Manhunt
Directed by: Patrik Syversen Starring: Henriette Bruusgaard, Jorn-Bjorn Fulller-Gee, Lasse Valdal, Nini Bull Robsahm Synopsis: Set during the summer of 1974, four friends; Camilla, her boyfriend Roger, Mia and her brother Jorgen are looking to have a relaxing weekend in the woods, but relationships are strained during the journey. A troubled stop at a remote truck finds the group taking along a hitchhiker, who quickly orders the driver to stop the car. A childish prank leaves the group exposed and vulnerable to the threat within the woods as they find themselves targeted by hunters as they fall prey to their manhunt.
Whilst this is no ground-breaking horror film (it's very much a by the numbers survival horror flick where you can play "spot the reference" for the duration of it's short 76 minutes), Manhunt should get horror fans excited for what Patrik Syversen is capable of. The direction is exceptional. He's no Sam Raimi but the talent is there. The grading of the film stock and the choice of Norwegian (I'm guessing) folk songs draw the audience into believing the film is set in 1974. The young actors are all very good and helped the atmosphere and believability of the story. The movie reminded me heavily of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (TTCM) and for positive reasons; the Seventies setting, the Hitchhiker idea, the premise in general; of a group of people hunting others. It is also character driven. What set TTCM apart from most "slasher" movies of it's time (like friday the 13th) was it's distinctive characters. You might not have liked them but they were well defined. Manhunt shares the same focus. I found few of the characters appealing but they are not two-dimensional. Unlike TTCM, the antagonists appear to be fairly ordinary yokels giving the movie a slightly more unsettling, believable quality. The only drawback is the familiarity with the genre. For veterans such as myself, it is very easy to work out who will be killed and in what order. The final punchline is not surprise either as it has been done in a number of movies. This does not necessarily spoil the enjoyment of the film but you’ll probably experience at least a heavy sense of deja-vu. The effects are very well done, and there is a couple of uncomfortable moments for those more squeamish in the audience. The murders are all handled effectively. The film has a couple of nicely tense moments particularly when the camera shows a killer's point of view and we see a pair of feet giving away a hiding place. During my watching of this film I couldn't help but compare to the current crop of survival horror movies, like Interior. Manhunt doesn't quite come up to the quality of that example but is still very watchable. Manhunt still has much more atmosphere than the Hostel movies and much of what is churned out by Hollywood , in this genre. Had Syversen been in charge of the Cannibal Holacaust remake it might have been a much better made version. Verdict: Highly unoriginal but entertaining take on the Survival Horror genre. I await future movies by Patrik Syveren with great interest. 6/10 (Wayfarer) NB: Once again, I find myself asking the DVD menu creators to; “Please stop giving away the plot in the menu screen”. Have the menu screen static if you have no other creative input to an animated menu screen. The clip shown gives away a key murder and it was very frustrating to have part of the ending spoiled in this way. You can find MikeOutWest's review of the movie,
here.
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