Return of the Living Dead’s Clu Gulager and Ken Swofford play a couple of old Oklahoma deer hunters named Mason and Al, taking Mason’s son David (East of Eden’s Sam Bottoms), Al’s brother Ralph (Mayf Nutter), and a cocky buddy from New York named Marty (Hollywood Vice Squad’s Joey Travolta) out on a hunting trip up in the mountains. Mason and Al know an area deep in the woods that hunters don’t normally hunt in and figure a man’s weekend without competition (and lots of beer) might be a good time. But stopping at an old saloon for beer, the obnoxious Marty takes photos of “the savages” (a couple of hillbillies cooking BBQ), before wandering inside and making fun of the redneck locals, including a busty barmaid (Connie Danese), and a group of deranged hunters led by Red Beard (Pumpkinhead’s Lee de Broux), much to the frustration of Mason, who warns his pals to knock off the bullshit before real trouble starts.
Of course, poking fun at these yokels stirs up the hornet’s nest, and before long, the group of hunters quickly become the hunted, as the slighted “Good Ol’ Boys” who have been poaching on private property, decide to show these city folk some violent “southern hospitality”. After a few nasty run-ins, the small group finds a couple of the local game wardens dead (one trussed up and flayed open, the other decapitated) and realize they’re in over their heads and being stalked by ruthless butchers. Things only complicate more when David’s sexy wife Melanie (the gorgeous Kim Delaney in an early role) decides to head down and visit the fellas, only to be caught in crossfire.
Hunter’s Blood (1986)
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Though it’s unquestionably a member of the “hicksploitation” subgenre, Hunter’s Blood was unfairly, but understandably, written off as another Deliverance clone. There’s something deeper going on here than just another exploitative, backwoods bloodbath. For one thing, unlike that film, the hunters in Hunter’s Blood aren’t innocent victims of leering rednecks. While there’s an argument to be made that, at some point, they would have run afoul of these murderous hicks on their own, just traipsing about the forest anyway, a decent percentage of this group wouldn’t have been on the radar had they not “poked the bear” so much during their early beer run. Hunter’s Blood has a message, and it’s not subtle.
For example, there’s a certain type of viral video that gives me an enormous amount of satisfaction. My favorite is one where a shirtless teen is livestreaming or video calling someone on a crowded sidewalk when, completely unprovoked, he slugs a shorter kid in the face. The kid was just passing by, and the shirtless guy simply resumes whatever inane activity he was doing on his phone. The shorter kid takes a second to process what just happened and why, before clocking the shirtless guy in the face so hard that his head spins, sending him, his phone, and whatever audience he was courting crashing to the ground in an unconscious heap. Oh, what a glorious response to “alpha male” posturing.
You see, as more and more people climb onto their soapboxes about the behavior of “real men” and wave flags about the “male loneliness epidemic,” a swath of so called “tough guys” emerges from under their rocks, beats their chests, talks endless shit to people roughly half their size, and then makes the absurd proclamation that they could win a fight with a grizzly bear. God, I wanna see that. A Darwin Award awaits you! Being sad or going to therapy is for the weak, and if your wife doesn’t have dinner on the table when you get home from work, there’s gonna be hell to pay. These are obnoxious, knuckle dragging hot takes, never mind that this behavior is often exhibited by the very people who propagate the myth of the “male loneliness epidemic,” ultimately answering their own clickbaiting question. Hey, it’s a free country. Think what you wanna think. Believe what you wanna believe. It’s all well and good until you vocalize it in public, or worse, take a swing at someone.
Because you’ve forgotten that “Fuck Around and Find Out” comes with a seldom spoken about caveat: some people are fucking CRAZY. Suddenly, the kid you decked without provocation has cold cocked you into sleepy time. The guy you jumped out of your car to scream at through his window? He’s probably got a gun and no patience for your bullshit. Then there are those toothless “savages” at the truck stop cooking up some mystery meat during your beer run. They don’t appreciate being leered at and mocked by city folk who think it’s funny to embarrass and ridicule them from a perch of so called “civility,” much less have their pictures taken like animals at the zoo. Educated or not, they know when they’re the butt of a joke, and mister, they don’t take kindly to it.
Therein lies the ultimate point of Hunter’s Blood. The “when in Rome” rules apply when you’re out on someone else’s turf, knocking back beers and laughing about funny accents. They know these woods better than you do, and let me tell ya, they’re “looking for a reason.” The little hunting troupe gets humbled real quick in Hunter’s Blood, and Gulger, the only level headed member of the bunch, repeatedly warns these fellas to knock off the bullshit before they insult or aggravate the wrong person. His warnings are ignored, and well, now you’re running for your lives.
I’m not going out of my way to defend the backwoods locals in the film because they’re as disgusting and brutal as these movies typically depict them. They’re rapists and murderers, and though it’s not explicitly shown, there’s a hint or two of cannibalism suggested as well. There have been, after all, “a lot of missing people around here lately.” It’s possible, even likely, that these fellas would have run into this group at some point and been put in exactly the same situation. The gasoline was already being poured over the fire, though, when they decided they’d have a laugh at the locals’ expense.
Hunter’s Blood might justify going to war with the hicks in the film because they’re evil, and that’s kind of its only hindrance. There’s really no need to justify this class war by making one side so much worse than the other. A far more compelling film could easily have been made about city folks getting their “just desserts” at the hands of people who weren’t looking for a fight, a grimmer photographic negative of the brilliant comedy Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, if you will. Even so, it’s still a good film with a solid message that I wish was heeded more often. Hunter’s Blood is a bloody, suspenseful, gruesome horror/action thriller, but its lesson is quite clear: Watch your mouth. Be a decent human being. If you can’t, for the love of Christ… just shut the fuck up.
HOME VIDEO
Hunter’s Blood has never had a legitimate release stateside beyond its original Embassy Home Entertainment VHS in early 1987. But the fellas at Synapse Films have pulled the movie from digital obscurity and lavished it with a pristine new restoration, some wonderful supplements, and a few other goodies all house in two different Hardbox designs, one by Sean Longmore (Variant A, pictured here), and one by Graham Humphreys (Variant B). Let’s see what they’ve brought back from this hunt:
- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 HD Widescreen, restored in 4K from the original 35mm camera negative.
- Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio English Surround Remix 5.1, DTS-HD Master Audio Original Theatrical English Mono 2.0
- Subtitles: English SHD
- Audio Commentary by Producer Myrl A. Schreibman, moderated by Film Historian Michael Felsher
- Audio Commentary by Film Historian Amanda Reyes & Genre Critic J.A. Kerswell
- The Woods Run Red: The Making of Hunter’s Blood
- Audio Interview with Bruce Glover, Conducted by Tough-Guy Film Expert Mike Malloy
- Teaser Trailer
- Theatrical Trailer
- Video Trailer
- Still Gallery
- Limited Edition Hardbox Slipcover (Variant A) Designed by Sean Longmore
- Fold-Out Double-Sided Poster featuring newly commissioned artwork by Sean Longmore on one side, and Graham Humphreys on the other
- Six Double-Sided Collector’s Cards
- 40-Page Collectable Booklet featuring Liner Notes by Michael Gingold
- Reversible cover insert featuring two different original one-sheet designs
100% worth it for existing fans who have been waiting decades for a legitimate release, as well as horror fans who have yet to discover it!
Bits ‘N’ Pieces
Traum-A-Meter:
3 out of 4
Though there’s a nasty flaying and decapitation (both off-camera, just the results), most of the violence in Hunter’s Blood is action-movie oriented, with various gunshot wounds and fistfights. There is, however, a machete to the jugular, antlers stabbed into a back, and – arguably the film’s nastiest moment – a body found with its face blown completely off with a shotgun.
Today’s Jam: Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name” would have rocked your speakers as you headed out to the theater.
TODAY'S MORAL
Posted signs don’t mean buzzard shit. These woods belong to them that holds ‘em!