Class war dog fight in the countryside
Nasty little horror-thriller engages
Hounded Sky Cinema
Premiere
A film where humans are hunted for sport is nothing new so it’s vital new additions to the genre have something fresh to say.
Tommy Boulding just about manages it with his debut feature-length outing with a focus on the class divide and old fashioned traditions.
When a gang of young thieves are caught in the act of robbing a stately countryside mansion they find themselves being targeted across the estate by its twisted owners.
Truthfully, I wasn’t expecting very much from Hounded but while it won’t rank high on your best viewing of 2023 list, Boulding’s flick is an engaging little sinister ride.
One of its biggest strengths is the surprisingly gory, and creative, kills. A lot of blood is shed among vicious wounds and explosions, with no-one afraid to unleash their inner wild animal as survival instincts kick in.
The relatively unknown younger cast aren’t the most likeable protagonists but their pursuers are so relentless and morally short-sighted that you begin to care about their fate.
Samantha Bond (Katherine) is a long way from Miss Moneypenny as the calm leader of the pack, James Lance (Hugo) is probably the most repulsive antagonist on show, Nick Moran’s Mallory is a gratuitously committed-tothe-cause gamekeeper and Larry Lamb (Gregory) pops up as an opportunistic antiques dealer.
The wide open space of the countryside appears to give the young gang ample room to escape their predicament, however their hunters know the lay of the land – and have deep resources at their disposal.
The cat and mouse – or, in this case, hounds and crooks – game becomes a little repetitive and some of the class war-flavoured dialogue is ham-fisted.
Overall, though, Hounded does what it says on the tin and registers as a nasty horror-thriller worth tracking down.
●What movies and TV shows are you looking forward to in 2023?
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Angela Reilly contacted us to say: “As a life-long Agatha Christie fan, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’s Benoit Blanc is a delightful, intelligent character.
“Daniel Craig is brilliant in his new role, which is a worthy replacement for James Bond.”