‘PREY’ YOU LIVE
Sawa is a ‘Hunter’ but not alone in woods
Devon Sawa goes from hunter to prey in his newest flick.
In Shawn Linden’s horror thriller “Hunter Hunter,” which came out Friday in theaters and on demand, the “Casper” actor stars as Joseph, the head of a fur-trapping family, all of whom keep to themselves in the woods far from modernity and “people from the city.”
But the woods aren’t necessarily quiet.
“It spoke to me because it was a page-turner. ... It’s different,” Sawa, 42, told the Daily News on Thursday about the film that also stars Camille Sullivan as his wife.
Struggling to make ends meet, the family’s situation takes a sinister turn when a wolf that previously caused them trouble appears to have returned. Cue a horrifying scene that lets Joe know the rogue wolf he’s hunting could be the least of his issues.
“You’re supposed to expect this to be a typical movie where, you know, that man hunter saves the day ... and this and that. But he kind of does what he does in the middle and everything goes to Camille’s character and that’s what makes it so amazing,” said Sawa, trying to keep spoilers to a minimum.
Joe has more on his platel than just surveilling the woods he knows so well. Before setting out to eliminate the threats against his family, he and Anne debate the ways in which they should live, with Joe adamant the life they’ve chosen — the one of his ancestors — should be their choice too.
Anne counters that the couple’s daughter Renée “never had a choice” and instead “should be in school ... should be worried about math and boys, not wolves.”
“I’m very much opposite of Joe, just because I try my best to evolve with the times,” said the “Wild America” star. “Whether it’s technology, whether it’s us as people. I try to evolve and keep up. And Joe is much like a guy I met when I was a kid.”
While “Hunter Hunter” was filmed before the coronavirus pandemic, the actor, who was in quarantine until he recently resumed working, acknowledged the movie reads differently in the current climate.
“I’m doing a movie right now where everybody is wearing masks and face visors and there’s different tiers ... and it feels very isolating. ... And so that’s kind of the feeling in ‘Hunter Hunter’ where you don’t have those smiles, those interactions with humans,” said Sawa.
“This movie definitely has that 2020 feel, that’s for sure.”