Happy Hunting (2016 film)
| Happy Hunting | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Happy Hunting | |
| Directed by |
Joe Dietsch Louie Gibson |
| Produced by |
Bryson Pintard Jeff Kalligheri |
| Written by |
Joe Dietsch Louie Gibson |
| Starring |
Martin Dingle Wall Ken Lally Kenny Wormald Connor Williams Gary Sturm |
| Music by |
Rhyan D'Errico Simon Jay |
| Cinematography | Joe Dietsch |
| Edited by |
Joe Dietsch Louie Gibson |
Production company |
Waterstone Entertainment Selective Collective |
| Distributed by | Vertical Entertainment |
Release date |
|
Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Happy Hunting is a 2016 American western horror film written, directed, and edited by Joe Dietsch and Louie Gibson.
Plot
Warren (Martin Dingle Wall), a degenerate drifter suffering from chronic alcoholism, receives a phone call telling him that an ex-girlfriend has died and that he has a son he has never met living in Mexico. Warren writes down the callers number before travelling to sell Bo Dawg (Jeremy Lawson) and his associate Methamphetamine. Unimpressed by the product, Bo Dawg's associate grabs a nearby shotgun but trips and falls, accidentally shooting himself through the head. Warren then shoots Bo Dawg dead before fleeing the house in his car, with Cal (Frederick Lawrence) and Robbie (Connor Williams) giving chase.
Warren, after failed attempts to get in contact with the caller and not knowing an address to travel to, stops at Bedford Flats, an isolated one-horse town nestled deep in the American desert near the Mexican border. During his time in the town, Warren meets the local liquor store owner Don (C.J. Baker) and a local drunk Bob (Chuck Ramage) who is warned that everyone in the town is sick of his behavior. Warren attends a sobriety meeting held by Steve Patterson (Ken Lally). After the meeting, Steve gives Warren his number and tells him he would like to help him through his alcohol withdrawal and to help him become sober. Returning to his motel room, Warren discovers Cal and Robbie have tracked him down and are trashing his room. Warren seeks shelter with Steve and his wife Cheryl (Sherry Leigh) who welcome him into their home. Warren takes a horse tranquilizer he finds planted in Steve and Cheryl's bathroom to ease his withdrawals and soon passes out.
When he awakens, Warren finds himself tied up along with Cal, Robbie, Bob and another man Jim (Norman De Buck) in the middle of the desert with the townsfolk armed with an array of weapons. Bob pleads with the Sheriff (Gary Sturm) to let him go, however the Sheriff introduces the townsfolk to the annual hunt, explaining to their captives that they will hunt them down and kill them if they are caught. Sheriff Burnside continues to introduce the hunters, including Steve and Cheryl, Don and a trio of siblings, Charley Wakowski (Michael Tipps), Jessie Wakowski (Liesel Hanson) and Mickey Wakowski (Kenneth Billings). The Sheriff frees the captives who flee through the desert. After a few miles of running, Jim falls over in exhaustion and refuses to move. Warren leaves him the rest of the tranquilizers to ease his suffering. After running several miles further, Bob tells the others that he knows what they must do to survive. However, he instead knocks Cal unconscious with a rock, forcing Warren and Robbie to flee in different directions. Soon after the hunters set off to find the men. The Wakowski siblings kill Jim, shooting him with an arrow before running him over with a car. When they reach Bob and Cal, Bob attempts to give Cal over to them in exchange for his survival. However, Don shoots both Cal and Bob with a long range rifle, killing them both.
Warren is soon ambushed by Steve and Cheryl who attempt to run him over in their car. However Steve accidentally crashes the car, knocking himself unconscious and killing Cheryl. Warren grabs a gun and a map from the car before fleeing as Don arrives and begins to shoot at him. As night falls, Warren begins to succumb further to his alcohol withdrawals. He begins to hallucinate before bumping into Robbie. The pair discover a service hut where Warren manages to filter ethanol out of various supplies, before they attempt to contact help on a radio. Warren manages to get through to a man, however it is revealed to be the Wakowski's who shoot Robbie through a window, killing him instantly. When the Wakowski's enter the hut, Warren manages to fight off the siblings, shooting Charley with an arrow through the neck, shooting Mickey multiple times with a gun and killing Jessie with an axe.
The following day Warren continues to hike through the desert. He bumps into a group of Mexicans sneaking into the US and realizes they are tying red ribbon as they go. Warren accidentally steps on a bear trap, rendering him unable to move. Don soon catches up to Warren and stabs him, but Warren survives and manages to shoot Don dead. Meanwhile, Steve awakens in Bedford Flats, having been taken back to receive medical help. Upon learning that Cheryl has died, Steve goes into a fit of rage and murders a towns person and sets out to locate Warren. Sheriff Burnside and his son, Junior (Kenny Wormald) also set out to try and help Steve. The Sheriff explains to Junior that Steve was once a captive in the hunt but had managed to escape, leading to it bettering his life and becoming sober. Despite the Sheriff believing Steve to be a changed man, when they encounter him Steve shoots Junior through the head before beating the Sheriff to death with a baseball bat.
At night, Warren hallucinates Bo Dawg telling him he will die from alcohol withdrawal before the night is over and he should instead take his own life. Warren refuses and releases himself from the bear trap. He manages to make it to the US - Mexican border and discovers a red ribbon leading to an underground passageway under the border. While traveling through it, Warren is attacked by Steve. The pair wrestle before Warren eventually gets the upper hand and sets Steve on fire with a lighter and a bottle of Tequila. Warren reaches the Mexican side of the tunnel and checks his phone for service. As he gets service he is suddenly shot through the neck by a Mexican gang member. As the gang approach Warren he laughs before presumably being murdered.
Cast
- Martin Dingle Wall as Warren Novack
- Ken Lally as Steve Patterson
- Kenny Wormald as Junior
- Connor Williams as Robbie
- Gary Sturm as Sheriff Burnside
- C.J. Baker as Don
- Jeremy Lawson as Bo Dawg
- Michael Tipps as Charley Wakowski
- Liesel Hanson as Jessie Wakowski
- Kenneth Billings as Mickey Wakowski
- Frederick Lawrence as Cal
- Chuck Ramage as Bob
- Sherry Leigh as Cheryl
- Norman De Buck as Jim
Filming
Filming of Happy Hunting took place over 23 days throughout various locations in the California desert, most notably Bombay Beach, CA. The production crew was limited to writer/director Joe Dietsch and Louie Gibson, producer Bryson Pintard, co-producer Joe Toronto, makeup artist Michelle Sfarzo, and production coordinator Ben Guppy. Extras for the film were local residents of Bombay Beach, California.
The film was shot digitally using the Canon C100 mk2 camera with 10-bit external recording.[2]
Release
Initial screening
On October 21, 2016, Happy Hunting had its world premiere at Screamfest in Hollywood.[3]
Theatrical Release
The film has a limited theatrical release in the United States by Vertical Entertainment starting on September 22, 2017.[4]
Music
The film score for Happy Hunting was originally written and composed by Rhyan D'Errico and Simon Jay using a live orchestra. Additional music was written by Ben Bostick.
References
- ↑ https://screamfestla.com/2016/film/happy-hunting
- ↑ Joe Toronto [@joetoronto10] (2017-10-04). "Happy Hunting (@hh_film) was filmed on the Canon C100 mk2 camera with 10-bit external recording" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 2018-03-11 – via Twitter.
- ↑ "2016 FILM GUIDE". SCREAMFEST. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
- ↑ "Collider - Happy Hunting". Collider.