One of the rare movies to boast a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes,Joe DietschandLouie Gibson’s 2017 debut film,Happy Hunting,is a deep dive into the human condition through a veneer of survivalist horror.Martin Dingle Wallstars as Warren, an alcoholic who has just learned his ex-wife died and left behind a daughter he never knew about. He is kidnapped as he passes through the dusty border town of Bedford Flats. The townsfolk of Bedford Flats honor their buffalo-hunting ancestors by annually hunting and killing “amoral” men. What could have easily been another man v. man horror movie,Happy Huntinginstead uses the game as a framing device for an in-depth character study of Warren. As Warren suffers through extreme withdrawal on the unforgiving desert flats, his fight is not just to survive. Warren wants to live to meet his daughter.Happy Huntinguses these extreme conditions to ask: What makes a good man and what makes a good father?
Happy Hunting
Happy Hunting follows Warren, an alcoholic drifter, who stumbles into a desert town where the locals hunt down “undesirables” for sport. As he becomes the next target, Warren must rely on his survival instincts and combat skills to outsmart the hunters and escape the brutal game.
Under the Blood and Gore, ‘Happy Hunting’ Inflicts Psychological Horror
Warren spends much ofHappy Huntinginthe throes of withdrawal. The camera frequently lingers on Warren’s shaking hands, using this specific symptom as a shorthand for how Warren is suffering. The setting of Bedford Flats is likewise symbolic of the emotional anguish Warren experiences throughout the film.The arid, Western visualsofHappy Huntingestablish a sense of desperation. As Warren races through the cracked desert and hikes red rock, the viewer can see how desolate Warren’s situation is, both literally and metaphorically. Having to worry about his addiction while also being hunted for sport creates a frantic, frenetic energy that increases the stress for the viewer. At no point can the audience relax, because even if Warren is not being shot at,he is experiencing nerve-wracking symptoms of withdrawal.It is a constant assault on two fronts for Warren and the viewer.
After getting caught in a bear trap and stabbed, Warren falls into a hallucination of Bo Dawg, a dealer Warren killed early in the film.Bo Dawg encourages Warren to die by suicide, repeating the mantra that Warren will never shake his addiction. As Bo Dawg speaks, Warren imagines them sitting around a fire in the desert. The fire throws dark reds and sickly yellows across Bo Dawg’s face,making him look demonic as he speaks.Happy Huntingframes the hallucination asthe addiction speaking to Warren. The visceral nastiness of listening to Warren’s addiction pushes him towards suicide is one of the more affecting moments of horror in the movie. The hallucinated Bo Dawg cajoles and needles, never taking an outwardly aggressive tone. It is deeply unsettling, listening to Warren’s addiction speak to him through the guise of a man he killed. While the gore of the kills is more overtly gross, Bo Dawg’s taunts make the viewer’s skin crawl. Hidden underneath the flashy blood and guts ofHappy Huntingis an added layer of psychological horror.
Warren and Steve’s Dynamic Is the Scariest Part of ‘Happy Hunting’
The most effective antagonistof the film is Steve Patterson (Ken Lally). A survivor of a previous hunt and a recovered alcoholic himself, Steve initially presents himself as a possible friend to Warren. And yet, Steve and his wife, Cheryl, drug Warren to ensure his participation in the games.Steve’s character arc runs in reverse to Warren’s, withSteve purposefully presented as Warren’s shadow self or the manifestation of his darker impulses. As Warren fortifies himself to survive the game and unite with his daughter, Steve descends into mania. The loss of Cheryl is Steve’s call to action, just as discovering his daughter was Warren’s. When Steve discovers Cheryl is dead,he breaks his sobriety and spirals into willful violence. He has no intention of surviving the game, but instead, plans to spill as much blood as he can before he’s stopped. When Warren hallucinates Bo Dawg, he rejects his darker impulses and chooses to fight his addiction. When Steve corners Warren and forces him to drink, Warren spits the tequila back into Steve’s face. While it is a tactical move to immolate Steve, it is also symbolic of where the two men have ended up.
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Once a hunter, always a hunter… of the undead.
Most significantly, Warren and Steve are alike due totheir relationship with fatherhood. Before the kidnapping, Warren and Steve have a heart-to-heart where Steve discloses he caused Cheryl to miscarry. Both men aretrapped on the cusp of fatherhood. Cheryl maintains a shrine to the son the couple never had, and throughout the film, Warren calls the same number, over and over, trying to get in contact with the person who informed him about his daughter. The empty bedroom and unanswered phone serve as symbols of what Steve and Warren are reaching for. The nursery will never have a baby inside, but at the end of the film, once Warren has beaten Steve, he calls again and his daughter picks up the phone for a brief moment. It is never stated outright, but it is implied the reason Warren’s wife never told him about his daughter (and why she is his ex to begin with), is due to his addiction. Through their own actions, Steve and Warren have deprived themselves of being fathers.
‘Happy Hunting’ Shares Parallels With Stephen King’s ‘Pet Sematary’ and ‘The Mist’
Recent horror movies have trended towards examining motherhood, however,Happy Huntingfocuses on fathers. The entire plot is only precipitated once Warren learns he has a daughter. WhereHappy Huntingdifferentiates itself from other paternal-centric horror movies is thatWarren is operating from a place outside the familial unit, rather than from inside. He has no experience of being a parent. When the audience meets Warren, he is drunk and cooking meth. He lives alone, nowhere near his ex-wife and daughter, yet the moment he gets the phone call, he packs a bag and sets out. Staples like 2007’sThe Mist,1989’sPet Sematary, or even 1977’sEraserheadare all about fathers attempting to do right by their children. Warren is not entirely dissimilar to the leads of these films.Warren’s major motivation throughoutHappy Huntingis getting to his daughter, even when he’s being hunted for sport. He doesn’t want to live for himself, rather he wants to live to meet his child. Warren is technically a parent, but he wants to get the chancetoparent.
The closestHappy Huntinggets to portraying a father and a child is through Warren and the teenager, Robbie, who has also been kidnapped for the game. Robbie is ultimately killed in front of Warren by the Wakowski siblings, a trio of hunters. Warren avenges Robbie by killing all three siblings, but it is important to note thatWarren fails to keep Robbie safe. The shocking ending ofHappy Huntingthematically mirrors this failure; Warren makes it to Mexico but never unites with his daughter. Some feel the ending ofHappy Huntingis an unnecessary sucker punch, a beat of needless edginess. Yet, it seems intentional thatHappy Huntingnever depicts a father/child relationship. Steve is haunted by the pregnancy he accidentally ended. Warren watches the teenager he tries to take care of bleed out. He never gets to see his daughter. At the very beginning of the film, a young boy with bruises watches as Warren kills Bo Dawg. The oppressive weight of addiction andviolence hangs heavy over the menofHappy Hunting.Wanting to be a good father and actually being one are two very different things.
Despite thehigh rating on Rotten Tomatoes,Happy Huntingis something of an overlooked, hidden gem. The gritty aesthetic and gory killings make the movie fun to watch, though it is the heart-rending questions of addiction and fatherhood that make the movie stick with the audience long after the runtime is over.Happy Huntingoffers commentary on a whole host of relevant social issues, including mob mentality and how society turns away from ugly problems. WhereHappy Huntingtruly shines is through itsquiet and honest portrayal of addiction and fatherhood through Warren.Happy Huntingends with a bang, concluding that sometimes a person’s best is not good enough. It’s a dark note to close on, but it is realistic.
Happy Huntingis available to watch on Pluto TV in the U.S.
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