Night Hunter (2018) User Reviews

Somewhere amongst this confusing and disjointed film is a fantastic film trying it's best to get out.

[Jester222 · 5/10 · 22 August 2019]

This film had so much potential. Great cast and the story could have been really good but it ended up a disjointed mess of a film.

Editing is terrible.

Pacing is thrown about chaotically and feels like large chunks of storyline are missing.

Seems like a huge waste of potential.

I managed to watch all of it and there are some very interesting moments. Acting us top notch .....especially the main protagonist who is a very underrated actor.

Kingsley character wasn't fleshed out enough, just hinted on and a wasted character who is seemingly able to get away with serious crimes!?

Maybe there are scenes on a cutting room floor somewhere that would have made this a great thriller but sadly the final result they went with us a mess.

Shame.

Decent enough.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 6/10 · 17 April 2020]

It's not a bad thriller, it starts off well, has a decent enough ending, but the middle of the film is somehow slightly confusing. You will need to concentrate, otherwise the narrative will pass you by.

The twist was unexpected, but how many times can that particular twist be used, it's like a get out of jail free card.

Elevated by Henry Cavill, and well supported by Ben Kingsley. Cavill is a hugely charismatic actor, with a very definite presence, I wonder if it would have been as good without him, I doubt it.

It's not a wow, but it's a solid watch. 6/10.

A good Saturday night watch.

[kerrsoak · 7/10 · 12 August 2019]

I am not a wannabe critic waiting to be discovered , normal everyday bloke. So no comments on the lighting, script, audio, scenes, etc. If you want a semi suspenseful crime thriller, no insanely twisted plot, just a good film to spend time watching with chips and pop, then this hits the mark. I will say that I am a Ben Kingsley fan but that did not sway my view.

Talk about losing the plot! Both narratively and literally...

[FlashCallahan · 6/10 · 23 January 2022]

On the hunt for an elusive serial rapist and murderer, cop Marshall crosses paths with vigilante duo Cooper and Julia as they trap online predators and deliver their own extreme methods of justice.

When Julia is kidnapped, Marshall, Cooper and the police hunt down the perpetrator but the psychologically damaged man they capture only deepens the mystery surrounding the killings.

But fellow cop Rachel believes the captured killer, who is linked to years of female abductions and murders, is harbouring multiple personalities, one of which may hold all the answers.

Hold the mail and take a huge pinch of salt when you read that this film is comparable to Se7en, it most certainly is not, and this will just give people a higher expectation of the film, and obviously not like it at all.

It's not a good film by any means, in fact, it's terrible, but the amount of fun you can have whilst watching this, makes the film an absolute must.

Cavill does his best 'I'm tortured and a bit gritty' cop by not shaving, swearing every now and again, and being a general idiot toward his daughter. But hey, the guys tortured, he's a cop on the edge, and this time it's personal.

Then we have the ever reliable Kingsley, playing the same supportive character he's been playing in these sort of films for nearly twenty years. The man is clearly doing it for the pay cheque, and although he is on autopilot, he has some of the best lines in the film.

The game is clearly given up in the second act, as we find out who the killer is, and the wealth of problems that follow him, but wait a minute!! This film goes from boring to bonkers faster than you can say 'seriously?'

Anyone who can see the final act coming before the reveal is either a genius, or a bloomin' liar. I'd opt for the latter.

So for the film being a serious crime thriller in the vein of Fincher's masterpiece, this fails on every level.

For a film that entertains thanks to its stupidity, it's a winner.

Over the Top, Crazy Fun, Serial Killer Flick

[michaelseither · 7/10 · 4 November 2019]

Rotten Tomatoes didn't like it much and there is talk of a hold-up in the release of this flick. I thought it was pretty good. If you like Silence of the Lambs type flicks and give it a willing suspension of disbelief, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Plenty of star actors, great production value and crazy, crazy script. There are some holes here and there but hey, it was fun. Give it a chance.

One big confusing plot

[Gordon-11 · 11 November 2019]

This film tells the story of some police force members who investigates a man who kidnapped and imprisoned many women.

The plot starts off fairly promising, but soon derails into confusion. The characters' actions are poorly explained, and I just don't understand what is happening most fo the time. Then comes a big twist, which makes things even more confusing. One of the final scenes on the ice confuses me even more, and I just have no idea what I just watched. This film is a big disappointment, given the number of famous faces involved.

Such a shame for a missed golden opportunity

[Top_Dawg_Critic · 7/10 · 11 August 2019]

This story (premise) had such opportunity to be a great film, but I guess the budget went more towards the top-billed cast, than in the production.

I certainly give credit to new filmmakers for taking the leap, and often don't critique them as hard due to their lack of experience. But newbie writer, director and producer David Raymond should've maybe had one lesser top-lead and invested in a seasoned screenwriter and editor - of where this film failed drastically in a missed golden opportunity.

The screenplay had major plot and technical issues, that could've been easily avoided, or edited properly. Then the editing in general was atrocious. A few scenes popped in and out within seconds and made no sense. The music/score was so overbearing it was annoying, and in some scenes louder than the dialogue. Raymond's lack of directing experience was evident in the poor shaky-cam shots, as it was in his failure to direct his sub-cast properly (the seasoned pros clearly handled their own). Brendan Fletcher was perfectly cast and great playing the character of Simon. But casting Henry Cavill was a huge mistake. His acting was stale and unconvincing, as well as annoying with his monotonic dialogue and poorly executed macho demeanor.

Nevertheless, for a newbie writer and director (this film being his 2nd/3rd resume entry as a filmmaker), it was surprisingly decent all things considered. Too bad it could've been great with proper editing and screenplay review. Still, a solid and well deserving 7/10 from me.

Okay Film. Brendan Fletcher As The Oddball Was Worth The Price Of Admission, Though.

[redrobin62-321-207311 · 6/10 · 19 October 2019]

Gandhi and Superman couldn't save this movie - and they were in it! They just seemed detached and were just going through the motions for the paycheck. Plus, the story wasn't that great to begin with, so I suppose they had to make do with what they were given. The young Canadian actor I'd never heard of before, Brendan Fletcher, did a good job as the weird guy. It reminded me of the first time I saw Ed Norton in his first film, Primal Fear. He was really believable in that movie, so much so that he was even nominated for an Academy Award for it. I really thought Ed Norton was mentally challenged in real life, like Giovanni Ribisi in The Other Sister. This movie is really a '5'. The additional point was for Fletcher.

Ridiculous

[brucebigelow-10873 · 4/10 · 10 August 2019]

One of the main protagonists goes around castrating sex offenders who haven't been convicted. Do they arrest him? Nope, apparently that's legal in... I guess they're pretending it's Minnesota. From there it's a series of totally incompetent events by the police. Oh, there's a bomb. We need to get everyone out of the building except the prisoner we're holding. And apparently if you put a tracker in a teddy bear you can pull out a wire and it becomes the tracker. Good to know in case you ever find a tracking device. Also you can sneak up on unsuspecting police officers in thin wood in the snow because... oh right, they're completely incompetent.

Good crime & suspense movie

[qheenoue · 7/10 · 24 August 2019]

Overall, good movie. There are some instances where the story is slow (early mid) but it adds to the suspense. It's nice where the clues are hidden and reveals themselves slowly. I like to be kept guessing up till the climax. Fans of the actors would like a change of pace for the characterers. Good to kill time. Not much gore which is nice considering a lot of new movies around seems to drive the hard R rating too much, it gets boring.

too many things

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 6 September 2019]

Young women go missing in Minnesota. A serial killer is hunting. Michael Cooper (Ben Kingsley) is a retired judge who turned vigilante after the murder of his family. He uses his protégé Lara as bait to catch sex offenders. Marshall (Henry Cavill) is a world-weary sex crime investigator. He struggles to stay connected to his young daughter. Rachel (Alexandra Daddario) is the new investigator for the unit. Lara gets caught up by serial killer Simon (Brendan Fletcher).

There is a lot going on. It's too many things. I appreciate many of them on their own. It gets to be chaotic when they're all jammed into one movie. Also there are many incidences of bad writing. For example, Simon is being transported in a convoy of vehicles. Yet when that car goes off the road, the other cars are nowhere to be found. This type of bad writing happens again and again. This has to be blamed on writer/director newcomer David Raymond. He could still be a solid TV director. Ben Kingsley with Lara as a vigilante team could be interesting on their own. Certainly, Kingsley would be a great leading anti-hero. On the other hand, I'm still unconvinced by Cavill's acting. His side would be a functional police crime drama by itself. They have Brendan Fletcher doing his version of Edward Norton in Primal Fear. Again by himself, it could be an intriguing performance. Piled on top of each other, all the elements get into the way. This is unnecessarily multi-layered.

I really enjoyed it!

[ferdmalenfant · 8/10 · 15 September 2019]

No one pays me for ratings and I can tell you that I rarely find these little gems. The acting is very solid all around. The plot is just twisted enough but not confusing and keeps you wondering right up to the end. This is definitely a "Thriller" worthy of the label.

Engaging n suspenseful uptil the revelation.

[Fella_shibby · 6/10 · 28 August 2019]

Brendan Fletcher's acting is the highlight. Similar like Aamir Khan's from Dhoom 3. The cat n mouse game between the inmate n the cops is thrilling like Law Abiding Citizen. The film is about a person (Fletcher) held in police detention for the abduction n murders of several girls. He is caught with the help of a vigilante (Kingsley), who sterilises pedophiles n rapists. They shud have focused more on the character of Ben Kingsley. The film has shades of Dhoom 3, Primal Fear, Law Abiding Citizen, etc. Alexandra Daddario looked way too beautiful to be a cop/profiler.

Waste of a talented cast

[confidential-67897 · 4/10 · 10 August 2019]

Terrible directing and even worse editing, almost like it was their first job after college. Script made no sense what so ever. And why chose an actor to play a washed up cop who looks like he spends 4 hours a day inn the gym?

Enjoyable Thriller.

[ashleyfitches · 7/10 · 23 June 2022]

Been a big fan of Henry Cavill I thought that I'd give this movie a chance, and I was surprised how much I liked it. I think that it had an interesting concept, and that it was a pretty interesting thriller. I think that they was a lot of action, well more than I expected in this, and that made this movie that much more enjoyable. I think it was a star ridden cast, and as I have never heard of this movie before I watched it, I was surprised how this movie hadn't got any more recognition. I would definitely recommend if you're a fan of Henry Cavill or just enjoy a thriller, it is surprisingly good.

Why all the hate

[tpheb · 7/10 · 30 January 2022]

This film won't win any awards but why all the hate. It was a semi-decent watch. A good way to pass an evening . I'm usually very critical of movies but this passed the time and didn't leave me feeling too disappointed- yes it's full of clichés but if you're not a movie critic I think you'd enjoy this thriller.

Pretty good mystery thriller with great cast.

[dragondraw1840 · 7/10 · 5 June 2022]

This was a good serial killer flick. It doesn't really bring anything new to the table as far as murder mysteries go. It has cops with personal ties trying to catch a mysterious murderer who captures yet another girl and the cops are left to find him on a strict time limit. It even has a suspect with possible multiple personalities giving you the "is he crazy or tricking to cops" mystery. That said it was a decent story with good acting. Brendan Fletcher's acting really shined is this one. All of the acting was really well done but his was the most impressive to me.

Worth watching!

[chexsmate · 7/10 · 18 January 2020]

I'm not sure why this was given such bad reviews. I decided to watch it only because Henry Cavill was the lead but was quickly drawn into something that could happen to anyone. The acting was very well done

Blah

[sasnak29 · 4/10 · 29 April 2020]

Don't listen to the positive reviewers that say "don't listen to the negative reviews"! There are negative reviews on this movie for a reason. This is a very mediocre film with some major flaws. There are also scenes that make no sense. For this reason, I'm giving it only a 4 out of 10.

Poor production of a good script.

[ritera1 · 7/10 · 20 March 2021]

Not great, but better than most in this genre.

Some good actors working with good parts. Brendan Fletcher had plenty to dive into and did well as the baddie. Would imagine some would say he was overacting, but walked the line. Very energetic. A large portion of his dialogue was muddled but strangely didn't distract from the performance.

Cavill did well as a brooding hero and Kingsley and Tucci are great just standing there in anything. Daddario was not spectacular but turned in a decent performance, especially when she was vamping in the interview. Would err on the side of her eventually shining in the right part. She has an Achille's heel as her beauty is very distracting and works against her credibility as an actress.

Moved quick and established story succinctly. Understood the characters, by and large. (A major distraction was Cavill's and Kingsley's British accents. I wasn't even sure what Cavill's cop partner's accent was, but add it to the pile. Filmed in Canada but did it take place there? Are Brits in Canada in public service common? Very odd. We all know that Cavill can do an American accent, but don't recall Kingsley ever doing one.)

Story took a different direction as it started at the end of this killer's run. Well, didn't turn out like that but was an interesting place to start. A few plot points vague when it came to the computer stuff, the VHS tapes and ultimately the tracker on the bear. (Separating those parts showed the twins' location...how?).

Not exploring obvious investigative elements earlier was obvious, like ownership of the textile factory and the house they were in was never mentioned.

No idea why the mother's rapist would have been redacted in court documents.

What was that ball on Cavill's truck when he visited the textile factory?

Did fall for the father being force fed in a few shots which distracted from the ALMOST comical surprise of the twins. But worked. Did recall the next day the few hints of such that were given.

The ending was phrased like there was some master plan to get them to fall through the ice. Was a long shot.

Putting the gun in the hands of Daddario was strange.

Why didn't the twins just keep running? Why weren't the twins armed all along?

The final scene where Cavill said Daddario saved his life was strange. She didn't.

Including an unseen husband for her was clutter.

Yes, I felt early on that Cavill and her had an affair but seemed shelved 'til the end.

Very poor production values and felt like a rushed shoot. Being that this is Director David Raymond's first feature, don't know if it suffered from his lack of talent or him being hamstrung due to budget and timeline. His script was above average, by and large, as I opened with. Could have been longer to flesh-out character a bit more. (The crowd scene was poor as I didn't see any TV cameras, just a boom mic.)

Probably better movies to see but that's because competition is fierce. Although not a waste of time.

Disjointed and incoherent

[ok-patrick · 4/10 · 10 August 2019]

Quite hard to follow the script and flow of the action, jumping from scene to scene was a mess at the very least. Hardly invested in any of the characters despite the star-studded cast which was mediocre in their performances at best. Sorry director and editor, better luck next time.

An entertaining, free on prime, thriller

[emilyaschubert · 8/10 · 1 January 2020]

I honestly don't know what is going on, maybe it's people who have an all or nothing response. I didn't expect this movie to be amazing, but for something streaming free on Prime, I thought it was great! Wonderful cast and acting, good thriller and action. Yeah some things, if done differently would have made this better, in my opinion the finale came out of nowhere and was one more clue that wasn't really needed. A couple of other things, like the father, weren't really sketched out. And I had a hard time buying into the Rachel-Simon relationship. But overall, if you're looking for an entertaining Friday night thriller, I definitely recommend this!

Good serial killer movie..!

[kamalbeeee · 7/10 · 25 September 2021]

A man was arrested due to suspect of few girls murdered...but he looks like mentally challenged person.. at last we would shocked after known about his past story.. Once watchable movie..!!

What this film really needs is a good editor.

[ainazmaleko · 1/10 · 18 December 2021]

I don't know what the original script was like but this film definitely suffered from poor editing. The story at times made zero sense. The jumps between scenes (and possibly days?) were incongruous and the story telling was atrocious. One minute, a cop is blown up in a car bombing, and the next morning his colleagues are cracking jokes? In one scene a cop who's baby has been kidnapped is breaking a suspect out of jail, and literally the next scene is of him running back into a room at the police station where they've just discovered his baby.... How did he know where his baby was? Where did the suspect go? How much time transpired? I don't need my hand held when I watch something, but a sense of time and event order would be super helpful.

Could have been better.

[rhcppepers · 6/10 · 11 August 2019]

Well, there was so much potential with this film. It could have been edited better to make it more cohesive. It just feels disjointed. The performances are okay. You do expect better from a cast with so much talent. Would I recommend someone to watch this? Flip a coin, you will be fine either way.