Open Season (1974)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Peter Collinson

Writers:

Liz Charles-Williams (writer)
David D. Osborn (novel)

Release Date:

August 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Meet Ken, Gregg and Art. Two weeks each year they get away... with Everything!

Plot:

Three young men take a young woman and a middleaged man to an isolated cabin, where they are terrorized in different ways.

Plot Keywords:

Victim | Cabin | Hunting | Manhunt | Kidnapping

Cast

Peter Fonda	...	Ken
Cornelia Sharpe	...	Nancy Stillman
John Phillip Law	...	Greg
Richard Lynch	...	Art
Alberto de Mendoza	...	Martin
William Holden	...	Hal Wolkowski
Helga Liné	...	Sue
Didi Sherman	...	Helen
Concha Cuetos	...	Joyce
May Heatherly	...	Alicia Rennick
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Simón Andreu	...	Barman
Jerry Boudreaux	...	Niño
Frank Braña
Jaime Doria
Mabel Escaño	...	Waitress
Blanca Estrada	...	Alice Rennick
Amory Fitzpatrick	...	Niña
Norma Kastel	...	Annie (as Norma Castell)
William Layton	...	District Attorney
Gudrun McCleary	...	Mrs. Rennick
Scott Miller
Beatriz Savón	...	Sandy
Loreta Tovar	...	Moonmaid (as Loli Tovar)
Mike Zambeck	...	Niño

Also Known As:

Los cazadores (Spain)
The Recon Game

Runtime:

Australia:104 min | Norway:104 min | Spain:100 min | USA:104 min

Country:

Spain | Switzerland | UK | USA | Argentina

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Finland:K-18 (cut) (1974) | West Germany:18 (nf) | Australia:R | France:X (original rating) | Norway:18 | Sweden:(Banned) | USA:R | Norway:18 (video rating) | Norway:(Banned) (1975-2003) (cinema release)

Filming Locations:

Aranjuez, Madrid, Spain

Company:

Arpa Productions

Trivia:

The screenplay was adapted by author David D. Osborn from his own novel of the same name. The movie credits refer to a work called "The All-Americans" but in actuality the book was simply called "Open Season" (Dial Press, New York, 1974).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Ken and Artie climb the bluff, Ken is carrying a bolt action rifle. But after they split up and Ken returns to the lodge, he enters the cabin carrying a pump action shotgun. The rifle is never seen again.

Soundtrack:

Casting Shadows

Upper-class entertainment

Again I have to put things right. This film is really 'just' an 'eight' but, in order to raise the medium, I give it a 'ten'. Yes, it's something like 'The Most Dangerous Game' but with a twist. Here, it's pretty obvious that it is about some spoiled, upper-class brats doing what they most like to do. You know, evil just stops short to opportunity and there's really not much difference in using factory-workers as slaves and hunting them down as prey. So far the upper-class-twits. Then there is the prey which, in this case, let themselves get fooled, at least the woman. Why does William Holden not intervene earlier? Does he know? Nevertheless, it's not your brainless Hollywood-entertainment and Fonda is excellent! It would have been even better if it was more clear that these boys get away with anything because they are rich and that only a private vigilante therefor can put things right. But I guess You can't have everything.