"Maybe we're at war with Norway?"

It is very rare that I can go into a dvd shop, read the back of a dvd cover and actually buy it instead of saying "one to download". This such rarity happened to me on Saturday. I picked up a Norwegian movie called "Manhunt" (aka Rovdyr). The blurb on the back sold it to me and sold it to me good and I have alot faith in Norwegian horror thanks to Fritt Vilt 1 & 2 (aka Cold Prey) so my saturday night seemed set.

The plot of Manhunt is simple, it's 1974 in Norway and four 20-somethings Roger, his girlfriend Camilla, her friend Mia and her brother Jorgen are all travelling in the countryside in a camper van. They stop at a gas station and they meet the unfriendly locals and meet a very nervous girl who asks them for a lift. They get followed by another car that the hitch-hiker seems to fear and all of them are attacked and dragged off unconcious into the woods. When they wake they hear the cry of a horn and they realise that they are being hunted down by unseen hunters.



Now I know what you are thinking......."Dude I've seen that movie a million times before!" and yes, you are right you have. But Manhunt totally acknowledges it references....Texas chainsaw massacre, Just before Dawn, Turkey Shoot and it even starts with the opening song to Last House on the Left. The movie has an unashamed 70's vibe to it, the way it is filmed, the characters, it's brutality.



And this dear reader is why I liked it. In all the dreg that hits the cinema it's great to see something that is such an affectionate nod to 70's slasher cinema. When it opens you are unsure of who is the main character and who will survive. Camilla's character has a huge turn around in it. From animal loving vergetarian with passive agressive abusive boyfriend to a John Rambo-esque final girl. The movie is good! Trust me. It's only 70 mins long but it feels longer in a good way.



The movie ends really well and it's kinda a brave ending. Not in an Eden Lake I want to kill myself ending but in a very it leaves the audience to decide what happens next. Also one of the best uses of music in a horror during a scene since House of 1000 corpses i.e nice song......nasty things on screen! Watch it......t'was good.