Rating: 3.5/5
Hooptober 7.0 | 7/32 | Decades 1/6 | 1930s
A luxury yacht, on the owner’s orders, sails through a channel off the coast of South America. The captain calls the order into question based on advice from Bob, a passenger and big game hunter. They notice the channel lights off the shoreline are not the same.
Regardless, the owner orders the go-ahead. The owner and his chums discuss the morality of hunting with Bob.
— I asked you if there'd be as much sport in the game if you were the tiger instead of the hunter. — Well, that's something I'll never have to decide… This world is divided into two people: the hunter and the hunted. And luckily, I'm the hunter. Nothing could ever change that.
At that, the ship runs aground and explodes. Three men make it off the boat, but sharks drag down two of them, leaving only Bob. Bob swims to shore. He stumbles through the jungle until he arrives at a chateau on an opposing shore.
Inside, he meets Count Zaroff and the survivors of a previous shipwreck. Count Zaroff is a fellow game hunter. He laments how the sport bore him.
What I needed was not a new weapon, but a new animal… Here on this island, I hunt the most dangerous game.
One pulls him aside and tells him there used to be more of them, but they have disappeared.
Where have they gone? And what does the Count keep in his trophy room?
While I assume most people know the answer, I’ll refrain from spoiling it, just in case.
This film was shot on the same sets as King Kong (same director too — Ernest B. Schoedsack) and shared some actors. The chateau looks so good!
The effects are killer! They pull some deceptively simple shots while having the confidence not to linger on how sharp the effect is.
Everyone does solid stunt work! It looks good enough for these purposes.
I wish we had more one-hour movies these days. This movie is the perfect length for its story. That said, some of the conversation scenes drag, but not unbearably so.
** Stray Thoughts / Spoilers **
- The boat’s effects are so great! I want to see how they set up the set that tosses back and forth, sending the men and furniture flying.
- I love the knocker on the door of the fanged man with an arrow in his chest carrying a woman. It’s probably racist, but not in any immediate way I can parse.
- The Count is such a creep — those enormous eyes.
- “Now I know how the animals I hunted felt.” In case it wasn’t clear.
- No, not the dogs! :(
- The Count needs to learn a second song on the piano.
- Oh wow, he beats Mr. Burns on hounds.
- Woah, they threw that knife!