(1987)
2
Donald Guarisco
This Deliverance knockoff has a good cast and all the right elements but it never quite manages to convince. The main problem with Hunter's Blood is that it goes about its backwoods-thriller business in a style that is too leisurely: the windup takes too long to unfurl in Emmett Alston's script and, once the confrontations kick in, it never quite builds to the feverish pitch of tension that material like this requires. Robert C. Hughes' direction makes good use of its rural locales but his pacing is too slack to give the action the visceral charge it needs. The best thing about Hunter's Blood is its cast: veterans Clu Gulager and Ken Swofford make instantly engaging heroes while Bruce Glover and Billy Drago bring the right style of unhinged energy to their villainous roles. Unfortunately, the film never really makes the villains as threatening as they could be and the finale caps the film with a whimper instead of a bang. In short, b-movie completists might enjoy watching this one for the actors involved but there are other films that do a better variation on Deliverance than anything you see here.
Hunter's Blood on AllMovie
Hunter's Blood (1987)
