‘Hunting Grounds’ (review)

Produced by Jeremy Berg, Matt Medisch,
John Portanova, Brent Stiefel
Written and Directed by John Portanova
Starring  Bill Oberst Jr., Jason Vail,
Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, D’Angelo Midili,
David Saucedo, Connor Conrad

When a father and son move into a family member’s woodland cabin it causes friction in their relationship.

Interpersonal troubles intensify when the cabin’s owner and a family friend come to visit.

But these troubles are nothing compared to the clan of sasquatch which live in the surrounding forest.

Hunting Grounds is a quality first feature from director John Portanova.

While the movie suffers from many of the hallmarks of a low budget production such as poor or flat lighting and occasional unconvincing special effects the simple but effective story and committed acting help to elevate Hunting Grounds above the Red Box fodder.

Another positive aspect of Hunting Grounds is the location shooting; the cabin and forest setting offer a great isolated feel, which adds greatly to the effectiveness of the film’s mood. Also the aforementioned special effects do work on some levels.

Any of Hunting Grounds’ gore effects work well while the sasquatch effects look great in action but aren’t always effective when lingered on in close up.

Hunting Grounds is certainly an impressive first feature that offers some excitement for bigfoot loving horror fans.

Hunting Grounds is now available On Demand