Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

The Night of the Hunted Blu-ray Movie Review

Thanks for the Mammaries

Reviewed by Casey Broadwater April 19, 2013

Kino-Lorber and Redemption Films are back with another round of movies by low-budget Euro-sleaze auteur Jean Rollin, best known for his many, many, many lesbian vampire films. His penchant for sapphic bloodsuckers certainly defined his early career—which blended le fantastique and surrealism with campily erotic softcore—but by the late 1970s, Rollin had transitioned to shooting more straightforward grindhouse pornos, making eleven in two short years under the pseudonyms "Michael Gentil" and "Robert Xavier." His following three movies under his own name are among his most unusual, and show a willingness to explore some new thematic territory. 1978's The Grapes of Death is a kind of French-ified version of George Romero's The Crazies, the following year's Fascination looks at sanguinary obsession from a different and surprisingly elegant perspective, and 1980's Night of the Hunted is a strange piece of proto- Cronenbergian psycho-oddity. Kino/Redemption released Fascination a few months ago, but this week we'll be taking a look at Grapes and Hunted.

In a filmography filled with vampires and demoniacs and zombies, Night of the Hunted really does stand out. This isn't even a horror movie, per se; it's closer to a doomed, light sci-fi romance, following an amnesiac with a weird brain-wasting disease who's forced to live in an ominous black skyscraper as part of a dystopian medical study. Hunted is easily the most "modern" of Rollin's films. Gone are the overgrown cemeteries and derelict chateaus of his early efforts, replaced by stark corporate interiors and angular architecture. Still, Night of the Hunted has that dreamy uneasiness that's characteristic of all of Rollin's work.

Granted, that "dreaminess" is often caused by an emphasis on atmosphere over story, since Rollin's movies were usually written quickly and cheaply on spec for producers looking for a low-budget picture to sell. Rollin himself admits—in an interview on this disc—that he wrote the screenplay for Night of the Hunted in a single night, and you can definitely believe it. The film has a high-concept premise, but it's low on meaningful drama, with a lot of the characters' time spent either sneaking around or semi-engaged in substance-less conversations. It could probably be cut down by half and nothing plot-wise would have to be sacrificed.

Adult film actress and frequent Rollin collaborator Brigitte Lahaie plays Elizabeth, an amnesiac who stumbles out of some dark woods in only a nightgown, uncertain why and from whom she's running. A passing motorist, Robert (Vincent Gardére), nearly hits her with his car, but then picks her up and takes her back to his apartment in Paris, where he discovers that she forgets nearly everything immediately after it happens. "You're the only memory I have now," she tells him, and they immediately get undressed—this is a Jean Rollin film after all—for a lengthy lovemaking scene. When Robert leaves for work the next morning, however, Elizabeth is kidnapped by the stern Dr. Francis (Bernard Papineau) and his assistant, Solange (Rachel Mhas), who take her back to the "black tower" she previously escaped, a heavily guarded high rise in the middle of the city. Here, others like Elizabeth are held in captivity, slowly losing their mental processes. Some go blank-faced; others experience vertigo or lose control of their hands in sudden Parkinson's-like fits of shudders. How did they get like this? Is Dr. Francis running some cruel experiment? Did he infect them with this brain-debilitating disease, or is he trying to treat them?

Don't hold your breath for answers. Working outside his wheelhouse of desolate gothic imagery, Rollin sets up an intriguing central mystery with this sleek "black tower," but never develops it into anything beyond a mere setting for stealthy action, some now-quaint softcore nudity, and a few bursts of violence, like the bludgeoning of a rapist's skull with a hammer or an inmate's self-inflicted scissor wound to the eyes. Once Elizabeth returns to the tower, we get a brief view of life inside—she wards off the sexual advances of her desperate female roommate and a horny orderly, mostly—but we don't get any sense of an overarching conspiracy or wider story. Night of the Hunted is all mood over substance, and the narrative thrust is simple; Elizabeth meets up with her old friend, the red-headed Veronique (Dominique Journet)—whom she vaguely recalls—and conspires to once again escape the building, hoping to reunite with her love of all of one night, Robert. How/why does she remember him but forget nearly everything else? Dunno. Chalk it up to their lust-at-first-sight sexual dynamism, I guess. Not that it has to make sense—again, this is Jean Rollin we're talking about—but for how quickly the couple's "love" is established, it's impossible to be as moved by the film's sad and poignant ending as the director wants us to be. While those uninitiated to the cult of Rollin will probably be unimpressed—or bored by the methodical pacing—Night of the Hunted is worthwhile viewing for established fans, if only to see the filmmaker's take on soft sci-fi.

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

Like the other Jean Rollin titles—and just about all Kino/Redemption releases, for that matter—Night of the Hunted is essentially presented "as- is," with a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer of a 35mm print that hasn't been significantly touched up or restored. These means you'll see frequent white/black specks, occasional scratches, and light color fluctuations. None of this is particularly distracting—especially if you're used to watching low-budget niche horror films from the '60s and '70s—but it is very noticeable. Personally, I don't mind the light print damage on these kinds of films; it imparts a sense of the film's history, in a way. Regardless, just giving Night of the Hunted a new high definition remaster is enough to blow away previous standard definition home video releases. Natural film grain is visible, clarity is greatly improved—although Rollin doesn't always, or even often, get his subjects in perfect focus—and the image has a good sense of color balance and density. The only anomaly I spotted here was some light banding and pixilation—evidence of compression—in a few scenes, but it's hardly visible from a normal viewing distance.

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

The film's uncompressed Linear PCM 2.0 track is also affected by age/budget-related issues, so you will hear some quiet hissing, light crackling—along with a few louder crinkles—and the occasional splice pop. Much of this probably could've been attenuated somewhat with digital filtering, but none of it is overly harsh or grating. It is what it is. What matters most is that the French dialogue is listenable and the woozy, ominous scoring sounds decent. The disc defaults to English subtitles, but these are optional.

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

• Introduction by Jean Rollin (HD, 1:24): Rollin discusses how he wrote the film in one night.
• Filmmaker Interview Excerpt (SD, 2:25): Rollin chats with Joshua T. Gravel about how Night of the Hunted came about and was shot in ten days.
• Deleted Sex Scenes (HD, 2:31 and 5:34): Rollin shot these two extended scenes in case he needed to turn the film into a softcore sex movie to turn a profit.
• Theatrical Trailer (HD, 3:25)
• Jean Rollin Trailers (HD): Includes trailers for The Grapes of Death, Fascination, Zombie Lake, The Living Dead Girl, and Two Orphan Vampires.
• Booklet: Inside the case, you'll find a fourteen-page booklet with an essay on Night of the Hunted and The Grapes of Death by Video Watchdog editor Tim Lucas.

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

The oddest entry in Jean Rollin's filmography, Night of the Hunted trades the director's normal preoccupations—lesbian vampires, crumbling cemeteries, deserted beaches—for a soft sci-fi mood piece about an amnesiac and her escape from a medical facility in a sleekly modern high rise. This is a far cry from Lips of Blood or The Iron Cross, and that's precisely why it's worth watching for Rollin's fans. Those less familiar with the director's work may want to start with his dream-like environmentalist zombie movie The Grapes of Death—also releasing on Blu-ray next week —which provides a better, more accessible entry point. As usual, Kino-Lorber and Redemption Films are presenting these Rollin titles as is—that is, without any significant digital cleanup or restoration—but the films look better than ever in high definition and include a few interesting supplements as well.