Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

The Night of the Hunted 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 18, 2023

Jean Rollin's "The Night of the Hunted" (1980) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Indicator/Powerhouse Films. The supplemental features on the release include archival programs with the director and cast members; archival documentaries on the making of the film; several audio commentaries; vintage promotional materials; and more. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

It is not a bad idea to see The Night of the Hunted and The Escapees at the same time. They are both reflective of a permanent shift that occurred in Jean Rollin’s films in the early 1980s, while the French film industry was undergoing a permanent transformation as well. As the 1970s ended, many of the producers that used to fund genre films of the kind Rollin worked on redirected their attention and money to the rapidly growing adult business, effectively forcing virtually all former partners to quickly adjust their output. Rollin did too, which is precisely the reason he directed several adult films during this period as well -- the adult films made it possible for him to still do the genre films that interested him.

But in the early 1980s, the genre films Rollin was able to do acquired a brand new identity, one that routinely mimicked the identity of Jess Franco’s films. In these genre films, the period environment was replaced with a contemporary environment; the impressive Gothic sets, decors, and costumes disappeared; and improvisation became essential. Also, Rollin routinely had to work with minuscule budgets that most directors would not consider at all, which meant that his ability to move across France and pick fantastic locations for his work greatly diminished. (Consider this: before he passed away, Rollin frequently pointed out that during the transition his adult films often had the same budgets his genre films did).

However, during the 1980s, Rollin made some of his most intriguing genre films. This is not a popular opinion among critics who have written extensively about Rollin over the years, but only because they typically evaluate his entire body of work while viewing it through the same prism that reveals the strength of his classic Gothic horror films. Rollin’s post-1970s films have a different, often much more impressive imagination, which makes them almost as unorthodox and unpredictable as the films Soviet directors were making at the time while trying to avoid troubles with their state censors. As strange as it may sound, virtually all have a much heavier atmosphere as well, which is an essential element of Rollin’s work.

In The Night of the Hunted, Rollin tells a good and quite eerie story that at the moment feels shockingly relevant. During a pitch-black night, a driver (Alain Duclos) picks up a beautiful girl in a white gown (Brigitte Lahaie) who appears to be on the run. The driver then invites the girl to his place in Paris, assuming that she would share an interesting story, but the more time the two spend together, the clearer it becomes that the girl is struggling to recover her memories. While the driver is away, the girl is then visited by a mysterious couple, a middle-aged man and a slightly younger woman, and forced to follow them back to a tall building somewhere in the heart of the city where other individuals with identical memory issues are closely observed by medical staff. But as the girl befriends another girl (Dominique Journet) it becomes increasingly clear that the staff does not intend to help them, but prepare them for extermination.

Approximately two-thirds of The Night of the Hunted produce intentionally vague material that makes it virtually impossible to guess what its final destination would be. This allows Rollin to build a tremendous atmosphere of the kind that some of Franco’s psychedelic thrillers are known for. However, instead of using it to permanently shift The Night of the Hunted to that most fluid playground that most of Franco’s films, not just his psychedelic films, love to visit, Rollin introduces a very effective twist that places everything in a most realistic context.

The minimalistic urban style of The Night of the Hunted will not be everyone’s cup of tea. However, it is without a shadow of a doubt the very reason why Rollin is able to infuse such a heavy atmosphere into the story and then wonderfully manage the transition from what appears to be surreal to the real. (For what it’s worth, seasoned film aficionados will easily recognize the influence of George Romero’s similarly minimalistic classic horror thriller Night of the Living Dead in the tone, style, and appearance of The Night of The Hunted).

The Night of the Hunted 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

This 4K Blu-ray release of The Night of the Hunted introduces a recent 4K restoration of the film, which can be viewed with HDR and Dolby Vision. A separate Blu-ray release of the 4K restoration is available as well. Included below are screencaptures from the 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray releases. Please note that the screencaptures from the 4K Blu-ray are downscaled to 1080p and do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the disc, including the actual color values of this content.

Screencaptures #1-14 are from the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #17-24 are from the 4K Blu-ray.
Screencaptures#26-29 are from the Redemption label's release of The Night of the Hunted.

The only other release of The Night of the Hunted that I have in my library is this North American release, which the Redemption label produced in 2013. I did some comparisons with it and think that it is very easy to declare that the 4K makeover is a lot healthier. Density levels, for instance, are much better, so on a large screen the improvements in terms of depth are substantial. Sharpness levels are better as well. In fact, in some of the brighter and better-lit footage the visuals now look dramatically better. Image stability is outstanding. Colors are stable and look healthy. However, this is the one area where I do not think that everything looks as convincing as it should. Before I explain why, let me make it very clear that there are more examples of better balanced primaries and nuances on the new 4K makeover. But there is one primary and several nuances that interact with it that appear a bit off. It is primary blue and several supporting nuances that lean toward light turquoise. Examples can be seen in screencaptures #2, 5, and 10. The segment screencapture #11 is taken from looks very good too, which is fine if there was more light blue. While I do not think that the previous release has a perfect color balance -- for example, several areas reveal too much green/yellow -- the blue that appears in places where there is turquoise on the new 4K makeover is more convincing. In fact, screencapture #2, the moving clouds are practically eliminated from the upper corner of the window, but are visible on the previous release. Obviously, the color adjustments are responsible for the loss of detail. The HDR and Dolby Vision do now introduce any meaningful improvements. I tested several areas with both, and they are very gentle grades, so even in darker areas with more subtle nuances the color palette is extremely similar in native 4K and 1080p. All in all, I think that there is more to like on the new 4K makeover, but I also think that the color grade could have been more convincing.

The Night of the Hunted 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this release: French LPCM 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The audio is very healthy. I did a few quick comparisons with the lossless track that is included on the Redemption label's release of The Night of the Hunted and can confirm that the light pops and cracks that are present on it are now gone. Stability is very good. Dynamic intensity is unimpressive, but this is a limitation of the original soundtrack. The English translation is very good.

The Night of the Hunted 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Jean Rollin Introduces The Night of the Hunted - in this archival introduction, Jean Rolling quickly explains how The Night of the Hunted came to exist. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Perdues: La Nuit des traquees - this documentary takes a closer look at the production of The Night of the Hunted and the period from which the film emerged from. Included in it are clips from new and archival interviews with Jean-Pierre Bouyxou, Daniel Bird, Brigitte Lahaie, and Natalie Perrey, amongst others. In French and English, with English subtitles where necessary. (20 min).

• Cast and Crew Interviews -
  
  1. Jean Rolling on The Night of the Hunted - the late director discusses the production of The Night of the Hunted and the working environment in France during the 1980s. In English. (3 min).
  
  2. Brigitte Lahaie: A Delectable Presence - in this archival interview, Brigitte Lahaie recalls her first encounter with Jean Rollin and their collaborations on several of his films, including The Night of the Hunted. In French, with English subtitles. (16 min).
  
  3. Lionel Wallmann: Forty Years Together - in this archival interview, producer Lionell Wallmann discusses his professional relationship with Jean Rollin. In English. (17 min).
  
  4. Alain Plumey at the Museum of Eroticism - Alain Plumey, who appeared in several of Jean Rollin's film and routinely performed in adult films, discusses the era of the irreversible transition in the French film industry that occurred during the 1970s and 1980s, and how directors like Rollin and actors like himself were influenced by it. Plumey is now the director of the Museum of Eroticism in Paris. In French, with English subtitles. (15 min).

• Stephen Thrower: The Gulf of Emptiness - in this new program, critic Stephen Thrower discusses The Night of the Hunted. In English, not subtitled. (21 min).

• Inserts and Alternative Scenes -
  
  1. Soft Scene One. With music only. (6 min).
  2. Soft Scene Two. With music only. (3 min).
  3. Filles traquees Hardcore Scenes. With music only. (10 min).

• Le Pont - in this program, Brigitte Lahaie and Jean-Pierre Bouyxou discuss the filming of the final sequence in The Night of the Hunted. In French, with English subtitles.

• Theatrical Trailer - a vintage theatrical trailer for The Night of the Hunted. In French, with English subtitles. (4 min).

• Image Gallery - a collection of original promotional materials for The Night of the Hunted.

• Commentaries -
  
  1. Audio commentary by critic Tim Lucas.
  2. Selected scenes commentary by Jean Rollin.
  3. Selected scenes commentary by Brigitte Lahaie and Jean Rollin.

• Book - an exclusive 80-page book with a new essay by Ruairí McCann, archival writing by Jean Rollin on the making of the film, archival interviews with actor Brigitte Lahaie and collaborator Jean-Pierre Bouyxou, and technical credits.

The Night of the Hunted 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While The Night of the Hunted is a very close relative of the various psychedelic thrillers Jess Franco made during the 1970s and 1980s, as odd as it may sound, it has a lot in common with the cheap and minimalistic films Soviet and Eastern European directors shot during the Cold War era. It is strange, misleadingly chaotic, and remarkably atmospheric, but promotes an eerie message that right at this moment is surprisingly relevant. I have always liked The Night of the Hunted. This release introduces a new 4K restoration of the film with a great selection of new and archival bonus features. RECOMMENDED. (If you enjoy your viewing experience of The Night of the Hunted, consider booking a date with Franco's Shining Sex).