You won't be disappointed!

A Masterpiece!

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I know why people give this decent reviews....because it had potential to be amusing cheesy 80's but it's not. The acting is awful, the story we've seen a dozen times (even by 1986), and the soundtrack sounds like they just grabbed anyone to do it. What really sucks is that with a better script and direction this had potential. Some actors who are known to give good performances are totally wasted in this mess of a movie. Clu Gulager tries to give his character more depth than it deserves. Bruce Glover (yes crispies dad) is just an annoying "crazy redneck" stereotype "one eye" lol. Billy Drago is wasted in a very minor role. If your in the mood to abuse yourself with almost 2 hours of a film nobody needed go ahead. Not on DVD yet save your $20 the VHS goes for. You've been warned.Go watch Rituals instead.

Five men decide to go on a hunting trip in the backwoods of Arkansas: David (Bottoms), his father Mason (Gulager), Uncle Al (Swofford), their buddy Ralph (Nutter) and die-hard "city boy" and hunting newbie Marty (Travolta). Things seem to be going well, until they run afoul of some murderous "rednecks" who feel these city folk have intruded upon not just their land, but their illegal meat processing operation. So now it's a deadly game of hide and go seek with David, Mason, Al, Marty and Ralph versus their rural counterparts Snake (Drago) Wash Pot (Jones), Red Beard (De Broux), and Billy Bob (Thornton of all people). When the baddies kidnap David's girlfriend Melanie (Delaney), it's an all-out war for survival. Who will come out on top? In the 80's, Deliverance (1972) knockoffs and Wilderness Horror movies were huge in video stores. So it would be the most natural thing in the world to combine them. Hence, Hunter's Blood was born. It was co-written by the writer/director of 9 Deaths of the Ninja, Emmett Alston, and released in a very bright, clean-looking VHS by Embassy. It would make a nice double feature with Rituals (1977), if you can get a hold of both.When the movie opens, the music on the soundtrack is a guy playing/bending ONE NOTE on the guitar, over and over again. Could this be a sign that the movie itself is a one-note? But then we get to know the protagonists of the piece, the only really likable one being David, portrayed by Sam Bottoms of Ragin' Cajun (1991) fame. He does a decent enough job, but there are so many characters he doesn't get enough time to shine. Then the "male bonding" occurs, and it seems like a 90-minute Jack Links commercial, and the fact that all the men sit around a fire and eat a pepperoni stick only reinforces that. There's a ton of inane potty humor/dialogue, a lot of which underlines the Deliverance-style homosexual nature of the proceedings. In fact, at times Hunter's Blood seems to aim to out-gay Deliverance. It was the 80's after all, they probably figured they had to ramp up the gay from the way it was in the 70's.But once the plot kicks into high gear, there are a lot of nice surprises and worthwhile moments to raise Hunter's Blood above the pack. And let's not forget Joey Travolta is on board. A great moment comes when he guilelessly blurts out the line "I love TV!" Not any one particular show, just TV. There are plenty of country tunes that continually appear throughout the film, and the first credit after the movie ends shows this (seemingly a rarity), but the credit only lasts on-screen for about a fraction of a second. But we were able to determine the songs on the soundtrack are by Hamilton, Joe Frank and Weber. We can only assume this is the same group that sang the great song "Don't Pull Your Love", but that was Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds. Either Reynolds was replaced by Weber, or, mirroring the "Deliverance knockoff" scenario, there's a "band knockoff" going on. Either way, no song herein is as good as "Don't Pull Your Love".In the end, Hunter's Blood is solid entertainment, especially if you are a fan of survival-type movies.For more action insanity, drop by: www.comeuppancereviews.com

I think stilted acting and extreme hillbilly caricatures spoiled a movie that could have been a lot better.I was soured early on by the scene where "tread lightly" was ignored at the peril of nature and equipment alike. But that was balanced by a scene where the father & son talk about only killing animals when necessary, which I suspect got more treatment in the original 1977 book.There were a number of scenes where people seemed to have no clue about the carriage of sound in the woods. Whispering vs. yelling would have been a good idea early on. They didn't get serious enough, soon enough about their predicament, which lent an air of unrealism to the thing.The film had some tense moments but it lacked smooth direction in too many places. Calling it a "gem," as others have, is really a stretch. I see it as a movie best watched while drunk. There was enough going on to be entertaining, but don't expect anything like the realism and pacing of "Deliverance" and a few other truly good survival movies.One thing that stuck with me was the intro music. A stark guitar piece with a haunting "fog horn" background effect (hard to explain in words). Had the entire movie lived up to the promise of that song it would have been quite decent.

I found this in a pawn shop for like $3 so I said "why not?". I wasn't expecting a whole lot, but I was pleasantly surprised. While many will say this is an imitation of "Deliverance", "Hunter's Blood" focuses more on the action and survival rather than the human and moral aspects that made "Deliverance" such a masterpiece. Yes, this is a B-movie, but a very well-acted and well-made one at that. It's nothing but pure entertainment and I'm glad I stumbled across it. There's never a dull moment here and there's quite a bit of humor as well. Be on the look-out for a very young, pre-stardom Billy Bob Thornton as one of the good ole boys. Although his role is very brief, he's a hoot to watch and it was a nice surprise to see him in one of his first films. It's a must-see for any of his serious fans. Go catch it, if you can find it.