THE HUNTER

		Review by E.C. McMullen Jr.
THANK YOU TIP JAR THE HUNTER - 2011 USA Release: April 6, 2012 Fulcrum Media Finance, Madman Entertainment, Porchlight Films, Screen Australia, Screen NSW, Screen Tasmania Rating: USA: R

A man waits in an airport hotel. He watches jets land and take off. He bides his time listening to music. The man is Martin David (Willem DaFoe: THE HUNGER, eXistenZ, AMERICAN PSYCHO, SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE, SPIDER-MAN, [Sam Raimi all], ONCE UON A TIME IN MEXICO, INSIDE MAN, ANAMPORPH, ANTICHRIST, DAYBREAKERS, CIRQUE DU FREAK: THE VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT, 4:44 LAST DAY ON EARTH, JOHN CARTER, JOHN WICK).

Martin waits in the hotel lounge when two men walk up to him. One, A Middleman (Jacek Koman: REDHEADS, CHILDREN OF MEN, KOLYSANKA, SPIRITED [TV], GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGENCE, ODDLANDS) was expected, the other was not. Martin takes exception to the stranger and the known associate tells him to wait by the bar.

The middleman has a job offer, which is what Martin was waiting for. Martin's skill is being the best blackmarket hunter in the business and he only works for high-paying customers.

The Middle offers him a job from biotech weapons researcher, Redleaf. They want him to hunt an extinct animal: the Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacine).

Except the last one in the wild was shot by Tasmanian farmer, Wilf Batty in 1930.

The last one in captivity died in 1936, decades before the discovery of DNA.

From time to time, however, there have been the occasional unconfirmed sightings.

The brass at Redleaf, having studied the remnant DNA of the last Thylacine, believe the DNA of a fresh one could be extraordinarily valuable for the company, but the old DNA is useless. Redleaf have reason to believe the animal isn't extinct, only rare and elusive. They want the remains of the last one, and to retain proprietary rights to it, they want Martin to make sure it's the last one.

Martin, in order to insure secrecy, doesn't want the security risk of "help" he knows nothing about. The Middleman takes exception but if he wants Martin, that's the deal.

Martin arrives in Tasmania under a false identity, that of an Australian University researcher.

The locals, many of whom have lost their lumber jobs thanks to researchers designating this and that area as endangered, don't take kindly to them what's coming to make matters worse.

Martin can't get a place to stay in town. His contact point is local man, Jack Mindy (Sam Neill: THE OMEN: THE FINAL CONFLICT, POSSESSION, DEAD CALM, JURASSIC PARK, IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS, SNOW WHITE: A TALE OF TERROR, EVENT HORIZON, JURASSIC PARK III, DAYBREAKERS, THOR: RAGNAROK) who works for the Tasmanian government from time to time, finds him a family out in the woods who need the income from a renter. It's a widowed Mother and two children.

The Mother, Lucy (Frances O'Connor: THE LAZARUS CHILD, MERCY, THE CONJURING 2) is bed ridden with grief over the loss of her husband, Jared. A man who went searching for a Thylacine that he believed still existed, and vanished without a trace two years ago.

As Martin goes about his hunting and business in the woods, he has to return from time to time to the house and report in to his contact for Redleaf. Which means he has to do repairs on the house so he has enough electricity and everything else he requires to do his job. Which means the children take to him.

THE HUNTER could have been a beautiful travelogue movie but from the first scene, tension is introduced and director Daniel Nettheim, who cut his teeth on TV dramas, shows an expert hand at telling Alice Addison's screenplay, from the novel by Julia Leigh.

As soon as Martin is out in the woods, he realizes he isn't alone. Local unemployed loggers vandalize his vehicle, telling him to "Go Home Greenie".

Gunshots and traces of others in the woods let him know that these others, possibly hired by other Red Leaf type companies or sent to watch him, are dogging his trail.

Martin is a ruthlessly dangerous man who lives by his own code. Knowing what type of people who would hire him, he understands he's brought danger to the family he lives with, and his job isn't about protecting them, but finding his prey.

Moreover, the loggers themselves are becoming increasingly dangerous and are not afraid to kill people to fatten their wallets.

This is not the way Martin does his job.

Throughout all of these dynamics, the screws are tightening. Martin wasn't sent there to find the missing Jared: A man who the local law enforcement are curiously incurious about finding.

As the threats, vandalism, and physical danger increases, the locals come to realize that any University professor would have abandoned his research and run home. So what is this guy really doing in the woods that he would be willing to die for?

Then Martin stumbles onto a human skull in clothing that identifies the remains of the missing Jared and everything ratchets up.

Compelling, heartbreaking, and Thrilling, I give THE HUNTER four Shriek Girls.

Four Shriek Girls.

This review copyright 2019 E.C.McMullen Jr.

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