Review of Blood Hunt from TetroVideo!
Directed by: Sam Curtain
Written by: Sam Curtain, Thomas Roach, Danny Beaton
Produced by: Benjamin Clarke, Sam Curtain, Danny Beaton
Cinematography by: Leuke Marriot
Editing by: Bonnie Fan, Sam Curtain
Music by: Matt Rudduck
Special Effects by: Melanie Cooper
Cast: Kahli Williams, Dean Kirkright, Thomas Roach, Benjamin Denmeade, Eli Halliwell.
Year: 2017
Country: Australia.
Language: English
Color: Color
Runtime: 1hr 14mins
Distributor: TetroVideo https://www.tetrovideo.com/
TetroVideo really seems to be dealing and negotiating a lot to gather a crowd of quality films under their name recently. I feel like I’ve reviewed an endless stream, and I won’t complain. So far, no title has disappointed. Each one has thrilled me in many ways.
Blood Hunt, from 2017, is a new acquisition to the temple of Tetro, and it’s an Australian rape ‘n’ revenge thing, due out soon. Now then, Australian flicks are a funny lot to me. I cannot but help compare any that come along to Razorback, or the filming style of Mad Max 2. I cannot help it, they’re two of my fav films as a teen, and I seldom chance upon Aussie movies. Yeah, there’s Patrick, Wolf Creek, and Body Melt, etcetera, but I’m talking the dirty low level kick you in the nuts, sand and dust kind of ugly cretins.
What first caught my attention with Blood Hunt, was the pacing. After a flashback rape, filmed from the view of the terrified victim, in shaking B&W, the film really chills out to allow us to meet and know our two central players, Claire (could she be the once victim of the assault?) and her boyfriend, Dean. On their travels miles across country, whilst stopping off at a petrol station, Claire is confronted by the leader of a pack of glaring blokes – the rapists, asking rather brutally for a smoke. He backs off when Dean approaches. Afterwards as they drive, Claire explains to him that the guy was an animal and he shouldn’t have been so nice. Dean smiles, “With guys like that, y’ jus’ gotta give ’em what they want.”
Their trip continues, hiking, that kind of stuff. When the car breaks down in the middle of nowhere land, who happens to drive up offering help? Yep, it’s our jolly gang of rapists. “I’m alright mate.” Dean replies realising who it is. “Oh, it’s mate now is it?” Knuck, the snarling leader raises up. “Listen, I’m not ya bloody mate! But I’ll be her mate!” he gestures towards Claire who’s in the car. The extremely tense stand-off continues until it sparks into violence. Dean proves himself a mean little fighter against three men, and the couple succeed in getting away, resulting in a proper Aussie dirt road car chase with drumming pounding music. About five minutes of racing, smacking into one another’s vehicle, and such, their car overturns. Dean and Claire are trapped within and then captured.
Dragged into the gang’s compound, Dean endures a prolonged and endless session of vicious beatings and tortures, until Claire cuts herself loose and the survival test begins…
This is no, I Spit on Your Grave or They Call Her One Eye kind of revenge drama. This is more realistic and plays out with a dose of solemn belief. Director Sam Curtain has taken responsibility for having the viewer feel the cast out, and this adds meat to the bones. Neither Claire nor Dean hunt the gang one by one like your standard revenge flicks. Crucially, everyone portrays their characters with ease. In fact, Thomas Roach (who also co-wrote) as Knuck, is sneer carrying and ruthlessly cold. Kahli (Banana Split, Neighbours) Williams, more importantly, more than holds her own in the lead role. Terrified, desperate, angry, and at times acceptant of a cruel fate. My only gripe is with the Dean character. No fault laid at actor, Dean Kirkright’s door, he is a really decent player, doing his best. That’s the problem, he does his best because Dean is rather an empty person. After the tense stand-off scenes by the road mid-way, he gets tortured, kicked in, but until the conclusion he becomes a rather forgotten face.
The team behind it all try hard not to make Blood Hunt exploitation (Well, looking at the covers available prior, you’d think otherwise. Even the TetroVideo one leads the viewer down a false trail). The rape and attacks are more suggestive, just slightly off screen, showing mainly Claire sobbing. As a matter of fact, the hardest scene of rape happens after a false start escape attempt, and this assault properly motivates Dean, who is forced to watch, to finally turn on their captors.
Blood Hunt falls under the Shallow Ground, Malevolence – that kind of thing, category, not for the story, but the feeling as you watch. In fact, I’d go as far as name dropping Scrapbook as well.
Sam Curtain makes sure that the pay-off is well worth waiting for. Along the way, you have some splatters of blood now and then, and some unexpected turns. Blood Hunt isn’t the best of its kind, it just sort of floats with its head above dark grim waters and stares at you, never blinking.