A.N. 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.

lost-in-limbo "Deliverance" might be the granddaddy of this popular sub-genre, but "Hunter's Blood" has got be one the better imitators of the fold. I love these backwoods horror / action outings where it all comes down to survival, reverting to instinctive methods to keep alive and this keeps the blood and adrenaline pumping throughout. "Hunter's Blood" actually begins slowly setting-up the well-liked characters and the harrowing situations they find themselves in gradually building-up, but when the bone-rattling horror begins its intrusively nasty and unsparing ride through the wilderness with the pacing and jolts never letting up.A group of city men (father and son, two brothers and friend) set out for weekend hunting trip. However their fun is short lived when they encounter some psychotic redneck backwoodsmen, who after a couple of heated confrontations take a shine to the city blokes and then begins the fight for life.Rather a traditional and simple set-up (with it being all about the stalk in a cat and mouse game), but it's excitingly achieved with many taut, suspenseful incidents that you can easily look passed its customary staples. It's well-made and professionally photographed with the strikingly detailed lush backdrop coming off the screen and the atmospherically oozing southern sounding music score camouflaging with the imagery and moods. Helping largely would be that of the strong, character actors the cast bestows. You got a steely Clu Gulager and a burley Ken Swofford leading the way along with Sam Bottoms (who pretty much takes charge with a resilient performance when the chaos erupts), Mayf Nutter and John Travolta's younger brother Joey Travolta. There's such a great, believable rapport built up amongst the group. As for the inbred redneck poachers there are fine performances by Lee de Broux as the leader Red beard and alongside him are Billy Drago (at his slimy best), Charles Cyphers, Bruce Glover (who's dementedly good with that cackling) and Mickey Jones. Finding herself stuck in the middle is the ravishing, but durable Kim Delaney. How her character finds her way in, feels like nothing more than a contrived secondary plot method to add much more tension, but it could have been easily left out. Also showing up is Eugene Robert Glazer, Ray Young and in his debut role is Billy Bob Thorton in very small role as one the rednecks that the boys get into a dispute with at a backwoods bar.

Rob Spoilers AheadLooking back on films my parents forbidden me to watch Hunter's Blood was one of them. From a very early of retro hair cuts to action force figures my parents let me watch film r rated from a very early age. I think I saw Predator when I was eight years old and it never wounded emotionally like some parents think it will. My Father came home with Hunter's Blood one day as the front cover it S**t Hot. We starting watching it and my father many times through the films kept repeating `It's like Deliverance this'. Deliverance was one film that was kept from me as my parents thought I would never have understood the nature of seeing a man rape a man and I think it was best for my eyes to be protected by the movie and for that I thank them but years after when I finally got to see Deliverance I thought back to Hunter's Blood and thought that it was actually a lot better than Deliverance. What John Boorman created with Deliverance was something that no director at the time could pull off and that was the intensity of the scenes where the hill billies arrive. We all hear the myth of what hill billies get up to when they are not hunting and through Deliverance you are constantly questioning what is going to happen to Jon Voight and Ned Beatty. Of course it was pure shock on the audience faces when it finally came to the crunch of what happened next but I still think Hunter's Blood has one up on Deliverance.I haven't seen it for a good ten years so whilst reviewing this please excuse me if a muddle up bit's of the story but I will first give an outline of what I remember most. A young man who has a wife and young child is going hunting with his father and uncle and some friends. They all gun ho and ready to do some serious hunting in the outback. They bump into a huge amount of hill billy boys and a fight occurs. The father of the young man gets shot and is bleeding heavily but they manage to escape to ry and find help but get lost. The wife of the young man arrives in the woods unexpectedly to join them on the trip and everything from there goes wrong and they are fighting for their lives. Oh and one last thing that stands out is the town where they are going hunting are famous for having a pig factory where they kill pigs to turn them into bacon or something like that and when the good guys finally make their escape at the end they hop onto a train and they think they are away to safety only for the camera to cut outside to the back of the train and see the pig factory logo indicating that the train belongs to the hill billies. Phew………………now for a rest.Like I said my memory of the film is hazy but I think I got what I said then right. So many scenes from this films stay with me afterwards as the action never stops and it is literally a cat and mouse chase throughout the entire movie and really haunts you afterwards. Deliverance had charm and wasn't just about a bunch of guys who out hunting and then to be raped by other men, it is about friendship and where your loyalty lies amongst friends. Hunter's Blood haves that but also has the action to go along with it and that's why films of this genre always stick in my mind along with others like Southern Comfort and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. A real treat of a film that deserves cult status.

TOMASBBloodhound Hunter's Blood is one of those little-known gems that some of us are lucky enough to have in our video collections. The story centers around five buddies who trek out to the Arkansas wilderness (actually filmed in California) to hunt deer. Game wardens warn them of a murderous gang of poachers in the area, but naturally our heroes disregard the warnings and set up camp. Sure enough, they eventually run into these poachers and several gun battles erupt.This film was clearly inspired by Deliverance, as so many other films about the outdoors are. With Hunter's Blood, the emphasis is on action rather than characterization or drama. That said, there are still plenty of tense moments along the way as the action unfolds.Perhaps one of the strongest things about this film is the collection of colorful characters who make up the poacher clan. There are plenty of creepy looking individuals among them who you will know doubt recognize from other films. Keep a close eye out for Billy Bob Thornton as he gets thrown from the back of a pick-up truck that takes a sharp turn too quickly.Lots of blood and gore. You will need a strong stomach for a few of the scenes.The film isn't too long and the conclusion is quite satisfying. This film is definitely worth a look if you can find a copy. I haven't seen it on the movie channels for years.So sayeth the Hound.