Climate of the Hunter: An arty vampire movie so unconcise, our reviewer watched it thrice
By Thom Ernst
Rating: B-minus
The melodramatic horror-thriller Climate of the Hunter is a case of a director, Mickey Reece, who literally is an acquired taste. That is to say, I watched his movie three times before I kind of “got” it.
Until now, I have not seen the films of Mickey Reece, despite him having more than 30 directing credits. That Reece flies under my radar is either a misstep in my career or valid oversight. I'm sticking with valid oversight because if Climate of the Hunter is typical of his work, then Reece is an artist with a resolve to uphold his independence, even if it means alienating a few viewers. I place Reece alongside such names as Samuel Fuller and Guy Maddin. .
Vampiric activities in Climate of the Hunter.
On first viewing, I was put off by the Bergman-like framing of some of its scenes, contrasted by the actors’ unnatural delivery of their lines. My initial thoughts were that Climate of the Hunter overreaches its efforts to be artful. Then, on a second viewing— less of a viewing and more of a cherry-picking through certain scenes—I recognized an intent to exploit the arcs and peaks of an overwrought melodrama. New conclusion: Climate of the Hunter is not drama; it's satire.
That leads to a third and final viewing—again from beginning to end—with a renewed and somewhat perverse curiosity.
Third times a charm.
II'm not accustomed to watching movies a second and third time. At least not immediately and certainly not consecutively. But I’m enough of a freak for movies that if I feel as if I've missed something, then I’ve no recourse but to rewind and rewatch.
It’s the one advantage streaming movies at home has over press screenings. Climate of the Hunter has a humorous streak. And that humour can be easily missed on first view. Not that everyone will need three viewings to clue into the film's ironies, like how living in a remote cabin does not impinge on an endless access to a boutique wardrobe, or from dining nightly on an extravagant menu.
Not that Reece is covert in telling an absurd story, but the understated peculiarities he puts on screen can be subtle. While there is humour in Climate of the Hunter, there’s not much obvious comedy. By that, I mean Reece has a devilish sense of fun that's not easy to spot. It's the equivalent of trying to decipher a straight-faced comment as being serious or not.
PROUDLY SUPPORTS ORIGINAL-CIN
The film opens in the middle of a spat between two middle-aged siblings Alma (Ginger Gilmartin) and Elizabeth (Mary Buss). They await the arrival of Wesley (Ben Hall), the handsome, charismatic man who abandoned his family to join his lover in Paris.
It’s been 20 years since either sister has seen Wesley, and now that his lover has died, and his former wife, devastated by his departure, has been committed to a mental health institute, Alma and Elizabeth hope to seize the opportunity for romance. But Alma detects something strange about Wesley leading her to suspect that he might be a vampire.
Hall plays Wesley full-on, utilizing every affectation afforded to a creature of the night. Reece freely toys with well-used vampire tropes to fan audience's suspicions: Wesley speaks in soliloquies. He enunciates each word like an impatient speech therapist. He sleeps in a death repose, and garlic has a violent gastronomical effect on him. And he waits to be invited in before stepping through the doorway.
Other characters find their way into the plot, including Wesley's vengeful son (Sheridan McMichael) and Alma's alluring daughter (Danielle Evon Ploeger). But its slow-witted, pot-smoking handy-man, BJ Beaver (Jacob Snovel), who steals the show. Snovel plays BJ Beaver as a turncoat version of Bram Stoker's Renfield. Snovel is a delight and provides the film's first solid clue that things are not to be taken seriously.
Some viewers will rightfully find fault with how the film characterizes every woman as victims in waiting. Mental health advocates won’t appreciate the depiction of mental health patients as sluggish, feet-shuffling zombies with wildly-unkept hair and empty stares. But with dialogue fluctuating between the robust and the robotic and characters outdone only by their eccentric fashion sense, Climate of the Hunter can be a refreshing shift away from the norm.
To be sure, Climate of the Hunter is an oddball outing, a melodrama disguised as a horror-thriller with not much horror and not many thrills. And if, by the end of the final act, you're shaking your head, mumbling, "Wait…what?" you won't be alone.
But give this offbeat story its due. Climate of the Hunter can be a frustrating shambles of shifting tones and heightened theatrics. But, it's also intriguingly weird with a disarming self-effacing quality that belies what you might dismiss as contrived absurdities. And the scenes framed as if inspired by the album covers of a 1970s progressive-rock band are impossible to resist. If only Black Sabbath were around to write the score, then the allusion would be complete.
Climate of the Hunter. Directed by Mickey Reece. Stars Ginger Gilmartin, Mary Buss, Ben Hall and Jacob Snovel. Climate of the Hunter is available Jan 12, 2021 in Canada on VOD/EST (iTunes/Apple, Cineplex Store, Playstation, Microsoft, Google Play, Shaw, Rogers, Telus, Bell, Eastlink, Cogeco, MTS, Sasktel) via Vortex Media.