Our hero, the eponymous Hunter (Jason Kellerman…who also penned this flick) spends his days livin’ the dream; homeless, pan-handling for roughly 32 cents in lose change, dreaming of his days as a successful MMA fighter, and freaking the fuck out over the constant blood drenched images that haunt his every waking moment…good times one and all…oh, he also sees a vision of a strawberry in a vice (something we can all relate to in our human adventure, amirite my loyal fiends?)…if that isn’t a life every one of you boils n’ ghouls can aspire to I don’t know what is!
How did ol’ H-dawg end up on the mean streets? Well, his mother and sister were killed by some weird ass mother fuckers…which sent Hunter spiraling into the depths of despair…and they are still very much lurking around, much to his chagrin. Soon Hunter is confronting his personal demons with the help of comely counselor Danni (Rachel Cerda) while hunting down the real-life demonic figures that damned him to his current hellish existence!
Let me tell you creeps; Hunter is one hell of a picture! I’m not going to sit here and lie to you and state that it’s an over-the-top fright flick experience; because admittedly it isn’t…but what it does feature is a fantastic take on one of our most beloved horror biz creatures (though what that creature is I’m not going to say…when you watch the flick you’ll be able to piece it together quick enough) and some of the best performances I have witnessed in a damn sight!
Kellerman is one amazing actor…able to be extremely likable and engaging, cocky and tortured all in equal measure, and Cerda is his match offering a performance both both sympathetic and plucky in believable fashion…not to mention the fact that the cold, cruel Chicago streets, held tight in the icy grip of the dead of winter, presents the perfect backdrop for this street level terror tale and it’s gritty, pull no punches take on the supernatural. Speaking of which, Nick Searcy as Volakas…the dude in charge of our arcane antagonists…is fantastic as a figure equal parts Mafiaso and gore-drenched ghoul!
Special mention should also be made to the scenes of hard hitting hand to hand combat Hunter features; this was an unexpected element in a film that deals with raw human emotion and preternatural menaces…but goddamn it left me impressed; the fighting looks legit, and the deft editing makes each hit look like it connects with the force of a megaton bomb!
To sum up Hunter in a nightmarish nutshell; Director David Tarleton along with Kellerman have delivered a top-shelf urban tale of tortured souls versus the legions of the night that features superb acting, street level grit, and realistic action…this is one to set your eerie eyeballs on immediately, and I hope this team reunites to smack us up side the creepy cranium with another dose of revoltingly realistic fright flick goodness soon!
As a side note; if Marvel comes to their sinister senses and decides to resurrect Blade (or if someone decides to do an American version of Sergei Lukyanenko’s Nightwatch series for the silver screen); Tarleton and Kellerman are your dudes!
