The Last Hunter . Weekly Alibi . 12-14-98

The Last Hunter

DIRECTED BY: Antonio Margheriti

REVIEWED: 12-14-98

Another ass-whoopin' flick from Videodrome's favorite Italian director, Anthony M. Dawson (Antonio Margheriti)! Hunter is Margheriti's oddball melding of The Deer Hunter and Apocalypse Now, and it opens with a drunken brawl in a cheap bar that quickly turns into a bloody, suicidal rampage of mayhem and destruction that sets the stage for the downbeat (yet squeal-inducing) thrills to follow. Low-budget action king David Warbeck plays Captain Henry Morris, who sets out on more-or-less the same mission Martin Sheen was on in Apocalypse Now. Morris' chopper is blown out of the sky and the tough-as-nails soldier is the only survivor of the crash. Swimming to safety, he meets up with George Washington (the machine gun-toting black soldier, not the father of our country). Washington introduces Morris to his rag-tag platoon (which includes the big pimp from Demons), but Morris is cheesed by the presence of Tisa Farrow, courageous photojournalist (women in combat situations, y'know). They set out through the jungle, stumbling across decomposing paratroopers, pits filled with spikes, dead villagers, exploding babies--all the stuff that made Vietnam such a great place to be. The waif-like Tisa Farrow's presence in the midst of all this--especially when she's poundin' down whiskey with the boys--is a little hard to swallow, but then again, she wasn't much more believable as the waif-like daughter of the scientist in Zombie, and all she had to do there was look scared and avoid being eaten. Aww, I kid that Tisa Farrow. Anyway, as night falls, we find ourselves in New York harbor for a love-drenched dream sequence, but don't worry--it turns sour real fast. The entrails, gunplay and dope-addled soul-searching come fast and furious as Morris draws ever-nearer to the end of his mission, which you just know has gotta go wrong. Nobody does this low-rent action cheese better than Antonio Margheriti, who imbues his flicks with a funky, gritty feel that you just won't find anywhere else. Grab this one and Tiger Joe, and your Vietnam experience will be complete!

--Scott Phillips

Other Films by Antonio Margheriti
Death Rage
Invasion of the Flesh Hunters
Wild Wild Planet

Film Vault Suggested Links
Lawrence of Arabia
Die Hard With a Vengeance
Breakdown

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