“Tradition…without it we’re nothing.” The independent feature film Happy Hunting explores how far people are willing to go to keep tradition alive.
Happy Hunting follows a severe alcoholic named Warren (Martin Dingle Wall: Salty, Strangerland) who battles the effects of withdrawal anytime he isn’t drinking. On top of that, his life has basically gone to hell, selling drugs just to get by. When he gets a phone call that his ex-lover passed away and they have a daughter together, he gets determined to make it to Mexico to meet her. Unfortunately for Warren, he makes the mistake of stopping in the town of Bedford Flats during their annual hunting festival.
Back in the day, Bedford Flats was a booming hunting community. The years haven’t been so kind to the town, however, and the economy and hunting have about disappeared. That doesn’t discourage the town from doing what they love, though. Degenerates, whether just passing through or existing members of the community, are rounded up as hunters compete for kills. Along with four others, Warren must survive in the desert while he is hunted by a sniper, a cute oldies-listening couple in knit sweaters and a trio of blood-hungry siblings.
The opening of the film was surprising and tense, perfectly setting the tone for the remainder of Happy Hunting. I wanted to process what just happened within the first couple of minutes, but the wonderfully placed happy music started and I thought, “Oh…this is going to be a fun ride.” Well, I was absolutely right.
Directors like John Hillcoat and Quentin Tarantino have perfected a style of dirty and gritty cinematography that leaves us with ugly scenes that are beautiful to look at. In Happy Hunting, directors Joe Dietsch and Louie Gibson achieve the same result. Scenes depicting Warren’s lifestyle of scamming, drinking anything he can get his hands on and living out of hellholes leave me feeling like I needed to shower. I could almost smell the stale liquor on his clothes. Yet, the scenes were so visually appealing. That’s a tough line to walk for filmmakers, ensuring that the shots don’t go too ugly or too beautiful, but they did a spectacular job.
Aside from the gritty nature of the film, Happy Hunting does not go easy on the bloodshed. There are some really creative deaths, with the second being my personal favorite. The special effects were beautifully done and the blood spray and splatter looked organic. The sounds of the kills at times were pretty cringe-worthy as well, especially hearing a spiked bat getting pulled out of a skull. Speaking of sounds, the original score, which was composed and orchestrated by Rhyan D’Errico and Simon H. Jay, complimented the film perfectly. It even added some black humor and whimsy.
Of course, hardly any of this matters without the right cast of actors pulling it all off. Martin Dingle Wall is a great leading actor, carrying his scenes, even solo scenes, brilliantly whether they are action-packed or not. Warren really isn’t a good guy, but Wall portrays the character with such sadness and desperation for more (than just alcohol) that I really wanted to see him get through this. I appreciate this type of complex situation so much more than if he were an upstanding citizen that I should be cheering on. All of the main cast, which includes Ken Lally (Heroes), Kenny Wormald (Fear the Walking Dead), Connor Williams (The UnMiracle), Gary Sturm (Timetravel_0) and Jeremy Lawson (The Real O’Neals), delivered their roles well and made me happy not to be in Warren’s shoes. Typically in independent features, acting gets a bit amateurish beyond the main roles, but I didn’t see any signs of that happening throughout the film.
Overall, Happy Hunting is one of the best films I’ve had the honor of reviewing in 2016. The film has shown at festivals, including Screamfest Horror Film Festival and American Film Market, so hopefully we see distribution soon. Do yourself a favor and keep an eye out for this title in the near future.
