By Jay of the Dead

When a film opens with the phrase, “Based on Actual Events” or something of the like, you can usually dismiss it altogether. We’ve learned over the decades that this typically means there is a kernel of truth that inspired the story.

Writer-director (and star) Josh Stewart was inspired by actual events that he experienced to write “The Hunted” (2013). I’ll come back to this story at the end of the review, but here’s the premise of the movie: Jake (Josh Stewart) is trying to launch a hunting reality TV show, so he travels to the woods of West Virginia with his camera man (Ronnie Gene Blevins) and tries to bag a large buck that’s been eluding hunters. Jake’s plan is to shoot a decent proof-of-concept, pilot episode that he hopes to sell to investors and a network.

But the two TV hosts become increasingly concerned when they keep hearing blood-curdling (and I mean blood-curdling) screams in the darkness of the woods. Is it an injured bobcat? Or is it a wailing ghost woman?

So, what you have here is a Found Footage film that’s in the vein of “The Blair Witch Project” (1999), but even better for my money. (Yes, co-directors Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick created a historically significant Horror film. Even Roger Ebert listed “The Blair Witch Project” among his “10 Most Influential Films of the Century”!) So, I’m not trying to take anything away from “The Blair Witch Project,” especially since it probably informed “The Hunted.” But 14 years later, we have a film that works even better to me.

I’m betting most Horror fans will be underwhelmed — and perhaps even bored — by “The Hunted.” But to me, I found this film to be unsettling and haunting. Sure, I have some personal, subjective experience that I’m bringing to the table: For instance, I’m from West Virginia, and I’ve spent some time hiking through the woods at night. And I have heard blood-curdling animal screams (such as when raccoons are fighting in the darkness of the woods) that are intensely creepy. Those sounds are very upsetting, indeed.

But to me what makes this film truly work is, first and foremost, the incredible vocal performance of Katherine Von Till, who plays the ghost. Her screams are truly — no exaggeration whatsoever — the scariest screams I’ve ever heard in a Horror film! I watched this movie in the daytime in my car during my lunch break, and I was genuinely scared! We don’t even see the ghost! We only hear her, and her screams are terrifying to me.

So, now let’s return to the “Based on Actual Events” aspect of this film. Writer-director Josh Stewart is actually from West Virginia, and this movie was set and filmed in West Virginia. After I watched the film, I checked out the special features on the DVD. One short 10- or 15-minute segment is the story behind the ghost. Stewart sits in front of the camera and tells a tale of something he experienced (many times while living in a certain place in West Virginia), when a screaming, ghostly woman would wail at night outside his house. He never saw her, but he sure could hear her!

Sure, this guy is an actor with an impressive resume (you’ve seen and probably loved many films he’s appeared in). And yes, it’s possible that this story could be marketing hype. But I don’t think so. He recounted the story with no apparent performance. His telling was flat and frank. I believe him. I believe this experience happened and served as the inspiration for this film. My only shade of doubt (which is very small) is that I tried to Google other accounts of this same screaming woman, “the screamer,” which is supposedly common knowledge in this part of West Virginia. But I couldn’t find anything online. Even so, I believe in ghosts, and I believe this story is true.

By the time I returned to work after my lunch break, I was covered in goosebumps and totally freaked out. For me, “The Hunted” (2013) is a 7.5 out of 10, and I would recommend buying it, so you can hear Josh Stewart’s account of “The Screamer” on the DVD extras. If you watch it, let me know if you believe it’s true. I do.

Rating and Recommendation: The Hunted (2013)
Jay of the Dead = 7.5 ( Rental for most people / Buy it to me for DVD extra! )

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