Every year, there's one BIG surprise at the Fantasy Filmfest - a film nobody's heard of, shot by an unknown with minimal budget, yet one of the best of the year. When I bought my tickets for THE WILD HUNT, little did I know that I was in for a BIG surprise.
As the film opens, we are introduced to a group of medieval warriors - celts, monsters, vikings - who go after their everyday business: that is, fighting, shouting and quarreling. It soon becomes apparent that something is off though, and it is revealed that the characters are all everyday guys doing Live Action Role Playing - that's right, grown adults dressing up as shamans, warriors and orks.
We then are introduced to Eric, a young man who seems to have a bad strain of luck: his father is terribly sick (probably suffering of dementia), his girlfriend has left him and on top of it all, his brother - who in LARP-world is the Viking-king Björn - has dragged her along to play a princess. Frustrated and weirded out by a guy who turns up on his doorstep dressed as a knight to collect some "mighty hammer", Eric decides to drive to the gamers camp to get his girlfriend back. However, not everything goes according to plan, and things slowly get worse.
There are many things that make THE WILD HUNT worth seeing. One of it is how Eric, who at first is a cynic who despises the role players, slowly turns into a medieval character himself, slowly adapting to his role as brother of "the Viking king" that is his brother Björn. Another reason is the hilarious dialogue and action. But the films biggest strengths lie in its story twists (which I'm not going to spoil - just as much, avoid the trailers and any kind of summary) and in its setting. Because apart from a comedy and a thriller, the film also works stunningly well as a low budget fantasy film, providing us with great characters, amazing visuals and some really bad ass action!!
One of the best films of the year, THE WILD HUNT needs to be seen on the big screen, but I assume the label might aim for a DVD release. One way or another - watch this film, tell your friends. May Ragnarok be with you!
Rating - 9.5/10
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