The Hunting Party Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Hunting Party Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf July 9, 2017

Assembled in the shadow of “The Wild Bunch,” 1971’s “The Hunting Party” plays with industry trends, merging the strangeness of spaghetti westerns with more direct offerings of punishment. It’s an unappetizing feature, but it certainly isn’t lazy, watching director Don Medford work diligently to make characters suffer or torment one another during every frame of the picture, practically getting off on the agony “The Hunting Party” provides. Perhaps to some, all this aggression carries meaning or reflects genre study, but in the actual endeavor, it’s pure excess without the narrative substance to support its obsession with the grotesque.

Off on an annual hunting trip with his friends, Ruger (Gene Hackman) celebrates the occasion with the purchase of long-range rifles and prostitutes, feeding his sadistic urges. Back home, Ruger’s wife, schoolteacher Melissa (Candace Bergen), is kidnapped by Calder (Oliver Reed), a brutal outlaw who’s taken the frightened woman to help him conquer illiteracy, falling in love with his prize while keeping her away from the rest of his gang. Learning about the abduction, Ruger decides to hunt Calder with his pals, setting out to kill the man who’s slowly winning over Melissa.

“The Hunting Party” details the savagery of man, refusing to assign any type of heroism during the course of the picture. Calder is a beast, joined by a feral pack of killers and rapists. Ruger is elite, abusing his power, taking his anger out on women, including Melissa. And the kidnapped schoolteacher at the center of it all? She subjected to horrors all around, but the screenplay has her siding with Calder, even enjoying his initial sexual assault, which softens the frightened woman. Oof. “The Hunting Party” is filled with questionable ideas and poorly conceived character arcs, trying hard to be an enlightening study of depravity. However, ugliness is never profound, just indulgent, catching Medford lingering on open wounds and torture, obscuring themes and tonality in a peculiar quest to make as repellent a movie as possible.

The only real bright spot of “The Hunting Party” is the score by Riz Ortolani, who delivers a vibrant sound to the feature that does more to capture a genre vibe than anything Medford does.

The Hunting Party Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation offers a brighter viewing experience for the western, with sun-baked encounters dominating throughout. Detail is generally best served in the daylight, picking up on sweaty, grimy facial particulars, and location expanse, delivering consistent depths. Textures are also inviting on costuming, picking up leathery ornamentation and set interiors. Colors are enjoyable, and while they lack a vibrant range, hues remain natural, keeping with genre expectations, which emphasize browns and grays. Skintones are accurate. Delineation is secure. Grain is fine and filmic. Source is in decent shape, without significant points of damage.

The Hunting Party Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix provides a comfortable blend of violence and conversation, finding dialogue exchanges securing grunts and more eloquent offerings of threat. Emotional extremes avoid distortion, handling screaming and crying well. Music is satisfactory, with Riz Ortolani's score coming through with power and support, capturing the mood. Sound effects are blunt but handled with heaviness, retaining hectic activity with gunshots, explosions, and galloping horses.

The Hunting Party Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features film historians Howard S. Berger and Nathaniel Thompson.

• Interview (12:04, HD) with actor Mitchell Ryan (along with his pet dog, who sits patiently on his lap) delivers a generous amount of candor. While specifics about the film itself are lacking, Ryan is open about Oliver Reed's raging alcoholism and his own drive to match this level of drinking every day. It also turns out Ryan was briefly fired from the production, with Reed refusing to work until he was brought back. Open about his mistakes, Ryan shares his struggles with personal behavior, reaching his low point while shooting "The Hunting Party," which inspired an effort of rehabilitation.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (3:01, HD) is included.

The Hunting Party Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Even with a major cast, some in a prime of their careers, "The Hunting Party" has difficulty standing up straight. It remains in the dark despite an ill- advised detour into comedy featuring jarred peaches (make that sexualized jarred peaches), and while the grim conclusion is admirable, its power is diluted by the rest of the movie, which doesn't have a firm grasp on dark screen poetry, psychological investigation, or the art of editorial suggestion.