Blu-ray Review: You Need To Hunt Down THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME
Joel McCrea and King Kong‘s Faye Wray play the leads in The Most Dangerous Game, a lean and mean 63 minute adventure produced by the legendary RKO Pictures in 1932.
Directed by Irving Pichel and Ernest B. Schoedsack, The Most Dangerous Game is based on Richard Connell’s now iconic short story. The film follows Zaroff (Leslie Banks), an evil Russian Count who shipwrecks boats near his island and then hunts the survivors for “sport” McCrea and Wray play the latest game which the hunter sets his sights on.
Showing that you can’t keep a good idea down, The Most Dangerous Game has been made, remade and ripped-off many times over the a years – but this 1932 film feels the purest. It doesn’t mess around, getting in and out in a little over one hour. The film is even referenced in David Fincher’s modern crime classic Zodiac – as the real-life killer was a apparently a fan of the film.
The action in The Most Dangerous Game is expertly handled, the sets (many of which were used for King Kong) look remarkable and the performances really hit the target. A film which runs a fine line between horror and adventure, The Most Dangerous Game is Hollywood classic that’s all killer and no filler.
Special Feature
You get an informative new commentary with author Stephen Jones and the mighty Kim Newman, an interview with Newman about the film and the “hunted human” sub-genre as well as an interview with film scholar Stephen Thrower and a radio play featuring the great Orson Welles. Essential stuff.
