hunter Hunter truly becomes something memorable. There will be no spoilers here, save to say that the filmmaker cunningly keeps the narrative merely simmering until a gonzo conclusion that ranks among the more shocking scenes in cinematic history as an accumulation of tragedies transforms Anne from someone who weeps at the killing of a rabbit into an instrument of revenge who would inspire Hannibal Lecter’s admiration.

There’s a bait-and-switch quality to this, to be sure, with the film at first coming across like a fairly conventional and not particularly distinctive survival thriller before lurching into Grand Guignol-style horror. But it works, thanks to the filmmaker’s exacting skill at providing his slow-burn setup, abetted by the unsettling sound effects and intense musical score. The performances are all fine, with Sawa and Stahl providing forceful presences. But Sullivan is particularly memorable, delivering the sort of galvanizing, physically and emotionally demanding turn that would be of the star-making variety if Hunter Hunter were to be seen by a wide audience. That’s unlikely, but it’s safe to say that anyone who does see the film won’t be forgetting it anytime soon.

Available in theaters and digital formats Distributor: IFC Midnight Production companies: Julijette, MarVista Entertainment, Particular Crowd Cast: Camille Sullivan, Summer H. Howell, Devon Sawa, Nick Stahl, Gabriel Daniels, Lauren Cochrane Director-screenwriter: Shawn Linden Producers: Juliette Hagopian, Shawn Linden, Neil Elman Executive producers: Fernando Szew, Tony Vassiliadis, Hannah Pillemer, Jennifer Westin, Peter Bevan, Mariana Sanjurjo, Tomás Yankelevich Director of photography: Greg Nicod Production designer: Chad Giesbrecht Costume designer: Sandy Soke Editors: Chad Tremblay, John Gurdebeke Composer: Kevon Cronin Casting: Nancy Foy, Jim Heber

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WARNING: Major spoilers ahead for  Hunter Hunter

Director Shawn Linden's 2020 thriller  Hunter Hunter   delivers a breathtaking, violent ending sequence that is bound to leave audiences talking, but what does it really mean? Here's our breakdown of the movie's ending, themes, and what could happen next.

Hunter Hunter  focuses on a family of fur trappers who live an isolated life in the remote wilderness, where they get by through simple, and even somewhat primitive means. The family's patriarch, Joseph ( Devon Sawa ), is a capable provider for his wife, Anne (Camille Sullivan), and daughter, Renee (Summer H. Howell), who is learning the trade from her father. While Anne is beginning to question whether their secluded lifestyle is right for her young daughter, who is homeschooled and isolated from others her same age, Joe doesn't want to give up his lifestyle or his land, which has been in his family for generations. Joe and Renee are out hunting and checking their traps when Joe sees evidence that another predator is lurking in the woods — a wolf. He immediately becomes cautious and protective of his daughter, despite her being a capable enough hunter in her own right, and starts doubling down on protection to keep his family safe until he slays the beast.

Related: The Best Horror Movies Of 2020

The set up for  Hunter Hunter  makes it seem like a movie akin to  The Revenant  or other movies that pit man against beast; it even has the markings of a werewolf movie at times. However, the bone-chilling reveal that there's a different kind of predator in the woods—a very human hunter—raises the stakes and sends the movie sprinting toward its wild conclusion. After Joe discovers a crime scene in the woods that's posed and suggests a very sick individual is behind the crimes, he starts staying out all night, determined to hunt a human predator instead.  Hunter Hunter  plays out like a cautionary tale when Lou (Nick Stahl), an injured stranger, ends up being taken in by Anne and Renee. Inadvertently, they've let the real wolf into their home. The rest of the movie plays out like a gritty, exploitation film like  The Texas Chainsaw Massacre   or  Last House on the Left , and Anne ends up proving in full, bloody detail what can happen when a woman has nothing left to lose. However, by the end of Hunter Hunter , there's still a few questions that remain — here's what the movie's ending really means.

What Happened To Anne After She Kills The Stranger?

After Anne viciously skins Lou alive in the shed after he's murdered her husband and daughter, she's caught by police. Anne walks past them, numb, and sits on her front porch. She seems to have accepted her fate, whatever that may be. Likely, she'll be arrested and charged with at least one murder, but possibly more. Anne's fate ultimately depends on if the police choose to believe her story of the very human wolf her family has encountered. Earlier in the movie, Anne went to police about her missing husband, who had broken their protocol by not staying in reasonably frequent contact via walkie talkie. She informed them not only of Joe's disappearance, but expressed her concerns about the wolf. While she wasn't taken seriously then, it's possible that given the evidence that another officer found in the woods—Lou's horrific crime scene—and Anne's earlier disclosure to police, they'll at least believe she didn't murder her own family.

Unfortunately, Anne likely won't get off scot-free since she did kill a man, albeit for revenge. However, there's always the chance that she could plead insanity given her circumstances. Earlier, when Anne was speaking with local law enforcement, she was informed that the land doesn't really belong to Joe's family — it's government-owned. While it might have belonged to them once, their lifestyle doesn't precisely hint to them seeking out permits or legal purchases of property. More likely, they just stayed on the land, avoided detection, and nobody bothered them. In that regard, Anne is also technically homeless and, given their lifestyle, more civilized people might even already assume she's mentally ill , feral, or just snapped. It's a bleak ending, especially for a woman who was only trying to protect her family and do a good deed for a stranger who seemed to be in need — interestingly, Renee was suspicious of him from the start. After Anne tended to his injuries, a clever shot of her curious facial expression suggested that she might even recognize his injuries as being from her father's bear traps.

Was Joe Hunting A Wolf The Whole Time?

At one point, Lou makes a comment that suggests Joe might not have been hunting a wolf at all. In fact, the sentiment expressed suggests maybe Joe was aware of Lou's presence the whole time, and only told his family he was hunting a wolf. This does disregard the fact somewhat that Renee and Anne encountered a wolf out in the wild while they were washing clothes in the river. Anne bravely stared down the predator and got it to flee. However, their family dog didn't survive its encounter with the beast. This could be purely logical, as given the area they live in, it's possible wolves are all over the woods. Just because Anne and Renee encountered one wolf doesn't mean they encountered the same wolf—or the only wolf—that Joe was supposedly hunting. Joe does start hunting and tracking the wolf prior to his discovery of Lou's crime scene, which could also suggest that at least for a little while, he was being honest. However, the particular caution that Joe expresses in relation to the wolf—particularly in how he's overly careful about Renee being out in the woods by herself, at all—suggests he knows more than is immediately revealed.

Related: The Biggest Horror Movie News Stories Of 2020

Renee isn't as skilled of a hunter as her father, but she has shown to be capable with weaponry, knows how to hunt and track, and presumably knows the woods well, since she goes out hunting and tracking with her father a lot. In fact, throughout the movie, Renee is mistaken for a boy. What  Hunter Hunter  does really well is hold cards tightly to its chest; the conundrum about Joe and the wolf is a perfect example of this. After Joe discovered the crime scene, he unmistakably starts tracking Lou, as he's discovered a possible second threat to his family. However, given that there's not really a lot of background given about Lou, his crimes, whether he's a known serial killer , or any further details there, it's possible Joe has been aware of Lou for a while. If Lou was in Joe's periphery already, it's likely he wouldn't tell his wife and daughter about him; Joe is a confident, capable man who would likely want to take matters into his own hands and not scare his family in the process, particularly since Anne has already expressed a desire to stop living in the woods.  Hunter Hunter  becomes infinitely more intriguing if Joe's "wolf" was actually a human monster the whole time.

What Hunter Hunter's Ending Really Means

Hunter Hunter  initially is meant to seem like a human hunter vs. an animal one, an apex predator type of species. Or, given its horror roots, perhaps some supernatural creature or other similarly monstrous threat. However, there's a distinct connotation between the battle of one hunter against another. The ending revealed that the other "hunter" was, in fact, Lou. He and Joe went head-to-head, but Joe ultimately didn't make it out alive. However, when Lou arrived at Anne's doorstep, she ended up proving to be the ultimate hunter, even accidentally. While she barely managed to get the upper hand on Lou when he attacked her and tried to subdue her—likely to kill her, if not worse—she ended up surviving based on grit and instinct alone. In some respects, Anne's fight for survival could be seen as a mother's almost animal-like instinct to protect her young. Anne stands in for a feral mother wolf, one who longs to be reunited with her cub knowing that she's lost her mate. Anne's family has been decimated; her fight against Lou means much more than a selfish interest in preserving her own life.

Interestingly, what happened to Renee is never shown. In that regard, the audience is able to dream up whatever grisly fate they wish, which is perhaps even far worse than what Lou actually did. However, it's pretty clear that Renee was his final victim. There's nothing else that would warrant such a cold, completely insane reaction from Anne, who was nearly in tears when she faced a wolf, heartbroken at the death of her dog, and even struggled to snap a rabbit's neck in order to feed her family. Linden reveals the true meaning behind the movie's title and its overall theme in this final scene, which is mercilessly drawn out, almost forcing the audience to choose whether to recoil in horror as if they're condemning Anne's brutality or cheer her on, effectively choosing to condone her actions instead.  Hunter Hunter  reveals the true "hunter" figure — a mother who has lost everything, including herself, to tragedy. In essence, Anne has become a hunter through circumstance alone; it was never precisely in her nature, but became an integral part of her all the same.

Next: Every Major Horror Movie Of 2020 Ranked From Worst To Best

Hunter Hunter Ending Explained: The Surprising And Brutal Conclusion

Camille Sullivan and Summer H. Howell in Hunter Hunter

Hunter Hunter is one of those films that once you see it, the ending will haunt you for a while. With the Hunter Hunter ending, director Shawn Linden has added a very worthy entry into the traumatizing and disturbing film endings hall of fame.

Hunter Hunter stars Camille Sullivan, Devon Sawa, Summer H. Howell, and Nick Stahl. and follows a fur trapper Joseph “Joe” Mersault (Devon Sawa), his wife Anne (Camille Sullivan), and their daughter Renee (Summer H. Howell) as the danger of a wolf looms on their quiet wilderness life. Eventually, Anne and Renee find a wounded stranger, Lou (Nick Stahl), who they nurse back to health. The film is a cross between a survivalist movie and a horror flick. Even before the Hunter Hunter ending, Shawn Linden creates a strong narrative of a family trying to survive life in the wilderness while facing various dangerous obstacles. The Hunter Hunter ending horrifies but in a way that’s bound to delight horror movie fans.

Let's further explore that Hunter Hunter ending and its overall themes . Warning: Hunter Hunter ending spoilers ahead.

Camille Sullivan in Hunter Hunter

What Happened At The End Of Hunter Hunter?

Anne discovers Joe’s body and realizes that Lou likely killed him. She rushes back to her cabin to find Renee. Lou sees her rush in and attacks her. He manages to strangle Anne to the point where she passes out. Lou then starts to burn all his bedding, so that there is no trace of his DNA at the Mersault’s’ cabin.

Lou then turns his attention to Anne. He starts to rip off her clothes, while listening to his music. Anne manages to grab an animal trap from the floor and wounds Lou. She then knocks him out with another tool.

Meanwhile, Lucy (Lauren Cochrane) leads a team of police officers and dogs to the cabin. They follow a blood trail from the site of Lou’s murders to the cabin. They also see the smoke from Lou’s burning of the bedding.

Anne opens the door to another room, and the audience doesn’t see what Anne sees, but it’s assumed that she sees Renee’s dead body and whatever horrors Lou did to her before killing her. Anne snaps. She drags Lou’s body to the room where they gut and skin the animals. Anne takes out her tools and begins to skin Lou alive. She skins him from head to toe.

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When Lucy and the police finally arrive, while covered in blood, Anne comes out holding the skin of Lou’s face. She slowly walks out. The cops enter the cabin to find Lou completely skinned and it seems like he hasn’t died just yet, as his body continues to move. Anne sits down to await her fate.

Devon Sawa and Summer H. Howell in Hunter Hunter

Who Died At The End Of Hunter Hunter?

When we reach the Hunter Hunter ending, the body count has reached a high number. Lou has killed at least four women (from the missing person posters in the police office). Then the dog Tova has died because of the wolf, and Joe and Renee are also dead. Lou may not have physically died yet but he’s definitely dying. It isn’t clear if Barthes (Gabriel Daniels) has died because we see his body on the ground from being severely wounded by the bear traps, but we don’t see him actually die.

It appears he’s dead because of the way the police officers surround him and how upset Lucy is by the end. Lucy and Anne seem to be the only important characters from Hunter Hunter who survive, but Anne is likely now dead inside.

Camille Sullivan as Anne in Hunter Hunter

Anne Mersault’s Hunter Journey

One of Hunter Hunter ’s greatest strengths is that it sets up these expectations just to tear them down. Viewers start Hunter Hunter expecting Devon Sawa’s Joe to be the protagonist and hero of the movie, but in reality, he’s only in the film for the first 30 or so minutes. He is also not the hero because he continues to make choices that put Anne and Renee in danger, like keeping them in the dark about Lou being somewhere nearby.

The real protagonist of Hunter Hunter is Anne. We watch and follow Anne evolve and become a stronger hunter. Anne is never an incompetent hunter. She’s just not a ruthless hunter. The audience watches Anne learn new hunting techniques, like how to skin an animal, and by the end of Hunter Hunter , she has reached her breaking point and becomes as ruthless as Lou when killing. In an interview with Shockya , Shawn Linden shared more of his initial vision for Anne’s journey in the movie.

I really wanted to stress the idea that even though Anne is very physically capable in the beginning, she’s also quite meek and afraid of a lot of things, and dependent on her husband and the life he’s set up. That changes through the movie; she finds the strength she needs. Every time something changes, she adapts and does what needs to be done. That takes her all the way through her true transformation in the end.

In many ways, Anne was always the best hunter in the movie. Unlike Joe, she’s able to adapt and willing to do what’s necessary to protect her family. Unlike Renee, Anne is an adult, so she can be courageous when necessary, and unlike Lou, she hunts out of necessity, not for pleasure. All these attributes help her be a capable hunter and the sole survivor of the film.

Nick Stahl in Hunter Hunter

The Wolf In Hunter Hunter

There are multiple wolves in Hunter Hunter. There are one, possibly two actual wolves. We see the first one when Joe shoots at it, then finds Lou’s murder spot. We don’t know if Joe killed that wolf, but we later see another one that faces off against Anne and Renee, and ultimately kills Tova.

However, the greatest wolf threat in Hunter Hunter is Lou. The film begins as if it’s going to be a man vs nature film, but it becomes man vs man. Hunter Hunter at some points also feels like classic fairy tales, like Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs, Like with those fairy tales, you feel the threat of a wolf all throughout, just waiting for him to make his move, and when Lou shows up, you know the wolf is here to destroy their lives and home.

Even the film’s score makes sure to let you know Lou is a predator from the beginning, every time that he’s on-screen it reflects that he’s a danger. Composer Kevon Cronin told TVOverMind what Linden wanted to do with the movie’s sound.

When I first spoke with Shawn, the director, about the approach he wanted to take, he made it clear that one of the things he wanted to portray in the score is an ode to the predator.

Nick Stahl and Summer H. Howell in Hunter Hunter

Predator Vs Prey Dynamic In Hunter Hunter

All throughout Hunter Hunter Linden plays with the idea of predator vs prey in various forms. In an interview with LRM Online, he discusses how part of this film is about industrialization and how living in the woods isn’t that sustainable of a way to live, which presents the first conflict in Hunter Hunter. Anne wants to assimilate to the city but Joe wants to keep their current life.

Even when Anne and Renee seek help from Lucy and Barthes, they’re told they can’t be helped because of where they live. This life has made them more vulnerable to become prey. They’re also victims to the predatory nature of industrialization, it makes it harder for fur trappers and other similar occupations to survive because machines and modern technology make it harder for them to make a living.

In an interview with Coming Soon , Nick Stahl discussed Lou’s rituals to kill, like playing music while he murders. He also mentions that he believes Shawn Linden’s father had a career in forensic science, so he knows more than many about serial killers. Serial killers and vicious animals both have rituals when it comes to finding and killing their prey. The film even turns Lou into an animal right before he’s presumably about to rape Anne.

He smells her, beats his chest, and starts to paw at her. Then when Anne turns to the predator , she is void of any emotions, like an animal would be killing his prey. She also adapts Lou’s ritual of listening to music while killing.

Hunter Hunter is currently available to stream on VOD services. Stream it on Amazon here .

Spent most of my life in various parts of Illinois, including attending college in Evanston. I have been a life long lover of pop culture, especially television, turned that passion into writing about all things entertainment related. When I'm not writing about pop culture, I can be found channeling Gordon Ramsay by kicking people out the kitchen.

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Hunter Hunter – Movie Review (3/5)

Posted by Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard | Dec 15, 2020 | 4 minutes

Hunter Hunter – Movie Review (3/5)

HUNTER HUNTER is a new horror thriller from IFC. It’s a survival story about a small family living in the remote wilderness. They get by as fur trappers but it isn’t really bringing in enough money. Also, there might be a wolf chasing them. Read our full  Hunter Hunter  movie review here!

HUNTER HUNTER is a new IFC horror-thriller and it’s a survival story, which is basically always my thing. Since the plot plays out in the remote wilderness, the movie has a minimal number of characters. Also, it does a great job of showing how much this family struggles to survive.

A focus early on is the very basic struggle for food, which is why the mother in this wilderness family wants to move to a small town. Both so their daughter can go to school and so they can get food on the table. While this isn’t the main plot, I’m sure many can recognize the horror of not having enough food to feed your child. Especially right now!

Continue reading our Hunter Hunter  movie review below.

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!

Hunter Hunter – IFC Horror Review

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, on VOD and on Hulu

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. It will also be on Hulu from March 19, 2021.

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

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.

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About The Author

Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard

Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard

I write reviews and recaps on Heaven of Horror. And yes, it does happen that I find myself screaming, when watching a good horror movie. I love psychological horror, survival horror and kick-ass women. Also, I have a huge soft spot for a good horror-comedy. Oh yeah, and I absolutely HATE when animals are harmed in movies, so I will immediately think less of any movie, where animals are harmed for entertainment (even if the animals are just really good actors). Fortunately, horror doesn't use this nearly as much as comedy. And people assume horror lovers are the messed up ones. Go figure!

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hunter hunter movie review

There's a Musical Movie About Jesus Fighting Vampires Has 80% on Rotten Tomatoes

  • Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter is a wild ride with vampires, lesbians, and a Mexican wrestler all led by the Lord himself.
  • This absurd film is surprisingly respectful to Jesus, featuring biblical allusions and a pro-Christ, anti-Church message.
  • Don't judge this movie by its title; it's too silly to be offensive and actually carries a deeper, more reverential meaning.

When one thinks of vampire hunters, images of Hugh Jackman 's Gabriel Van Helsing in Van Helsing , or Guillermo ( Harvey Guillén ) from What We Do in the Shadows are usually the first to come to mind. But that’s in-the-box thinking. Think outside the box. Who could take on a vampire? John Cena , maybe? Hm, right initials, wrong guy. Think about it — vampires are averse to crucifixes, so who better than the guy who’s on them? That’s right. Jesus Christ himself would be the ultimate vampire hunter . But how in the unholy basement would that work?

Well, count your blessings, because a Canadian director, Lee Demarbre , has already looked at that scenario and committed it to film, with actor Phil Caracas as the Lord, here on Earth in the present. That film is 2001's Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter , and it has everything you'd expect: vampires, lesbians, atheists, a mad doctor, a big musical number, and a Mexican wrestler known as El Santo ("the Saint") played by Jeff Moffet . Okay, maybe no one would expect that; nor would one expect a film that features a revered figure as a vampire hunter to actually be reverential. And they sure as he... unholy basement wouldn't expect such a bat-s**t crazy concept to sit at 80% on Rotten Tomatoes . So read on about Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter , a miracle worthy of its namesake .

Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter (2001)

In a modern-day city, Jesus Christ reappears to confront a rising vampire threat targeting vulnerable populations. Joined by El Santo, a legendary Mexican wrestler, and a group of eclectic allies, he uses both his holy abilities and martial arts prowess to fight the undead menace. As the vampires' attacks intensify, particularly against the lesbian community, Jesus leads a determined effort to eradicate the evil and restore peace.

Release Date June 10, 2001

Director Lee Demarbre

Runtime 85 Minutes

Main Genre Action

Genres Comedy, Action, Horror

Budget 100000

Studio(s) Odessa Filmworks Inc.

'Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter' is as Crazy as it Sounds

A narrator ( Ivan Freud ) who looks disturbingly like Rasputin introduces the story: Lesbians in Ottawa are living in fear, with vampires attacking them at night and, somehow, during the day. Catholic priest Father Eustace ( Tim Devries ) comes to the conclusion that only one man can take on the hordes of vampires that have taken residence in the city: Jesus Christ . Two priests are sent to the beach, where Jesus is baptizing newcomers to the faith, and tell him about the vampire problem. Suddenly, there are three vampires, including Maxine Shreck ( Murielle Varhelyi ), one of the vampire leaders. The vampires kill the priests, but Jesus uses the lake as holy water to take care of two of them. Maxine, however, escapes. Jesus heads into the city, where he gets a haircut, does a big song and dance number, and buys wood to make stakes for his mission. He's confronted by two atheists, who challenge him. And not just them, but 30 more atheists that pop out of the car, like a bad circus act . Undaunted, Jesus defeats them all, leaving a pile of atheists behind. Or maybe an abundance of atheists? An amalgamation of atheists? What's the plural?

Jesus is soon joined by Mary Magnum, a vampire hunter herself, and they infiltrate the hospital. They learn that mad scientist — because there's never a normal scientist in these things — Dr. Praetorious (Josh Grace) is the one behind the murders of local lesbians, using them as fodder for skin transplants that make the vampires immune to daylight . They are challenged by Maxine and Johnny Golgotha ( Ian Driscoll ), another of the lead vampires, and the fight is taken to the rooftop. It doesn't go well, with Mary getting turned into a vampire and taken away, and Jesus roughed up pretty badly. He manages to crawl down to the street and calls for help, where a trans person ( Jose Sanchez ) stops and takes Jesus to his apartment for care.

The next day, Jesus' father, God, speaks to him through a bowl of cherries and encourages him to reach out to Mexican wrestler El Santo for help. After his arrival, the pair slay dozens of vampires at a nightclub, but El Santo and his assistant are captured. The next day, Jesus meets Johnny, Maxine, Mary, and Father Eustace, who is now also a vampire, at a junkyard. Jesus fights them all, while simultaneously fighting Dr. Praetorius at the hospital. Back at the junkyard, Eustace stabs Jesus with a stake, but instead of killing him, it results in a bright, blinding light shining from the wound, killing both Eustace and Johnny. Having won the day, Jesus then turns and cures Maxine, Mary, and another vampire (one that El Santo has fallen for) of their vampirism. The movie ends with Jesus preaching, asking people to think for themselves .

'Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter' is Too Silly to be Offensive

One reviewer on Rotten Tomatoes, Rob Gonsalves, astutely says that Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter "will offend those who are offended by the very title." He's not wrong. The title alone would earn the wrath of conservatives nationwide, and it's ridiculous — both the reasoning why and the film itself. Simply put, the film is so overwhelmingly absurd that it plays as a parody of classic B-films , like those of Ed Wood . Punches don't connect. Kicks miss their target by feet, not inches, and yet those targets still fall. The dialogue is laughable, yet delivered with gravitas, like my personal favorite quote from Dr. Praetorius: "We're running short on skin. We'll need to harvest more lesbians." Jesus rides a skateboard, his Father talks to him from a bowl of cherries, and his mother from a Virgin Mary light. And did I mention the Mexican wrestler?

Films that feature Jesus as anything other than being a spotless, perfect man, free of any sin, are always open to controversy. The Broadway debut of Jesus Christ Superstar in 1971 was knee-deep in it, with protests every single night. Why? Because there was an implied romantic relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Because Judas was cast in a sympathetic light. Because, horror of horrors, Jesus was depicted as a man dealing with doubts, fear, and even anger. The release of the film version and Godspell , in 1973 was met with controversy for similar reasons, and that has largely been the case across the board. Even Monty Python's Life of Brian was hailed as blasphemous, despite the members of the famed troupe going out of their way not to lampoon Jesus. Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter has no such problems, as the film takes things to extreme, comical distances . Jesus riding a skateboard doesn't even get close to anything Jesus did in life.

'Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter' is Surprisingly Reverential

While it is absurd in every sense of the word, Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter is far deeper than it appears, and, surprisingly, respectable with its hero . Jesus may be fighting vampires, but not once in the film does he do anything that could be considered sacrilegious. He heals the lame, gives an old woman the strength to cross the street without a walker, raises the dead, cures lepers... sorry, vampires, and more. The film is rife with allusions to the Bible, most notably the parable of the Good Samaritan, with a cross-dresser coming to Jesus' aid after he was ignored by a priest and a cop passing by. Jesus offers a lemonade to Father Eustace, assuaging Eustace's concern about having enough for all, a clear nod to the tale of the loaves and fishes. When one vampire is overjoyed at the thought of killing Jesus, he quips, "Clearly you don't know how the story ends." The inclusion of El Santo as an aide for Jesus in his fight could imply that the wrestler is an apostle of Christ or maybe even the Holy Spirit.

Where the film earns its praise, though, is in its brilliant pro-Christ, anti-Church messages . Some are more pointed than others but they're impactful nonetheless. When Jesus learns about the situation from Father Eustace, Eustace makes it clear that the Church has turned a blind eye to the lesbians of the city, deeming them deviants and unworthy of their aid, to which Jesus says there is nothing deviant about love, asking, "When will they learn that it is not for them to judge?" The cross-dresser is a perfect modern-day example of a Samaritan, a member of a community widely scorned in Jesus' time, with protests and anger constantly being hurled toward drag queens and the LGBTQ+ community in today's world. Jesus implores a group of gathered people, another Biblical reference, this time to the Sermon on the Mount, not to blindly follow the Church but to think for themselves (which leads to a very clever shot at technology, with Jesus' speech about listening to the message, not the messenger, followed up by a chorus of cell phones ringing).

There's one quote from the film that Jesus delivers that sums the film up: "Not even this separates you from my love." It works on many levels, as a statement about the film itself, the lifestyles of the characters, and the attempts at skewing the words of Christ into personal agendas. And it's the same message that He delivered yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter is available to stream in the U.S. on Tubi.

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There's a Musical Movie About Jesus Fighting Vampires Has 80% on Rotten Tomatoes

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Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Kraven the Hunter (2024)

Russian immigrant Sergei Kravinoff is on a mission to prove that he is the greatest hunter in the world. Russian immigrant Sergei Kravinoff is on a mission to prove that he is the greatest hunter in the world. Russian immigrant Sergei Kravinoff is on a mission to prove that he is the greatest hunter in the world.

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Monster Hunter Wilds Gameplay Revealed in New Trailer

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During the latest PlayStation State of Play presentation, Monster Hunter Wilds was given the spotlight to show its first trailer with official gameplay. This is the first footage players have seen of the new game since its premier trailer back in December.

The trailer can be found on YouTube . Additionally, some gameplay and story aspects are elaborated on the official PlayStation Blog . From the trailer itself, the main setting for the upcoming Monster Hunter title resembles a savanna ecosystem. Fans can expect combat in this game to be dynamic in ways that are new to the series, with turbulent weather and a more chaotic environment. Not only that, but it appears that players will be able to switch between two different weapon types thanks to their new mount carrying them.

10 Tips for Getting Started in Monster Hunter Now

Monster Hunter Now combines the mechanics of Pokémon Go with Capcom's Monster Hunter, but players will still need a few tips to get started.

A True Next-Gen Monster Hunter Game Has Large Expectations

These new features are only a few parts of the bigger picture. As described in the PlayStation Blog, one of the ideas driving the development of Monster Hunter Wilds is that of a "living world". This makes sense from what has been shown so far - monsters will have their own habits and interactions within a larger scope, as they also must try to survive their hazardous locale. One example of this is the new herbivore creature, Ceratonoth - where the males of the species have evolved to grow large horns on their backs as lightning rods to protect their packs.

To help explore these dangerous lands, players will be able to depend on the Seikret - an agile raptor-like monster. Not only do they carry weapons, but they'll be able to help hunters reach new areas on the map as well as get them out of tight spots when fighting more dangerous creatures. There are other new aspects of the gameplay to look forward to, such as new abilities for all the classic weapon types, as well as a new stance called "Focus Mode". These will likely be featured more in other presentations as Monster Hunter Wilds gets closer to release.

Elden Ring, Monster Hunter Rise Among Steam's Best-Selling Games of 2022

Steam releases its rankings for the best-selling games of 2022, placing the titles Elden Ring and Monster Hunter Rise among the year's highest.

Monster Hunter has become one of Capcom's blockbuster titles over the years. The likes of Monster Hunter: Worlds and Rise brought in plenty of new fans who can't wait to get their hands on the next game. Monster Hunter Wilds will be available in 2025.

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Here's poetic justice at work. After making " The Towering Inferno " in 1974, superstar Steve McQueen  takes himself off the market. He rejects several highly publicized multimillion dollar deals. He makes an art film of Ibsen's "An Enemy of the People" in 1976. It is never released. In 1979, he comes out of retirement to make "Tom Horn" and "The Hunter." Both are complete flops. Sometimes the only way to retain your mystique is to retire.

I did not see "Tom Horn," which played briefly this spring to small audiences. But "The Hunter" bears all the marks of a tailor-made "star vehicle," one of those awful movies catering to a star's ego and image. The character played by McQueen is allegedly based on a real-life bounty hunter, named Papa Thorson, who goes after bail jumpers. It's ironic that this character has a basis in reality, because rarely has there been a less convincing movie character so obviously concocted out of thin air during story conferences.

And yet the movie almost busts a gut to provide "human elements" for the McQueen-Thorson character. That's what's wrong with it. Every scene has some sort of little touch, gimmick, mannerism or eccentricity, as if they'd add up to a personality. The opposite happens: This character is all tics and cute schtick; there's no person there.

In "The Hunter," McQueen is a lousy driver. This is an in-joke after his daredevil driving in " The Getaway " (1972). But McQueen is such a bad driver here it's lame and obvious: He can't even park a car. Oh ... and the car he drives is an antique convertible. He also collects antique windup toys. He wears funny glasses. His wife is pregnant, and he attends natural childbirth classes with her. He has a dog that doesn't like him. A bunch of guys are always playing poker in his living room. In one ridiculous scene, he argues with his wife while sitting on a stepladder, wearing his funny glasses, and working on a windup toy with a screwdriver. We're mesmerized by that screwdriver: He isn't doing anything with it! It's all just, "business" things the actor is given to do while saying his lines.

The movie's plot is laughable. McQueen keeps getting involved in big action sequences with no logical basis. There's a chase through a cornfield, for example, involving a harvester and a Trans-Am. It looks great, but so what? Who are these guys he's chasing? "The Hunter" has a lot of scenes shot in Chicago, including a chase on top of a speeding L train and a car that dives out of Marina City and into the river. But the guy McQueen is chasing doesn't have one word of dialogue! The whole Chicago sequence is just an excuse for action.

Another thing: Characters are introduced with great fanfare, and then disappear. Ben Johnson plays a sheriff whose nephew is one of McQueen's targets. Johnson savagely threatens McQueen if he doesn't stay away. McQueen gets the nephew. Johnson congratulates him over the phone. End of Johnson. Many other characters are handled in the same cavalier fashion, in a screenplay that doesn't seem to have been written so much as compiled from random notes.

Because McQueen can be so effective in action pictures, "The Hunter" is all the more frustrating: Didn't anybody point out that the script was a mess that made no sense? Didn't anybody have the guts to? Maybe they thought superstar McQueen would save the day. Pictures like this could finish him off.

And I haven't even mentioned Michel Legrand's incredibly inappropriate music, which inspires the movie's best laughs.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Jack Shrum (Viktor) Chuck Ellis (Sheriff Ben Taylor) Cynthia Hudson (Janice) Delia Nasu Brown (Nikki) Tara Lutzen (Michelle) Amanda Smith (News Reporter) Jamie Carnes (Deputy John) John D. Cox (Cal) Ralph French (Fisherman) Rocky Whitman (Hunter)

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Centuries ago, Viktor, a vampire banished from Russia, establishes his home in the United States, where he targets criminals. This independent film has been revised and remastered by director and lead actor Jack Shrum.

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  1. Hunter Hunter movie review & film summary (2020)

    Hunter Hunter. One man's determination to keep his life completely old-school proves utterly ruinous in "Hunter Hunter," a movie written and directed by Shawn Linden. Devon Sawa plays Joe Mersault, a trapper whose nuclear family—wife-of-saintly-patience Anne ( Camille Sullivan) and eager if occasionally queasy student of the traditional ...

  2. Hunter Hunter

    Oct 17, 2022 Full Review Keith Garlington Keith & the Movies "Hunter Hunter" is a movie that quietly lures you in by building an interesting family dynamic worth investing in. The characters ...

  3. Hunter Hunter (2020) Movie Review

    Director Shawn Linden's sleek thriller, Hunter Hunter, springs tight like a bear trap and leaves its audience breathless by the time the credits roll.Under IFC Midnight, Hunter Hunter is an indie venture that managed to creep in right at the tail end of 2020, and feels like an oddly appropriate way to usher out such a tumultuous year.Horror movie veteran Devon Sawa, who is well-known to ...

  4. Hunter Hunter (2020)

    Hunter Hunter: Directed by Shawn Linden. With Camille Sullivan, Summer H. Howell, Devon Sawa, Nick Stahl. Joseph and his family live in the remote wilderness as fur trappers, but their tranquility is threatened when they think they are being hunted by the return of a rogue wolf, and Joseph leaves them behind to track it.

  5. Hunter Hunter Movie Review

    Parents need to know that Hunter Hunter is a thriller about a family living off the grid in the woods that must contend with a killer wolf. It's tightly constructed and often tense, but it ultimately has very little point and has frequent harm to animals and heavy gore. Expect to see dead bodies, gory remains….

  6. 'Hunter Hunter' Review: Backwoods Horror Movie Packs the Year's

    In the world of "Hunter Hunter," director Shawn Linden's backwoods horror movie, humans are carrion in the talons of nature. This survivalist thriller set in the Manitoba wilderness packs a ...

  7. Hunter Hunter (2020)

    An intense and dread inducing 80 min. of quality slow-burn ultimately give way to a catherdic showstopper of an ending that pure grand-guignol grotesquely. A fantastic little cold-blooded indie film to cap of 2020. My top three list of films for the year now goes like this. 1.

  8. 'Hunter Hunter' review: Survivalist thriller takes a dark turn

    The movie's final act takes too grim a turn, leading up to an ending that's overly dark and disgusting. But even as it goes way over the top, "Hunter Hunter" stays focused on the fragility ...

  9. Hunter Hunter (film)

    Hunter Hunter is a 2020 horror thriller film written and directed by Shawn Linden and stars Devon Sawa, Camille Sullivan, Summer H. Howell and Nick Stahl.. The film was released on December 18, 2020 by IFC Midnight in select theaters, on DVD and on demand and it received mostly positive reviews from critics.

  10. Hunter Hunter

    Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Jan 27, 2021. Hunter Hunter has a relatively small cast, but the movie is big on gradually building suspense, which culminates in a shocking and very gruesome ...

  11. Movie Review: Hunter Hunter (2020)

    Hunter Hunter is an affirmation in genre that does a great job of resuscitating two good actors from oblivion (I was especially happy to see Devon Sawa back on his feet!), but it's also a great example of how independent cinema can surpass the industry we have come to know as a commercial vehicle. Linden's film is a fantastic piece of work ...

  12. Hunter Hunter (2020)

    Producer : Juliette Hagopian, Shawn Linden, Neil Elman. Stars : Camille Sullivan, Devon Sawa, Summer H. Howell, Nick Stahl. Review Score: Summary: A hunter's search for an elusive wolf turns up an even greater threat for his family living in a remote woodland cabin. Synopsis :

  13. 'Hunter Hunter': Film Review

    Shawn Linden's new thriller Hunter Hunter is a lot like that. The Bottom Line Delivers a cinematic gut punch at the conclusion. Release date: Dec 18, 2020. The film's title is repetitive by ...

  14. Hunter Hunter

    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.

  15. Hunter Hunter (2020) Review

    Arrow in the Head's Lance Vlcek reviews Hunter Hunter, Starring Devon Sawa, Camille Sullivan, Summer H. Howell, and Nick Stahl.

  16. Hunter Hunter (2020) Movie Reviews

    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 Rene´e (Summer H. Howell) struggle to make ends meet and think their traps are being hunted by the return of a rogue wolf.

  17. Hunter Hunter (2020) [Survival/Mystery/Thriller]

    So, I decided to give it a try anyway. Hunter Hunter is a slow burn movie with a constant building tension right from the start, and mostly during the first half, that eventually turns into something as predictable as it can get. If you wanna go blind into watching this movie, I do not recommend on reading the rest.

  18. Hunter Hunter's Shocking Ending Twist Explained

    Hunter Hunter reveals the true "hunter" figure — a mother who has lost everything, including herself, to tragedy. In essence, Anne has become a hunter through circumstance alone; it was never precisely in her nature, but became an integral part of her all the same. Next: Every Major Horror Movie Of 2020 Ranked From Worst To Best

  19. Hunter Hunter Ending Explained: The Surprising And Brutal Conclusion

    The film is a cross between a survivalist movie and a horror flick. Even before the Hunter Hunter ending, Shawn Linden creates a strong narrative of a family trying to survive life in the ...

  20. Hunter Hunter

    Hunter Hunter - Movie Review (3/5) Posted by Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard | Dec 15, 2020 | 4 minutes. HUNTER HUNTER is a new horror thriller from IFC. It's a survival story about a small family living in the remote wilderness. They get by as fur trappers but it isn't really bringing in enough money. Also, there might be a wolf chasing them.

  21. Monster Hunter movie review & film summary (2020)

    "Monster Hunter" opens in a vast desert in country with a group of U.S. Army Rangers on patrol, led by Captain Natalie Artemis (Milla Jovovich).What looks like a combination sandstorm/thunderstorm rises on the horizon, and Natalie and her team are suddenly thrust into an alternate universe alongside ours that is basically more desert, but with giant, terrifying creatures.

  22. Hunter Killer movie review & film summary (2018)

    It's also an odd time to release a movie that embraces collaborating with the Russians and painting bad and good guys with such broad strokes. This puts "Hunter Killer" in murky geopolitical waters I don't think it knows how to navigate. Neither the movie or Butler is nearly entertaining enough to distract us. Action.

  23. There's a Musical Movie About Jesus Fighting Vampires Has 80% on ...

    There's a Musical Movie About Jesus Fighting Vampires Has 80% on Rotten Tomatoes. Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter is a wild ride with vampires, lesbians, and a Mexican wrestler all led by the Lord ...

  24. Kraven the Hunter (2024)

    Kraven the Hunter: Directed by J.C. Chandor. With Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Russell Crowe, Ariana DeBose, Alessandro Nivola. Russian immigrant Sergei Kravinoff is on a mission to prove that he is the greatest hunter in the world.

  25. Monster Hunter Wilds Gameplay Revealed in New Trailer

    A True Next-Gen Monster Hunter Game Has Large Expectations These new features are only a few parts of the bigger picture. As described in the PlayStation Blog, one of the ideas driving the development of Monster Hunter Wilds is that of a "living world". This makes sense from what has been shown so far - monsters will have their own habits and interactions within a larger scope, as they also ...

  26. Hunter

    Visit the movie page for 'Hunter' on Moviefone. Discover the movie's synopsis, cast details and release date. Watch trailers, exclusive interviews, and movie review. Your guide to this cinematic ...

  27. The Hunter movie review & film summary (1980)

    The Hunter. Roger Ebert August 04, 1980. Tweet. Now streaming on: Powered by JustWatch. Here's poetic justice at work. After making "The Towering Inferno" in 1974, superstar Steve McQueen takes himself off the market. He rejects several highly publicized multimillion dollar deals. He makes an art film of Ibsen's "An Enemy of the People" in 1976.

  28. Watch B&B: Bujji and Bhairava

    Season 1. It's the year 2896, in future city of Kasi, Bhairava is a bounty hunter with dreams of getting into the Complex, and BU-JZ1, an AI pilot of a Cargo ship, waiting for her promotion. At their lowest point, these two unlikely souls, find each other to set off a crackling story of ambition, adventure, partnership and mainly friendship.

  29. Blood Hunter: Revived and Enhanced (2023)

    Synopsis. Centuries ago, Viktor, a vampire banished from Russia, establishes his home in the United States, where he targets criminals. This independent film has been revised and remastered by ...