The Hunters (2011) (V)

Director:

Chris Briant

Writer:

Michael Lehman

Release Date:

27 December 2011 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

You are the prey!

Plot:

A new police officer wants to meet up with somebody in an abandoned fort in the woods. What he doesn't know is that the place also serves as a meeting point for a group of hunters - whose prey aren't animals.

Plot Keywords:

Human Hunted Down For Sport | Hunting People | Hunting | Two Word Title | Human Hunting A Human

Cast

Steven Waddington	...	Ronny
Tony Becker	...	Oliver Sheribow
Dianna Agron	...	Alice
Terence Knox	...	Bernard
Jay Brown	...	Stephen
Chris Briant	...	Le Saint
Xavier Delambre	...	William Icham
Philip Correia	...	David
Laurent Barbier	...	François
Philippe Beauvais	...	Cyclist
Sascha Migge	...	Security Agent
Dean Gregory	...	Male Teacher
Daniel Plier	...	Dan Darrish
Gintare Parulyte	...	Bernard's Secretary
Thomas Sanne	...	Sam
Claire Johnston	...	Old Female Teacher
Sascha Ley	...	Curly Haired Teacher
Caroline Espargilière	...	Young Female Teacher
Alex Adam	...	Peter
Richard Kirchoff	...	Old Birdwatcher
Isabelle Constantini	...	Over Excited Female Driver
Jean-François Wolff	...	Snack Bar Boss
Laurence Rexter-Baker	...	Le Saint's colleague
Mireille De Kerleau	...	Ann
Christophe Carassou	...	Soldier
Corinne Pilutti	...	Beth
Loreta Fishta	...	Le Saint's Ex
Sophie Pop	...	Sondra
Patrice Diou	...	2nd Security Agent
Stéphanie Siebering	...	Female Trainer
Sydney Kralejevic	...	Deaf And Dumb Guy
Erwan Cloitre	...	Ronny's Other Child #1
Francois-Xavier Diou	...	Fort Goben's Runner
Eric Lobry	...	Chief's colleague #1
André Huet	...	Chief's colleague #2
Philippe Perrin	...	Cop #1
Marco Viscera	...	Ronny's Other Child #2
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Micha Mann	...	Dead Man

Directed by
Chris Briant

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Michael Lehman

Produced by
Antoine Huet	....	executive producer
Thomas Malmonte	....	producer
Donato Rotunno	....	co-producer
Joseph Rouschop	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Mark Snow

Cinematography by
John B. Aronson

Film Editing by
Sabine Emiliani

Casting by
Sharon Howard-Field

Production Design by
François Dickes

Costume Design by
Uli Simon

Makeup Department
Katja Reinert-Alexis	....	makeup designer
Hue Lan Van Duc	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Benedicte Hermesse	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Alexandre Brown	....	second assistant director
Anna Pazen	....	third assistant director
Laurence Rexter-Baker	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Tobias Dücker	....	set dresser
Ralf Eisenmann	....	key art director
Julie Ridremont	....	head painter

Sound Department
Martial de Roffignac	....	sound & dialogue editor
François Fayard	....	supervising sound editor
François Groult	....	sound re-recording mixer
Paul Maernoudt	....	sound mixer
François Martig	....	boom operator
Julie Roué	....	assistant sound editor

Special Effects by
Micha Mann	....	special effects supervisor (as Michael Mann)

Visual Effects by
Yoann Berger	....	visual effects
Nathalie Delorme	....	visual effects
Philippe Desfretier	....	visual effects
Stephan Kot	....	visual effects
Damien Maric	....	visual effects producer
Sylvain Sarradin	....	visual effects

Stunts
Christian Hebenstreit	....	stunt double
Micha Mann	....	stunt coordinator (as Michael Mann)

Camera and Electrical Department
Alex Aach	....	camera operator
Stéphane Donnerup	....	second assistant camera
Warwick Drucker	....	key grip
Yannig Dumoulin	....	second assistant camera: second unit
David Holliday	....	grip: "b" camera
Graham Johnston	....	first assistant camera: second camera
Jeff Kieffer	....	director of photography: second unit
Olivier Merckx	....	steadicam operator
Adrien Raybaud	....	first assistant camera: second unit
Xavier Schweitzer	....	grip trainee
Gaëlle Tanguy	....	digital imaging technician
Théodore Theodorides	....	first assistant camera
Benoît Theunissen	....	steadicam operator
Edwin Van Den Hove	....	additional grip
Ricardo Vaz Palma	....	still photographer

Casting Department
Isabelle Constantini	....	additional casting
Gary Lebel	....	additional casting

Editorial Department
Nafi Dicko	....	first assistant editor

Other crew
Elise André	....	production assistant
Alice Emorine	....	location assistant
Ambroise Gayet	....	assistant location manager
Catherine Grossen	....	script supervisor
Joe Kotroczo	....	assistant location manager
Stéphanie Mengel	....	location manager
Christian Pannrucker	....	location scout
Stéphanie Verger	....	production coordinator
Christophe Vincent	....	location manager
Marc-Emmanuel Vuaillat	....	legal services

Production Companies

• HUMAL Productions
• Tarantula
• Tarantula

Distributors

• Grindstone Entertainment Group (2011) (USA) (all media)
• Lionsgate (2011) (USA) (all media)
• Raven Banner Entertainment (2011) (worldwide) (all media)
• Schröder Media (2012) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• WIP Studio (visual effects by)

Other Companies

• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera dollies
• Location Consulting & Facilities  facility vehicles

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and some sexual content

Runtime:

USA:111 min

Country:

France | Luxembourg | Belgium

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Fort de Queuleu, Allée Jean Burger, Metz, Moselle, France

Company:

HUMAL Productions

Different, but definitely not bad

A lot of negative reviews, oh well.. If people were expecting another run-on-the-mill horror to freak out to on a Saturday night, then this film obviously granted a disappointment, as it has a somewhat different angle, and the film is actually more of a suspense/mystery than a horror, really.

On a positive note, the filming locations were absolutely fabulous, the cinematography was of high quality in every respect, and even though the English spoken in the film was regarded as 'bulky' by some reviewers, you cannot really dismiss the fact that it is a French/Belgian movie. I, for one, thought all the way it was set in Canada (in Quebec), in that case, the language inconsistencies of the film would have been pretty well explained :-).

You could say that the acting was somewhat peculiar, but "peculiar" does not necessarily mean "bad". After all, French/Belgians films sometimes have a different take on acting. Think of, for example, 'Calvaire', that contains as much strange humour as 'The Hunters', you just need to be able to notice it :-).

All in all, 'The Hunters' is a rather strange experience meant not for everyone; on the other hand, as mentioned in other reviews, it offers you very nice photography, absolutely fabulous filming locations (the fort!), some sociological commentaries, and a rather decent cast, the tempo of the film is pretty slow, but in this case, it only compliments the piece.