The Hunting Party

I'm a big fan of early 70's sadistic westerns and "The Hunting Party" has the special place in my grimy heart. It's among the nastiest, bloodiest and most misanthropic western movies ever made. Obviously influenced by Peckinpah's masterful "The Wild Bunch" it has its share of brutal violence and blown off heads. Even the cow gets its throat slit in the beginning of this nasty spectacle. Gene Hackman plays wealthy town owner filled with rage and misogynistic hatred. When the outlaw named Frank (Oliver Reed) kidnaps his wife (Candice Bergen) for teaching him to read, Hackman forms the hunting group. The bloodbath ensues... Highly cynical western, superbly acted and shot. The shocking finale filled my eyes with tears. A must-see.

One of those "lost" films that only shows up on cable once in a while, THE HUNTING PARTY is a blood soaked western that is an obvious response to Sam Peckinpah's THE WILD BUNCH. Made in 1971 by Don Medford and starring a young Candice Bergen, a vicious Gene Hackman, and Oliver Reed with an American accent. This is certainly one of the most violent westerns ever made with slo-mo gunshot wounds and more agony and gore than most horror films. Nihilistic and extreme without hope or redemption. The soundtrack is excellent as well as the photography and editing. The Hunting Party will hopefully be rediscovered on home video soon, or else make sure you catch it on FLIX this month!

I managed to get an uncut version of this rare western, and I thought it was very engaging. Now, I will freely admit that the screenplay is full of holes (like: How does the party know what Oliver Reed's character looks like? Why doesn't Hackman kill Reed when he has the chance? Why won't Reed admit defeat?) which definitely prevent this from becoming the epic, sweeping western it is obviously trying to be. (As well, most of the main characters are written poorly.) Yet at the same time, I was immediately hooked and engaged until the end credits started. Though the movie has all of those above faults (and more), there is some really good stuff here. The locations... photography...production values... are all top-notch. And whoa, all of that violence! The bloddy shootouts and sniper attacks give Sam Peckinpah a real run for his money. People who don't like westerns probably won't like this movie, but western fans like myself will likely embrace it, flaws and all