shadowfax73 I bought David Osbourne's book right back in about 72 and I loved it so much that I read it three times. When I saw they were making a movie of it I was locked and loaded for it. Just before the movie came out I was posted to Germany (I was in the armed forces). I finally found a cinema where it was playing and finally got to see it. Two things - firstly it was about 90% faithful to the book (that tells you how good the book was) and secondly, it was in German - no subtitles, pure German. And you know, I still loved it. I was so familiar with the book that I was ale to follow the movie good. I have never seen it since, not on TV or video - it's almost like it's a lost film (like Freebie & The Bean). I hope it gets a decent release someday but I won't hold my breath.

Woodyanders Affable Ken (superbly played with chilling teddy bear charm by Peter Fonda), macho Greg (a terrific John Phillip Law), and nerdy, neurotic Art (a fine portrayal by Richard Lynch) are three Vietnam war veteran buddies who once a year let it all hang out for two weeks: they drink booze, have sex with whores, and mercilessly hunt people down in the woods like animals at their remote woodland retreat. The trio abduct married businessman Martin (solid Alberto de Mendoza) and his fetching mistress Nancy Stillman (lovely Cornelia Sharpe) and ruthlessly torment the couple prior to setting them loose for the big hunt. Director Peter Collinson, working from a harsh and twisted script by David D. Osborn and Liz Charles-Williams, relates the grim and gripping plot at a steady pace, maintains an appropriately hard, gritty, and mean-spirited tone throughout, builds a good deal of nerve-wracking suspense that culminates in an especially harrowing last third, and punctuates the sordid narrative with stark and startling moments of raw brutal violence. Moreover, this variant on that hoary old chestnut "The Most Dangerous Game" with elements of "Straw Dogs" and "Deliverance" tossed in for extra nasty measure makes a pertinent and provocative point on how war and military training turn men into lethal and predatory cold-blooded killers. Fonda, Law, and Lynch display a natural and convincing chemistry as our deadly threesome, with Fonda in particular a stand-out as a smooth-taking psychopath who hides his true savage nature behind a deceptively friendly veneer. William Holden acquits himself well in the small, yet pivotal role of the vengeful father of one of Ken's victims. Fernando Arribas' polished cinematography makes expert use of dewy soft focus, freeze frames, and the telescopic lens. The breathtakingly gorgeous sylvan scenery and Ruggero Cini's jaunty banjo score nicely contrast the otherwise bleak and nihilistic material. Well worth checking out.

tomsclassics I have seen this movie but it was back in the seventies when it was made; it seems like it was a "Made For TV Movie".A group of former "Vietnam combat" buddies develop a very unusual weekend hunting pastime. They hunt a most unusual rabbit; but there is a third party who has intruded; a shadowy figure who thinks this hobby is really a very bad habit and has decided to make the odds more even.There are two characteristics of this movie that stand out in my mind. The first is that it had an almost hidden message, revealed by the William Holden line stated very dramatically and sadly at the end of the movie.This makes the movie for me.It should be easy to guess what that message is considering that this time was post Vietnam. It can be posed as a question also in our current time. just what effect DOES wartime combat have on the human mind? What are the effects of the pressure of being in almost constant danger, being required to kill other human beings and, perhaps the most revealing description, doing this AS A GROUP? This movie may suggest an answer.The other characteristic is its macabre sense of humor in how they describe a possible victim when they spot him at a gasoline station; "does he look like a rabbit to you?" And the little, old "Nursery Rhyme" type song they sing or hum. "RUN, RABBIT RUN, RABBIT, RUN RUN RUN." "dumb, dumde dumb, dumde dumb dumb dumb." When I tried to remember the name of this movie, I actually thought it could be called "Rabbit Run" and be written by John Updike. It would have matched his distasteful "facts of life" style. But I found out that's a different story.The third player, William Holden (I think we see his face now), at the end, looking over the bodies of the murderers he himself has killed, says: "Boys, somebody should have told you... when the war ended, the killing stopped."

lonewolf82000 This film was actually not bad, for it's genre! A group of hunters abduct a couple, (A young female and middle-aged guy) They take them up into the wilderness and subject them both to humiliations and abuse. The girl is coerced into having a night of sex with the men. She becomes a sexual toy for them as she tries using her womanly charms to avert what she slowly begins to realize is a deadly game unfolding. Before too long, the men turn the couple loose in the woods and tell them they will be hunted like animals. Seems the men, all Vietnam vets who having returned from the war, no longer get a thrill hunting animals after hunting "The real thing!" The plot has been done before, but it works here, the film is enjoyable, suspenseful and at times titillating! I am really hoping this comes out on DVD. I watched this on late night TV years ago, and later found a badly done pre-recorded copy. It's not a classic film! But it's well worth a look if you like this genre!