Highly Overrated But Still Good

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

MANHUNT– nothing to do with the controversial video game of the same name – is yet ANOTHER entry in the 'survival horror' genre that's flourished since THE Texas CHAIN SAW MASSACRE came out in 1974. More recently, the genre has seen a rebirth with the likes of WILDERNESS, EDEN LAKE, SEVERANCE and many others, and the distinction this film has is that it's Norwegian. Nothing else is remarkable. This is a lean, pared-down, unpleasant little film detailing a bunch of campers who run afoul of some hunting nutters. And that's all there is to it.The direction is all right, the performances pretty good. Visually, there's a muted colour palette that turns the woodland setting into a drab grey and brown mix, presumably to add to the earthy feel. The atmosphere is pretty good. I enjoy these films that link with the primeval in some way and the forest is always a perfect backdrop for true horror. I don't think any film has managed to surpass THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT yet, but this is another beast entirely. It's a bit like THEM without the set-up and with extra gore.The gore itself is a big talking point and it is explicit. There are impalings, stabbings, guts, and plenty of blood, as well as one of the most painful gunshot wounds I've seen on a film. Thankfully, it's all shown rather briefly rather than being dwelt upon in detail, but it does leave a nasty taste in the mouth, as was undoubtedly the intention. The sleazy scene in which one of the bad guys forces the barrel of his sawn-off shotgun into a blonde girl's mouth is the worst part of the film, threatening to turn the whole production into a misogynistic mess. The ending is fairly intense, although not a patch on EDEN LAKE's, and the director pays his dues to THE LONG GOOD Friday in a BIG way. So, MANHUNT isn't going to set the world on fire, but it's a perfectly serviceable kind of film that delivers plenty of shocks and gross moments during its short running time. I enjoyed the experience, but I'm not in a hurry to see it again.

Rovdyr or as I know it MANHUNT, is the third Norwegian film I've added to my collection, the first two being COLD PREY and COLD PREY: RESURRECTION, while I enjoyed the COLD PREY movies very much, this one appeared as if it had suffered a bit.The makers of this film had the right idea of what they wanted to do, the film was nicely shot, the make up effects were splendid but from what this film suffers from is an inability to build a sufficient amount of tension to keep people on the edge of their seat and this is not because of the lack of plot, the central characters were somewhat undeveloped, sure some of them weren't very likable but believe it or not that wasn't the problem either, the main problem with the characters is that they're stupid, because even in serious situations a complete jackass of a person doesn't have to be a complete idiot he can be dis likable at first and end up being likable at a latter stage.Another problem is once the film gets started you can already tell where this is going making the film obviously too predictable and that is the main problem for its lack of tension, you can tell whose going to die, you can tell exactly when and where the hunters will strike, it just makes this film an uneventful horror movie experience.Overall, bearing in mind this the director's first film, this was a good effort nonetheless but unfortunately the major flaws render it as just another cliché driven mess, my idea of a good survival horror however is one that can be as intense as possible, sadly this one isn't.

The movie received great reviews here in Norway, and I was looking forwards to seeing it. Being a Norwegian production, I guess the critics put on their patriot pants, because this is not that great a movie.The story we've seen before. Some young people gets captured, are hunted, with blood and gore following in ample amounts. The only thing that differentiates this movie from its many siblings is the betrayal within the group, and the charters being somewhat interesting and real. They lack depth thought, and are quite frankly not that well played or presented.The biggest exception to this is the villains, and their behavior. Without giving any spoilers, let me just say they are a bit to evil and cold. A tad more insight into them would make the movie allot more interesting.What does deserve praise is the visual side of the movie, with the effects especially in mind. The movie is well shot, and really drags you into it by virtue of this. The effects look so real it's frightening. So frightening in fact, that it is one of the movies greatest flaws. It's just too much. Now, I'm not a very gentle soul, and enjoy the odd horror movie without problems, but this movie is not that enjoyable. That said, I'm sure if I went hunting moose this autumn, I'd probably not sleep very well having seen it. Ugly, scary and outright ultra-voilent? Yes. Exciting, interesting and progressive? No.

The story is supposed to take place in the summer of 1974, and this is where the problems start. You get absolutely no feeling of being in the 70s, the looks of the characters, their language, clothes and attitude is nothing that resemble the youngsters of the mid 70s in Norway in any way. You get a immediate feeling of being in year 2008, but the director obviously want it to be otherwise.With such a poor beginning you lose the interest for the rest of the plot, but you continue watching for things that might save this from turning into a total catastrophe. Unfortunately the crap continues.It goes on into a wrap of blood, gore and chaos beyond any recognition. The bad guys are super-humans in the beginning, but once the blonde starts to repel they act like a bunch of blind idiots with no structure or strategy whatsoever.On the bright side, the effects and make-up in the movie are absolutely stunning, great actually. Very convincing, and the violence isolated from the rest are good.But in sum, this is another failure in the line of the new Norwegian gore and slasher movies, like Villmark and Fritt Vilt. This is the definitive worst production so far, but lets take into account that this is the directors debut.