Film Review: Hunting Creatures (2001)

SYNOPSIS:

A late night rave at an abandoned chemical plant has nasty consequences when leaking chemicals turn the party goers into ravenous flesh eating zombies! A small squad of commandos is given the job of exterminating the living dead as the size of the zombie army increases with each new victim bitten. Who will survive and what will be left of them as the zombie horde meets, greets and then eats all who stand in their way

REVIEW:

“Hunting Creatures” is a low budget slaughter film with alot of heart. While it may not be clear from the cover, this film is indeed a zombie movie. And like every zombie movie there needs to be a motive or reason for the transformation of humans into flesh feasters.

The film doesn’t need much to get to its main motive. A local rave style party starts the film off as a group of gun-toting thugs prepare an abandoned factory for the night’s festivities. Why, what, and how is left to the wayside as we get right into the main action.

Upon discovering a mysterious storage container, a few of the attendees are subjected to a green viral gas due to leaky pipes. The leak turns most of the party into fang-toting zombies who apparently lack the tradition of transformation and proper dental care. The chaos begins as these “creatures” waste no time in eating, killing, and feasting on whatever suits them.

The outbreak becomes more of a concern when part of the security group is infected becoming one of them. The green goo that is predominant in this film is so-titled “Extrovertanic” (for those taking note).

Directed by Andreas Pape, the key giveaway here is that the filmmakers have enlisted gore favorite Timo Rose to do the editing work. Timo who is also a producer means that you can bet on it that there will be lots of slaughter and bloodshed.

Moving forward, we learn that a small group of local scientists have been experimenting with a serum they have only tested on animals. The purpose is to extend life but has not been tested properly.

The outbreak is unplanned and unexpected releasing the infected far sooner into the world than anticipated. It seems to be a personal vendetta for the group to hunt these creatures down and remove their infestation from the area. The head scientist agrees to help them in exchange for the group letting them live.

As the film ramps up to a point with just about every scene being a shooting, hacking, or munch down, it also feels right at home with bringing on alot more chaos and bloodshed. To up the game, a hybrid zombie emerges to lead the rest (caused by a prior injection that reacts to the viral gas). Meanwhile, the infected get hunted celebrating a display chock full of head explosions, dismemberments, and body part feastings.

“Hunting Creatures” as a film, does suffer from a case of amateur film making more driven by the effects work than serious acting or camera lighting setup. However, for the audience that this micro budget film will appeal to, it is not that out of the ordinary (as a product) as long as the guts and bits keep flying. It’s simply pure German gore exploitation, and really that is what you’ve signed on for.

Zombie films have become so trendy, that it seems every filmmaker with a camera and a budget for meaty pieces has decided to offer their interpretation. This film won’t win any spot on any “best of” lists, but it does keep in the tradition of Euro gore by giving the fans what they want.

The film was picked up by extreme horror specialists “Unearthed Films” (where you can also purchase the film). Director Andreas Pape continues to lend his services to many more gory productions, many of which also include Timo Rose. It’s safe to say that the general reaction to “Hunting Creatures will probably be poor due to its production value, however, I do have to give the team credit for pulling off so many tasty nasties. In the end……..Zombies are meant to gory and that’s what this is.

Hunting Creatures (2001)