Rating: 
Summary: One of the most effective horror films of the 1930s
Review: I keep forgetting that Fay Wray made dozens of films before "King Kong," including this 1932 film which proves that you do not need special effects or lots of make-up to create a monster that will frighten audiences. Leslie Banks is Count Zaroff, a mad nobleman who has grown tired of hunting big game and decides to stalk human beings instead. Providence proves most accommodating when shipwrecked on the island are Bob Rainsford (Joel McCrea), a famous big-game hunter, Eve Towbridge (Wray), and Martin (Robert Armstrong). After a few diverting attempts at hospitality, Zaroff sends the trio off into the jungle to try surviving until sunrise and the fun begins in earnest.I give high marks for the tense and atmospheric direction by Irving Pichel and Ernest B. Schoedsack, but I must admit to be bothered by what Hollywood did to Richard Connell's classic short story of the hunter and hunted. Yes, the original has General Zaroff hunting a world famous big-game hunter (named Sanger Rainsford in the story), and there is certainly something compelling about the hunter now becoming the prey (not to mention the hunter's prey becoming the hunter of the hunter hunting the prey...if you know what I mean). But tossing two more characters into the picture is hardly cricket, the equivalent of hunting a lion and strapping a couple of manikins to its back. Of course with three people out in the jungle you can lose one of them (gee, you will never guess which one) and still have fun and a touch of romance. But while I am disparaging of these tacky Hollywood tack-ons, "The Most Dangerous Game" has a primal elegance that makes this one of the most effective horror films of the 1930s.
Rating: 
Summary: The Most Dangerous Game is a page turner the whole way.
Review: I really enjoyed the story The Most Dangerous Game. It was a fun story that kept you reading, because it makes you want to know what happens next. There are several plot twists that make the story fun, and the clock that could spell impending doom for our hero keeps it moving along too. The surprise ending is great as well. I enjoyed it and I think you will too.
Rating:
Summary: the only professionally written story studied in school
Review: In high school english classes this story is the only one professionally written. Take a look at Jack M. Bickham's books about how to write fiction, and this is the only story (studied in school) that fits the criteria for a professionally written story.
Rating:
Summary: i think this is the best book.
Review: It is about a man who loves hunting and thinks the prey has no feelings. He thinks it is alright to hunt but then he gets in a position of being the prey and then learns what it is like to be hunted. I recommend it highly.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent (and Underappreciated) 1930's Era Horror Movie
Review: Most film viewers are familar with the great horror movies of the early 1930's: Dracula, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Mummy, King Kong, etc. This title belongs in this group! The Most Dangerous Game has a great cast (Joel McCrea as big game hunter Sanger Rainsford; Fay Wray as the beautiful Eve; and Leslie Banks as the sinister General Zaroff); compelling plot (General Zaroff hunts humans on his private island); energetic pacing (the movie runs approximately 62 minutes); high production values (many exterior scenes were filmed from same set as King Kong); and a memorable music score (Max Steiner). What is so amazing about this movie is that all of the above elements came together in a movie that was shot in about 30 days with a limited budget. The Criterion print of The Most Dangerous Game is excellent - the best print I have ever seen of the movie. Most of the prints available previously on inexpensive videotapes are very poor. In addition, the critic commentary by film historian Bruce Kawin is an added bonus to the Criterion offering.
Rating:
Summary: A Thrilling GAME on DVD - Alpha Video Version
Review: Movie: ***** DVD Quality: ****1/2 DVD Extras: N/A
The year before they appeared together in the immortal "King Kong", Fay Wray and Robert Armstrong were cast as brother and sister in this suspenseful thriller produced by David O. Selznick for RKO Radio. Leading man Joel McCrea plays a big game hunter whose yacht is shipwrecked off an isolated island. After sharks make quick (and bloody) work of his fellow survivors, McCrea swims to shore and discovers the rehabilitated ruins of an ancient fortress where the urbane but menacing Leslie Banks (as Dr. Zaroff) is playing host to two castaways from an earlier wreck (Wray and Armstrong). Soon enough it becomes apparent that Banks is deliberately causing vessels to sink so that he may use the hapless survivors as human prey for his own hunting pleasures on this private island, and the plot boils down to a tense game of McCrea and Wray using their wits and wiles to try and stay one step ahead of the heavily armed and maniacally crafty Banks.
All this action is crammed into a very fast-paced and engrossing 63 minutes, leaving no time for the audience to get bored (or to examine the plot too closely). The film is genuinely well-produced with great special effects (including the shipwreck and the attack of the sharks); eye-popping art direction and set decorations (some of the jungle sets appear to have been used again in "Kong"); and lavish, sparkling black and white cinematography. The actors, too, give uniformly excellent performances all the way around. Banks offers a minor tour de force in his role, and McCrea and Wray make a startlingly beautiful couple.
Previous experiences with DVDs released by Alpha Video have led me to be somewhat wary about purchasing their products, but in the case of "The Most Dangerous Game", I can offer a hearty recommendation without any reservations whatsoever. The audio is crisp and clear and perfectly balanced; the video transfer is razor sharp with beautiful contrast throughout. The source print was also very clean, and was plagued with none of the cuts, jumps, or splices that are so typical of most public domain films. Here's a great transfer of a great film at a great price, one that you'll enjoy watching over and over again.
Rating: 
Summary: Survival of the Fittest
Review: Richard Connell's famous short story that dates back to 1924 about a deranged Russian nobleman who shipwrecks vessels passing by his remote island and hunts down the survivors is still anthologized today. Like many works of naturalistic fiction, Connell's tale is a disquisition on the thin line separating civilization and the state of nature. When the sportsman Sanger Rainsford--the latest victim to arrive at Zaroff's front door--realizes what the madman is up to, he reacts in horror, rejecting the General's invitation to join the latter in his favorite pastime, and the hunter soons finds himself the hunted. At the conclusion, however, Rainsford not only defeats Zaroff but takes his place in the latter's bed. In effect, the two men have exchanged not just places but roles--the struggle for survival has transformed Rainsford himself into another Zaroff. The 1932 screen adaptation, directed by Ernest Schoedsack and Irving Pichel, eliminates the bitterly ironic reversal of the original story and turns the grim fable into a straightforward survivalist sermon. In addition, the movie dubiously improves on Connell's mano a mano conflict between Rainsford and Zaroff by introducing a love interest, another shipwrecked refugee played by the all-purpose virginal heroine Fay Wray, who becomes the principal stake in the contest between the two men. There seems to be some uncertainty about the circumstances of the film's production. Professor Bruce Kawin, who wrote the notes accompanying the DVD, says that The Most Dangerous Game was made to induce RKO into shooting King Kong, while Carlos Clarens in An Illustrated History of Horror and Science fiction Films states that the two films were made simultaneously. Whatever the truth might be, there are such striking similarities between them that The Most Dangerous Game almost resembles an extended trailer for King Kong, especially in its use of a jungle setting like that of Skull Island for much of the action. But if The Most Dangerous Game anticipates King Kong it also seems to be making a nod in the direction of a horror hit from the previous year, Tod Browning's Dracula. In the Schoedsack production, Zaroff, who is always called "General" in the story becomes a count, and the main hall of his residence has interesting similarities to that of Dracula's castle, although it is opulent rather than derelict. As the sadistic Zaroff, the gifted British actor Leslie Banks makes a stylish villain although his enunciation of Russian sounds as convincing as W.C. Fields doing Vogul. In the role of Rainsford, however, Joel McCrae, who played a similar part in King Vidor's Bird of Paradise--also produced at RKO for David Selznick in the same year--is a classically handsome leading man and gives a far better performance saving the hapless Fay than the rather inert Bruce Cabot gives executing the same office for her in King Kong.
Rating:
Summary: Moody, classic thriller from KING KONG filmmakers.
Review: Richard Connell's tale of a man who is shipwrecked on a deserted island unaware that it is ruled by a fanatical "big game" hunter. Tense, sometimes unrelentless action film is a must-have for any classic movie collector. Banks performance is terrifying.
Rating:
Summary: The Most Dangerous Game
Review: Shipwrecked McRae washed ashore on the island of Banks' Count Zaroff, a deranged sportsman with a flair for tracking humans. Guess who becomes the mad count's next target. Oft-told tale is compellingly related in this, the first of many using Richard Connell's famous short story. If deja vu sets in, don't worry. This production uses most of the scenery, staff, and cast from its studio cousin, "King Kong." Remade in 1945 as "A Game of Death" and in 1956 as "Run for the Sun." The Criterion Collection is a Must have.
Rating:
Summary: Great Fun
Review: Still exciting 67 years after it was first made, this is the movie where Fay Wray first showed off just how good she is at screaming. Certain campy elements aside, there are several moments which are surprising to find in a movie this old -- heads floating in jars for example. Bruce Eder's commentary plays up the serial killing element of this movie, drawing repeated comparison to Silence of the Lambs. But for me his insanity is an excuse for the hero, Bob Rainsford, to feel genuine sympathy for the animals he himself had hunted. Highly recommended, and less expensive than most other Criterion disks.
|
