Crappy film

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I'm all for weird movies. I love the strange ones, but along with the unusual there should be at least a hint of a plot. Unfortunately, "The Monster Hunter" not only lacks a script, but any semblance of cohesion. The story simply flops around like a goldfish on the floor. Sure, there is David Caradine, but he has very little to work with. Weird for weird's sake does not make a film, and although the concept of two serial killers being stalked by an insane monster hunter sounds intriguing, the result is well below average. I should have known any movie endorsed by Quentin Tarantino, who's own mediocre movies are only slightly better than this failure, would be almost unwatchable. - MERK

I was walking through my local big-chain video rental place looking for something cool to watch. I come across a video box that says "David Carradine is THE MONSTER HUNTER." Sounded promising. The cover picture was of good IL' Mr. Carradine looking really cool in a black suit with sunglasses and holding a gun and there were pictures of demon-looking guys in wanted posters. It looked as though it was gonna be like a cheap Men In Black. I pick up the box and look at the back and the tag line reads "Evil Dead meets Natural Born Killers," and being a big Evil Dead head I liked the direction is was going. There was also a quote about the movie on the box. Generally they are something like "An Awesome Thrill Ride!!!" (more than one exclamation point is a must) and they are usually said by some film critic from a publication that you've never heard of. This one said "Great!" - Quentin Tarantino. This was another good sign because Quentin knows movies.Based on all of these things I thought it'd be a gory, low-budget, Buffy-meets-MIB flick. However it wasn't. The reality is that it is a comedy, half-mockumentary about a serial killer in an East Texas town. Carradine is less of a bad ass and more of a half-crazed rogue FBI agent who can see the "demon" inside serial killers and their victims. The real star of the film is Michael Bowen who plays Willie the serial killer and does a phenomenal job in making him a somewhat sympathetic character in a film where you really feel sorry for no one. However, once I got over the fact that the box was lying, I really enjoyed the silliness of this film. Nothing like the Evil Dead and only kind of like Natural Born Killers, The Monster Hunter (or Natural Selection as I came to find was the real title) is a funny little low-budget movie. As long as you know the truth of the movie's premise then you should enjoy it.

When Hollywood studios jump on a band wagon, it is the unfortunate tendency for the independent scene to crowd the wheel tracks. Serial killers were hot a few years ago but these people aren't swift enough to realize just how much psycho-killers have cooled off. Maybe they should have made a boxing movie.The poster for this movie tags it as "The standing room only, sell-out sensation of the 1999 Austin Film Festival." As bad as this movie was, this is not a glowing endorsement for that particular festival. There were a few funny jokes, but they were far and painfully few between. Most of the "funny" moments were based on one of the following 1) "Wacky" back-woods types acting, well, wacky or 2) Cursing - as if the f-word is still such a novelty that its mere utterance will cause us to fall over laughing into the aisles.I only wasted $4.50 to see this movie. If you must see this do not be suckered into paying more than a matinee price.

WARNING: This review contains spoilers.Natural Selection is a lot fun. It's also a promising first step for director, Mark Bristol, boasting fine work from screenwriters, B.J. Burrow & Allen Odom, as well as impressive technical credits for a film of its budget, most notably eerie and evocative cinematography by Rhett Bear and excellent production design by Jennifer Bristol.For purposes of quick comparison, the movie which comes to mind as most similar is Natural Born Killers. Though, it must be said, that in Natural Selection the emphasis is placed squarely on dark comedy and not explicit violence.The film concerns itself with the final days of Willlie Dickinson's reign of terror in the small Texas town of Whitehills. Willie (menacingly played by Michael Bowen), a postman in addition to being a serial killer, finds himself the prey of two psychopaths - one, a serial killer wannabe named Glen who is nicely played by Darren Burrows (Ed from TV's Northern Exposure), and the other, an FBI agent named Dehoven who believes he is hunting vampires. Dehoven is played by David Carradine in a touching homage to his father, John Carradine. It is a delight to watch him pull his glasses on and off and jut his chin out in mannerisms that are pure John Carradine.Commenting on the action, is a hilarious documentary which boasts appearances by Newsradio's Stephen Root as a bereaved father and Bob Balaban as an addled psychologist who admits he knows nothing about the killer or his motivation but nonetheless feels compelled to expound endlessly on the killings.Still, the film belongs to Bristol who creates some wonderfully eerie and poetic images. A bound victim struggling in slow motion to escape a darkened house. Carradine's FBI Agent standing under a solitary street light breathing in a crime scene. The same FBI Agent's vampire hallucinations, which are both startling and genuinely frightening. Switching gears to the video based documentary, Bristol shows himself to be equally deft with comedy, including an inspired bit of slapstick involving a shotgun and some dim-witted hunters and a funny, yet achingly painful bit with Stephen Root as the father of the above referenced bound victim.The film does have it's faults. It is too long by about 5 or 10 minutes and could be edited a bit more crisply, moving from punch line to punch line without spending the time on set-ups, and the use of religious mania to explain the psychosis of Carradine's FBI agent does not work at all. - better if we never know why and just concentrate on his actions. But, all in all, this is an entertaining and promising first feature of which all involved can be proud. It should be quite popular with college and festival audiences.