No Mercy for the Hunted review

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Story:

Once Upon a Time in Texas, in 1880 to be exact, Payne and Rocho escape from the state prison labor camp and head south on foot. They had exploited an incident with the guards to set themselves free. One of their co-inmates died during the fight, and Rocho saw that man whisper something into Payne's ears before he passed. Rocho wants to join his companeros down south, thinking about the possibility of a hidden treasure and its location having been whispered into Payne's ear, who on the other hand thinks of bailing pretty sure, not trusting his newly found friend. Hey join Rocho's old friends in the woods, but the suspicion about the gold kills the hospitality and they beat Payne up to get information about the gold. Rocho and Durango, the head of the gang, take of to get supplies. Payne sees his chance and escapes, again. When the other two get back, they devise a plan to capture Payne. But Payne is a good shot, and instead of gold, they may as well find themselves at the end of a gunbarrel...

Opinion:

The film, or rather home video, is just over 40 minutes long. Too short for an elaborate tale of revenge, but long enough to tell a typical Western story set in a land that does not forgive those who do not draw fast enough. No Mercy for the Hunted is the directorial effort of two Greek brothers, who shot this little film "100% greek". It is actually quite an entertaining film, with some good scene compositions and some typical stylistic elements. The amateur acting is relatively good to be fair, the over-acting of some and the hesitant speaking (never mind the accents, the film is in English) be forgiven. Yet the film falls short of being a marvellous little gem, the kind you sometimes encounter on film festivals or elsewhere on the internet, where a few talented people make a little film and it becomes so popular because it is so good it should've been full length. Not this one. The music, while trying hard to be Spaghettiesque, is for the most time rather annoying, and the editing looks like it was filmed stop and go on a camcorder. And that's the part where the film fails, it just looks like a homevideo. The so-so sepia tone of the film is not even the bad part, but the horrible white balance and generally the lack of movie-look. Personally, that ruined the film for me. Of course the dialoge is a bit wooden, too, and I'm not sure if they had to zoom in on a pair of "Lee" denims. All in all, I think this is a well-done video with some very good ideas and I am sure it was very hard work and a totally laudable effort at that, but the dogma-ish technique and some other issues, I think, would doom this one at any competition. But who knows, maybe the next real Greek blockbuster Western hit will be by the Drosos brothers.

--Sebastian 21:00, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

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