Open Season

3/26/2021

Three veterans of the Vietnam War, Ken, Greg and Art, played by Fonda, Law and Lynch respectively, have struggled to reintegrate back into society after their experiences and though furnished with the trappings of middle-class family life, they take an annual trip into the woods to take out their aggression on the local wildlife. Tiring of their haul of deer and squirrels, they turn their attention to human prey, specifically a holidaying couple (actually having an affair), young Nancy (Cornelia Sharpe) and not-so-young Martin (Alberto de Mendoza, best remembered from _Horror Express_). What follows is a decidedly brutal game of cat and mouse, complete with rape, beatings, humiliation and torture. Taking its cue from as far back as _The Most Dangerous Game_ (1932), this is far more t

10/26/2021

_**Three obnoxious clowns with guns in the backwoods**_ A couple (Cornelia Sharpe & Alberto de Mendoza) is apprehended by three sadistic goofballs (Peter Fonda, John Phillip Law & Richard Lynch) and taken to the wilderness in northern Michigan for some depraved ‘fun.’ William Holden is on hand in a peripheral role. Based on the book by David Osborn, “Open Season” (1974) is a wilderness crime thriller/survival flick that riffs on “The Most Dangerous Game” mixed with elements of “Straw Dogs” (1971) and “Deliverance” (1972). It’s similar to later movies like “Nightmare at Bittercreek” (1988), “Black Rock” (2012) and “Rust City” (2018). But it’s the least of these IMHO because the clownish antagonists are too annoying in a pompous, nonchalant manner on top of little sympathy be