StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Hitchcoc Of course, this is based on the Richard Connell story that just about every high school student has read at some time. It has all the trappings. It has a somber atmosphere, a set of interesting characters who are at odds, it has madness and mayhem. Rainsford is the smug hunter who tells his cohorts that when it comes to hunting, the hunted have no sense of danger. We recognize the foreshadowing immediately. When his boat runs aground and several of the passengers die, Rainsford finds himself on an island, heading toward a palatial structure. Here he meets General Zaroff, a Russian recluse who is himself a hunter, and who seems to have lapsed into ennui because animals no longer interest him as game. His companion is the mute, Ivan, who served him in warfare and is devoted to his master. Well, we know where this is going. Unlike Connell, the scriptwriters decide there needs to be a romantic angle, so he puts Fay Wray (King Kong's girlfriend) on the island with some of her friends. Zaroff talks in double entendres and Rainsford is just a bit dense until he realizes that the good General isn't so good. it plays out very well. While purists would say it doesn't really follow the precise plot of the book, in this case, it really doesn't matter.

jacobs-greenwood The first, the original, an essential! This adventure drama horror thriller features a big game hunter who's grown bored with hunting animals, so now he desires to hunt the most cunning and adaptable prey on earth ... man!This Richard Connell story, first adapted by James Ashmore Creelman, has been remade so many times into movies, radio and television programs that it's a classic. Surprisingly, it has yet to be added to the National Film Registry even though the other well known and oft-remade classic from Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, King Kong (1933), which used many of the same sets, two of its cast members - Fay Wray and Robert Armstrong - and a music score written by the same composer (Max Steiner), was so recognized in 1991.Cooper was associate producer for executive producer David O. Selznick; Schoedsack shared directing duties with heretofore actor Irving Pichel (his directorial debut). This original runs barely an hour, which made it perfect for the other mediums mentioned above.Joel McCrea stars as the hunter's most capable challenger, Bob Rainsford, an adventurer author who's also a hunter himself. After a shipwreck and shark attacks which kill everyone else that was aboard, Bob swims to a remote uncharted island which is owned by a mad Russian Count named Zaroff (Leslie Banks). Eve Trowbridge (Wray) and brother Martin (Armstrong) had already been stranded on the island earlier and, as Bob comes to learn, are effectively Zaroff's prisoners.When Bob learns the Russian's game, he understands why Martin drinks excessively, especially after he sees the macabre trophy room. Of course, much like Lon Chaney's character in The Phantom of the Opera (1925), Zaroff loves classical music and plays the piano (Banks overplays it a bit as he mugs for the camera, a sinister expression on his evil character's face).The most suspenseful part of the film is the hunt and chase through the island's thick (and what should be familiar) foliage. Zaroff gives Bob a knife and a head start, but also saddles him with Eve and uses dogs to pursue them. The outcome is pure Hollywood.

Idiot-Deluxe To be fair and accurate about it, you could say that The Most Dangerous Game is a fairly dated film of modest suspense, but still vital enough for at least some modern viewers to be entertained; as this 1932 black and white thriller does have a lot to like - especially if you're a fan of horror film's of that era. Because The Most Dangerous Game absolutely drips with that distinctive, atmospheric vibe, that all the best vintage horror films revel in, achieved by combination of great looking sets, atmospheric matte paintings, ample amounts of fog, an effective music score and most importantly a great cast of actors, particularly well cast are the bad guys - Count Zaroff and his henchmen. Veteran British stage-actor Leslie Banks in the role of the mad Count Zaroff is, by far, the most interesting and evil of the films cast of players; dressed all in black, with a black beard and stash, dark, intense, penetrating eyes and a large scar (that was real) along the side of his face, plus he spoke with a most distinctive and sophisticated voice (that very often verges on theatrical), Banks really fit the bill as the mad count. Also starring Joel McCrea, Fay Wray and Robert Armstrong (Wray and Armstrong would both play a leading hand in KING KONG immediately after this film wrapped up, in fact some of this films budget was transferred to Kong's budget - making it the true super-production that it is) as unfortunate shipwreck victims, who take temporary refuge at the counts castle, where they are essentially living on borrowed time, because the mad count has a deadly game of cat and mouse in store for them on his treacherous island retreat. Speaking again of the great atmosphere of this film, which it oozes nearly non-stop, most especially whenever the counts castle is shown, be it a scene of an interior set or matte painting of it from a distance, partially obscured by fog, hills and trees. Like many hunters Zaroff employ's dogs to aid him in hunting down his quarry and they further add to his menace and at the same time quicken the pace of the film (if memory serves me right, I'd say the count has no fewer than 15 Great Danes at the ready), he summons them by tooting this great sounding horn, as it bays in the distance. The horns sounds out two distinct notes, that which the great Max Steiner cleverly implemented into the film's score - to great effect (those two notes are in fact the first thing you hear when watching this classic film, which start up it's nifty, but modest, opening credits sequence).No plot-rundown's here, the good guy (Joel McCrea) naturally wins and makes off with the fair damsel in distress (Fay Wray) and.............. The End.While The Most Dangerous Game does excel in several area's, it certainly could have been even better, if it had a longer run time (only 62 minutes) and more action (you could partially blame it on the king, King Kong that is). Though quite dated by most standards, the film still stands as one of the best action films of the early 30's, offering a unique glimpse into that era. Remember "talkies" had only been around for 5 years when this film was released and the notion of using a full-length musical score was still catching on, this was probably one of the first sound films to have that luxury; one of the legendary Max Steiner's earliest efforts (Max Steiner 1888-1971, scored well over 200 films during his 35 year career, mostly for Warner Brothers).There have been a number of movie adaptions of The Most Dangerous Game made over the years, but this one was the first and remains the best - by far.Great to watch late at night, which seems to help further thicken it's already palpable sense atmosphere and gloom.

utgard14 The sole survivor of a shipwreck, big game hunter Bob Rainsford (Joel McCrea), washes ashore on an island. He soon finds himself a guest at the isolated castle of a creepy Russian aristocrat named Count Zaroff (Leslie Banks). While there, Bob meets siblings Eve and Martin Trowbridge (Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong), the survivors of another shipwreck. Bob is suspicious of Zaroff and soon discovers the truth about his mysterious host: Zaroff orchestrates shipwrecks so that he can use the survivors as prey to hunt.Best version of a story (man hunting other men for sport) that has been done dozens, if not hundreds, of times since in both television and movies. It's still being done to this day. It's a fun, exciting adventure thriller. Once the hunt begins, the pace never lets up. Leslie Banks gives what would surely be labeled a campy performance today but it works wonderfully. This is his most famous role and it's certainly a memorable one. Joel McCrea is years from working under Sturges or Hitchcock, but here proves how great a leading man he could be. The often underrated (and lovely) Fay Wray does an admirable job in a physically demanding role. The following year, producers Merian C. Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack would reunite with stars Fay Wray and Robert Armstrong for King Kong, along with Max Steiner who scored both films. Two film classics in the span of a year for this group. This is definitely on my list of movies you have to see before you die.