Death Hunt tries to combine a revenge thriller with The Most Dangerous Game. Revenge Thrillers have always been popular with I Spit on Your Grave and the aptly name Revenge (I which I recommend checking out). The idea of having someone fight back after being put through the ringer has its appeal. Adding the idea of hunting humans for sport like The Most Dangerous Game could have been icing on the cake.

“Could” is as far as this film goes. Unfortunately, that’s not very far. Death Hunt could have been better, but it didn’t live up to its potential. From the get-go, it never goes beyond the ideas it has. The overacting was a turnoff from the beginning. Every inflection and movement was so excessive that it became difficult to take the movie seriously. Cliché after cliché made the story feel tired and unoriginal.

A wealthy developer is trying to convince the small town of the good side of a potential future project. The locals weren’t fans though, but since he has a hot date, he is relatively unfazed. A few guys have different plans as they follow the couple until they’re pulled over but a corrupt sheriff. What follows is kidnapping and hunting.

The script is the main reason Death Hunt just doesn’t work. The dialog is clunky and at times nonsensical. No amount of acting could help the glaring plot holes or questionable direction. You will be seeing some of the fastest recoveries to gunshots ever. Audio was probably one the worst parts. It was uneven and the soundtrack was far too loud compared to the dialog. The cinematography fared better at least. The shots were well lit and overall, not bad.

Like I mentioned, the acting was all over the place. It was hard to tell what the actor was trying to convey. However, you could tell that they were putting a lot of effort into their performance. Effort doesn’t always equal quality though. The one standout could be Brooke (Marlene Malcolm) as the primary target of our over-the-top hunters. She’s able to walk that line between helpless bystander and hardcore fighter. It probably helps that she had the least to say. The rest is largely forgettable.

Death Hunt is in an odd situation. It had a solid premise but no follow through. It tried to race against similar movies but not only was outpaced but it barely stumbles over the finish line. Even at a brisk ninety minutes, it still felt drawn out and boring. That’s two things that you don’t want from a thriller. I kept trying to give it film a shot but when one-character mentions there’s no escape since they’re twenty miles from the nearest land… but we just saw the island next to the mainland, I realized that’s Death Hunt as a whole. It says what it wants to be but does very little to hide what it is. And ultimately, it’s just a waste of time.

3 out of 10