DVD review: Hunting Season (Video 2000)

When two campers on a peaceful weekend excursion are suddenly confronted, harassed and molested by a pack of heavily armed outdoorsmen, a brutal series of events occurs. A struggle for survival and sanity drives the surviving victim into a bloody vendetta of rage. The hunters soon become the hunted in a malicious game of cat and mouse. Who will utlimately survive the weekend? Hunting Season is written by Sybil Cummins, Tim Sullivan, Ron Ford and directed and edited by Jeff Leroy. Yes that Jeff Leroy, the man who gave us Charlies Death Wish and Rat Scratch Fever and who has become one of my favorite directors. Cindy Pena, one of the two campers and the victim of the rapist, is the only one in the cast that is any good, the others are mostly mediocre performers. The camerawork and editing is pretty good. The pacing is high, within 10 minutes from the beginning of the film the two campers have been attacked, the man gets beaten to a bloody pulp and his wife is subjected to a brutal sexual assault. It´s violent and gory and even manages to throw in a twist. As I mentioned it is gory, vicious jungle traps takes its tool on the hunters, a nice decapitation and several big bloody juicy squibs as people get shot. The make-up fx are all practical and are decent. Somewhat dissapointed that they use plastic toyguns and bb rifles instead of real guns, it looks ridiculous. 
 Hunting Season delievers in the T & A department, we get gratuitous nudity and sex and Cindy Pena is the center of attention. The sexual assault is a bit weird as everyone involved in the rape scene kept their clothes on – the woman had on her underwear; and, the rapists their jeans, jackets, and shirts. And later, during a prolonged flashback sex scene between Cindy Pena and her husband she keeps her panties on throughout their lovemaking.
This review is based upon the region 1 DVD release from Razor Digital Entertainment.
Rating: 6½ out of 7. Hunting Season is VERY entertaining, A early flick from independent filmmaker Jeff Leroy and if you like me are willing to accept it's limitations this is a very watchable rape/revenge movie with a leather-clad female vigilante sporting a crossbow...

/JL