Hunt Club Movie Review

What do you get when you take Mena Suvari, Jason London, Jeremy London, Casper Van Dien, and wait for it…Mickey fuckin’ Rourke?! Yep, a hot mess. Not a good mess either. I don’t even know where to start with this one, guys. This steaming pile of a waste of time is called Hunt Club, and we have the writing team of David Lipper and John Saunders, as well as director Elizabeth Blake-Thomas to thank for it. Thanks all! You shouldn’t have! No, you really shouldn’t have. Seriously.

Hunt Club is a mashup of I Spit on Your Grave (2010) and Hostel (2005) in the sense that the basic concept is simply people hunting people for a big stroke of the ego and a fat wallet at the end of the day. What people? Why, rich “toxic” males who trick, drug, and rape “weak and stupid” women for their pleasure, of course! It’s another one of those movies that rely on the same tired old scenario that’s been played out time and again, but there’s an audience who still gets off on seeing this stereotypical shit.

Hunt Club starts off with a less than interesting scene featuring our lead female character, Cassandra (Suvari), drunk and vulnerable in a parking lot. She’s approached by some undesirables, but before things get too crazy, she’s saved by some badass who seemingly shows up from out of nowhere. This savior we find out is named Tessa (Maya Stojan) and she becomes Cassandra’s girlfriend.

Eventually, Tessa and Cassandra wind up in the same diner as a sharp-dressed man and his good-looking son. Tessa and Cassandra get into a fight. Tessa bails, leaving her girlfriend alone and stupidly making “fuck me” eyes at the guys. They notice and ask her to join them, and she practically runs there.

She’s supposed to be a teacher, but she carries herself like a desperate bar fly. The older of the two fellas charms the pants off Cassandra and tells her his name is Carter (Casper Van Dien). He introduces her to his handsome young son Jackson (Will Peltz) and informs her that the weekend’s going to be a big one for them both because it’s going to be Jackson’s first hunt.

After a bunch of talking and not much else, Cassandra finds out about the cash reward at the end of said hunt and runs off with these two guys she’s JUST met and is all-in for whatever they want to do. Remember, she’s a mature woman who does what she wants…and she’s a teacher!  So, if that’s the case, why does she keep being pervy with young Jackson? She’s old enough to be his mom.

When they arrive at the location where the hunt is supposed to take place, Hunt Club begins to fall all the way apart.

Here we meet the other players, unfortunately. Remember when Mickey Rourke was beautiful and sane? I miss those days. And they’re long gone. The London brothers make their appearance, and as other characters show up and the hunt gets underway, we see just how dumb this movie really is. Somewhere, there’s supposed to be a message of female empowerment or something, but all I cared about was whether to press fast-forward or stop.

I guess you can tell I didn’t like Hunt Club, huh? What gave it away? I’m not sure if this movie is supposed to be taken seriously, but it’s really difficult to do so. It really is a ridiculous watch. The acting is bad. The dialogue is bad. And not in a fun way. The best part is when the credits roll. You can see what you think and rent it now on Prime for $2.99.