Happy Hunting (2017) 1h 31m

This is an odd way to start a review, but I feel that the term "redneck" gets overused in horror.  It has become a catch-all for any non-urban/non-suburban villain character(s).  Take this film for example.  The descriptions mention the townspeople as "rednecks" but I find them more akin to the villagers in Shirley Jackson's The Lottery.  Their actions may be shocking and wrong to us, but to them it's what they have been doing for ages.  I'm not justifying either groups actions here as by modern social and moral standards both are viewed as wrong.  The people here don't really fit the stereotypical overalls, flannel, banjo playing bumpkins we typically visualize, so why not find a better term?  Anyway, let's get back on track here.

Happy Hunting's main character is Warren, a crank making alcoholic.  He receives a call from Mexico saying that an ex-lover has died and that he has a child.  Warren mans up, tries to quit drinking, and sell some bunk crank to make it to Mexico.  The deal goes south but so does our man until he ends up in the town of Buffalo Flats.  It's a town known for its rich hunting heritage despite being a desert region now.  He arrives just in time for their annual hunting festival where this quickly turns into The Most Dangerous Game with Warren and four others attempting to flee from the towns elite huntsmen.

It's been a while since I've watched one of these Running Man style films.  While it lacks the panache of a lot of its predecessors I can't really find any heavy faults with Happy Hunting.  Sure, we have a ton of time spent in the desert without much action but I found myself on Warren's side and had some emotional reactions to characters being killed.  I also appreciated the speech from the Sheriff about the hunt being about how they "deal with problems," in this town.  Once again, it doesn't justify their actions, but it helps you understand them.  Overall, I'm probably not going to watch this film again, but if it's already on somewhere then I'm not adverse to seeing it again.

I give Happy Hunting 2 copies of Guns & Ammo out of 5:

The Rezort (2015) 1h 33m

When working with a fuse one should give themselves enough time to get to a safe spot after lighting it.  Sometimes someone fucks up and it blows up in their face.  Sometimes it takes too long and becomes more trouble than it's worth.   Then there are times where it takes just a moment too long and lures you into that sense of security...

If The Rezort were a mixed drink, you would take one part Jurassic Park, one part The Most Dangerous Game, and blend it all with a large amount of the Dead Island video game series.  After an almost apocalyptic viral outbreak caused the living to fight the dead, an island exists with the last remaining infected on it.  Vacationers can come to The Rezort to have a controlled zombie hunting experience and work out whatever fantasy or internal anguish they might carry.  You probably have a good idea what happens in this film.

I mentioned that false sense of security previously because this film has that slow burn that takes you to the point where one can assume exactly how the rest of this movie is going to play out.  Instead though, when it blows up, there's a pause and you find out that there were some fireworks mixed in with that explosion.  It leads to some serious "oooo's" and "ahhh's".

The character development is done really well.  They don't waste time trying to hide anything about the "surface" people and the characters we want to know more about get teased right until we are given that informational relief.  I personally loved that one of the women came to the island to deal with her PTSD from the previous "war."  The end of this film delivers some fantastic reveals and creates a couple more questions that I would love to have answered.  Just not in a sequel form.  Maybe in short film format.  I could live with that.

I give The Rezort 2 copies of Dead Island out of 5: