shadowfax73
I bought David Osbourne's book right back in about 72 and I loved it so much that I read it three times. When I saw they were making a movie of it I was locked and loaded for it. Just before the movie came out I was posted to Germany (I was in the armed forces). I finally found a cinema where it was playing and finally got to see it. Two things - firstly it was about 90% faithful to the book (that tells you how good the book was) and secondly, it was in German - no subtitles, pure German. And you know, I still loved it. I was so familiar with the book that I was ale to follow the movie good. I have never seen it since, not on TV or video - it's almost like it's a lost film (like Freebie & The Bean). I hope it gets a decent release someday but I won't hold my breath.
Woodyanders
Affable Ken (superbly played with chilling teddy bear charm by Peter Fonda), macho Greg (a terrific John Phillip Law), and nerdy, neurotic Art (a fine portrayal by Richard Lynch) are three Vietnam war veteran buddies who once a year let it all hang out for two weeks: they drink booze, have sex with whores, and mercilessly hunt people down in the woods like animals at their remote woodland retreat. The trio abduct married businessman Martin (solid Alberto de Mendoza) and his fetching mistress Nancy Stillman (lovely Cornelia Sharpe) and ruthlessly torment the couple prior to setting them loose for the big hunt. Director Peter Collinson, working from a harsh and twisted script by David D. Osborn and Liz Charles-Williams, relates the grim and gripping plot at a steady pace, maintains an appropriately hard, gritty, and mean-spirited tone throughout, builds a good deal of nerve-wracking suspense that culminates in an especially harrowing last third, and punctuates the sordid narrative with stark and startling moments of raw brutal violence. Moreover, this variant on that hoary old chestnut "The Most Dangerous Game" with elements of "Straw Dogs" and "Deliverance" tossed in for extra nasty measure makes a pertinent and provocative point on how war and military training turn men into lethal and predatory cold-blooded killers. Fonda, Law, and Lynch display a natural and convincing chemistry as our deadly threesome, with Fonda in particular a stand-out as a smooth-taking psychopath who hides his true savage nature behind a deceptively friendly veneer. William Holden acquits himself well in the small, yet pivotal role of the vengeful father of one of Ken's victims. Fernando Arribas' polished cinematography makes expert use of dewy soft focus, freeze frames, and the telescopic lens. The breathtakingly gorgeous sylvan scenery and Ruggero Cini's jaunty banjo score nicely contrast the otherwise bleak and nihilistic material. Well worth checking out.
rijim2001
Get some decent Americn actors on the cheap, film in the mountains outside of Madrid to cut expenses, play it for the U.S. market and you end up with this film. I think that is the main reason so many male reviewers on this site think this is a terrific film. Because of the European sleaze factor of one pretty single woman in a mountain cabin with men with guns. The plot has been explained by many others but (Spoiler alert) most missed the fact that Fonda had fathered a child years earlier when he and his "clean-cut" pals gang raped Holden's daughter and got away Scot-free. That's why Holden shows up at the end to exact revenge and to stop these guys. I just watched a tape of it and am selling it fast and cheap so it won't contaminate my library of films.
clauss
This film is a revelation in terms of editing technique, the use of stills right in the middle of the action (this is 1974, a long time pre-John Woo)and several passages of pretty associative editing. The photography is stunning with spectacularly framed images. There is a very thought-out way of using sound, with a change of perspective (from clos up to a wide shot and vice versa) that is counteracted by the sound - a lot of close-up conversation takes place on wide shots. and finally, because some folks think this is boring - the way the topic of the movie - the use of humans as living targets - is introduced is pretty compelling - the audience is not given a clue, or a well-worded plan - we are kept just as informed as the victims, and when seeing the movie for the first time, stuff like putting the chain on the woman in the kitchen really comes as an awful surprise - yet Fonda delivers this as if it was routine as usual (which it obviously is for his character) - thrilling stuff. They did a lot of experimenting with editing and imaging in the 70s which should not be lost. this movie should be put on dvd!
AD
