Ernest R. Dickerson
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Perhaps the umpteenth retelling of the short story The Most Dangerous Game (our favorite adaption: the '90s flick Surviving the Game , where Ice-T gets hunted by Rutger Hauer and Gary Busey?), Hunt comes to us courtesy of producer and TV impresario Damon Lindelof, who wrote the script with Nick Cuse (son of frequent collaborator Carlton Cuse).
Here are the basics: A group of super rich elite-types round up a dozen rednecks to kill for sport, "The Most Dangerous Game"-style (or "Surviving the Game," if you prefer your references through Ice-T movies).
Richard Connell’s story, The Most Dangerous Game , has inspired movies from the literal 1932 adaptation to ‘90s hits Hard Target and Surviving the Game .
Past examples include "Surviving the Game," a 1994 movie in which a homeless man (Ice-T) becomes the unwitting prey for a bunch of wealthy hunters.
The Nun (2018)
Directed by Corin Hardy
influenced by Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995)
Visuals
The artifact containing the Blood of Christ seems to have rolled in from the set of Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight.
It’s too kind to say borrowed-from, so let’s say this film outright bastardizes films like Demon Knight, Beauty and the Beast, Dracula, Silent Hill, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, and even The Serpent and the Rainbow.
That being said, The Nun does feature some truly inspired moments of gothic horror, particularly a harrowing sequence involving Farmiga’s character being whipped violently during an attack by Valak, and while I may have uttered the words “Demon Knight” a few times during the movie’s conclusion, I must admit that I applaud The Nun for just full on embracing its Hammer Horror-esque tendencies during the film’s final showdown between good and evil.
The biggest jump scare is a riff on The Exorcist III and the climax climax flogs a major beat from Demon Knight.
There are also aspects of the climax that seem to be derivative of Demon Knight .
Bishop may be psychotic, but, as with Robert De Niro's Johnny Boy in Mean Streets (the clear spiritual model for this character), his craziness emerges from the world around him.
Copshop (2021)
Directed by Joe Carnahan
influenced by Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995)
Plot
Joe Carnahan's own throwback Copshop is considerably better, mainly because it chooses to rip off stuff like Assault on Precinct 13 and Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight --oh, and its vibe is Tango & Cash or The Last Boy Scout : everything I like in a small-environment thriller married to all the bombast of a '90s Shane Black vehicle--and just as inappropriate and ugly as that sounds.
Us (2019)
Directed by Jordan Peele
influenced by Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995)
Themes Characters
With Us and his stunning 2017 debut, Get Out , Peele encourages his audiences to identify with characters often left out of genre fare, in the tradition of ’90s horror films like The People Under the Stairs , Tales from the Hood , and Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (all of which are highlighted in the recent Shudder documentary Horror Noire ).
The picture's saving grace is in the performance of its female leads: Nyong'o has the lithe action-hero muscularity of Jada Pinkett in Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight to go with her acting chops, and she creates a complex, three-dimensional pair of characters.
The story is ingeniously mounted, too, and the tricky cinematography by Flavio Martínez Labiano (2001's " Bones ") is both dynamic and menacing.
Unless you've seen Battle Royale, Series 7: The Contenders, The Most Dangerous Game, The Condemned, Death Race 2000, Gamer, Hard Target, Surviving the Game and The Running Man, obviously.
Had Gibson followed the cue of other less self-important variations of The Most Dangerous Game, such as The Naked Prey, Surviving the Game and Hard Target, and cut to the chase more quickly, Apocalypto would have been a far more satisfying experience.
And then there is Worm (Antwon Tanner, "Never Die Alone"), a would-be ladies' man with one thing on his mind.