Night of the Hunted
France 1980. Director: Jean Rollin
Cast: Brigitte Lahaie, Dominique Journe, Vincent Gardnere
Aka: La Nuit des Traquées

Two disoriented and amnesiac girls, Elisabeth and Veronique, are on the run from some kind of mental institution. By accident Elisabeth (Lahaie) stumbles across Robert (Gardnere) who takes her home where he tries to find out her identity. But Elisabeth remembers nothing whatsoever. Eventually a peculiar doctor from the institution comes and brings Elisabeth back where she is reunited with Veronique (Journe). But the institution is a nut-house. Some sort of radiation leak has caused a massive memory-loss and thus turned all patients into disoriented souls in search of a memory, walking aimlessy around the building, easy targets for abuse and violence. Together with the outside help from Robert the two girls try to escape again.

Night of the Hunted, probably better known under its French title, is one of the least successful Jean Rollin movies, still it contains his trademark themes (like the relationship between two women) and some of his most memorable shots. The final scene with Elisabeth and Robert, wounded mentally and physically respectively, walking off hand in hand on a railroad track is one of the most beautifully moving closing scenes ever. There is a weird and disturbing but also becoming sad and enchanting atmosphere about the rest of the film as well and you can't help but being drawn into these lost characters and their hopeless attempts at trying to remember who they are and where they come from. This despite or perhaps more likely because of the extremely slow pace. But it's not an easy film to love. It's so obviously hampered by the ridiculously non-existent budget and the expressionless amateurish acting (Brigitte Lahaie aside) and one wish poor Rollin could raise some more money for almost potential masterpieces like this. Night of the Hunted plays like some avant-garde home-movie. It leaves you both frustrated and bewildered but hardly unaffected and seldom less than intrigued. Some afficionados say that this film is the ultimate ordeal: you're not really a Jean Rollin fan if you can't appreciate it. I don't know about that. All I know is that I think it's an underrated little movie which deserves a look for the open-minded. Plus there's plenty of violence and nudity.


© The Inzomniac's Movie Madness Review.