They briefly get spooked by an old hunter telling them to leave, then go inside to talk. Returning to the lodge they have been using as a base they intend to ask the land owner Tony, played by Skipp Sudduth, about the cries. With a definite concern the two move out to investigate but find nothing on their own. The second night comes and the screaming returns as the two men re-affix their equipment to the trees and what once was a bobcat cry now clearly resembles a terrified and injured woman. This is further displaced by the two finding more of their equipment tampered with, creating less tension and more confusion in the audience after the characters who are content allowing their equipment being tampered with twice continue their filming and hunting. That payoff actually turns out to be a dead bobcat. Once again the impact is low and quiet, giving little conflict as they seem to jump time between the argument instead of covering the issue at the moment which pads the film by minutes and bores an audience expecting an obvious payoff. Things do begin to build up as the two argue over a cry they hear in the woods as to whether or not it’s a bobcat or a human, while finding Jake’s knife in a tree near their filming equipment. This serves well in scenes where some characters seem suspicious while in other parts it drags, so much that the first twenty five minutes feel twenty longer than they should be. As much as the dialogue feels natural between characters it is low and quiet. This translates into characters talking but nothing actually worth hearing being said.Īs the film turns into the plot it is muddied with slow expositions and dull scenes that do little to build tension. This is ruined by the rest of the film being terrible.Īcting between characters is far from wooden but there are moments where the film gives too much weight to the show that drives the plot and not enough to the plot and character development itself. Starting with the staple of a good found footage film, The Hunted doesn’t the camera work is smooth which is aided by the character Stevie, played by Ronnie Gene Blevins, who left his job as a news crew cameraman to help Jake with his show. With a brief introduction to Jake and his family playing and talking about his intentions then a quick car ride to meet the more bit characters that provide exposition about the hunt leads to the slow and quiet story itself. The film begins as a light-hearted look into the life of the hunter Jake, played by Josh Stewart, and his makeshift crew filming a reality show for hunters. The Hunted is a 2013 film written, directed and starring Josh Stewart in which a hunter and his friend travel into the woods to film a hunting show that is as exciting as it sounds even as things take a turn for the worse. Chasing their dream of landing their own hunting show, two hunters head into the dense, secluded mountains of West Virginia only to realize they are not alone.

The hunted 2013