The Wild Hunt (film)
| The Wild Hunt | |
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| Directed by | Alexandre Franchi |
| Produced by | Alexandre Franchi Karen Murphy |
| Written by | Alexandre Franchi Mark A. Krupa |
| Starring | Mark A. Krupa Ricky Mabe Tiio Horn |
| Music by | Vincent Hänni Gabriel Scotti |
| Edited by | Stephen Philipson Arthur Tarnowski |
| Distributed by | TVA Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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95 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $500,000 (CA$) |
The Wild Hunt is a 2009 Canadian drama/horror film from Animist Films, produced and directed by Alexandre Franchi.
Erik Magnusson (Ricky Mabe) and his girlfriend Evelyn (Tiio Horn) have a falling out, in part due to stress from Erik's dying, incoherent father. She leaves to live in a live action role-playing game whose characters such as Celts, elves and Vikings are derived from the Middle Ages. Murtagh, the leader of a group within the game, wants Evelyn to participate in the Wild Hunt, a ritual that, if successful, will give his players a significant advantage in an upcoming mass battle.
Erik pursues Evelyn only to disrupt the game's proceedings. Erik partners with his estranged brother Bjorn and other players and referees on a quest to find Evelyn. He rescues her from the Wild Hunt and the two are reconciled, despite Murtagh's efforts to persuade her to come back.
Having lost Evelyn and been humiliated by Erik, Murtagh snaps and ritually cuts off his gamer wrist band. He leads his followers in a vicious assault on the main camp, injuring people and killing Erik. Murtagh flees, witnessing Evelyn commit suicide as he escapes through the woods.
Days later, Bjorn breaks into Murtagh's home and beats him to death.
This is the first feature-length film by Montreal producer-director Alexandre Franchi. The production was based on 35 mm film with an estimated $500,000 (CA$) budget.
The film was screened in September 2009 at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the award for Best Canadian First Feature Film. It was presented at the Slamdance Film Festival in January 2010 where it received an Audience Sparky Award for Best Narrative Film.
National Post film reviewer Chris Knight rated the film at 3 stars, noting Claudia Jurt's role presented the "strongest link in this chain-mail tale". The Toronto Star review considered the film an "impressive achievement" but noted that technical flaws in editing, lighting and camera usage detracted from the plot and that the production should have been better funded. The Montreal Gazette gave a very positive review calling the low-budget film "[m]iraculously shot".
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