Daddy's Gone A-Hunting (1969) User Reviews

A right-to-life endorsement?

[Srrurhino · 7/10 · 25 May 2006]

I hardly see how this qualifies as an endorsement of right-to-life politics. Apart from very superficial charm, the father (Kenneth) has no redeeming features whatsoever and, on top of that, he goes out of his way to menace the baby Cathy has with her husband. In fact, early in the picture (during the oh-so-mechanical exposition setting up the "thriller" part of the movie), she seems reluctant to have the abortion and willing to go home to London, presumably to have the baby there and raise him/her with the help of family. It's only AFTER Kenneth learns about the baby, proposes to Cathy, is rejected by her, slaps her across the face in public and threatens to stalk both her and his child-to-be that she decides to have the abortion, presumably to get Kenneth out of her life once and for all. The abortion sequence itself doesn't show much, but it's hardly glamorized as a "choice." If anything, the movie makes it clear why many women have abortions because that "choice" is the best one among a series of bad ones.

The abortion angle in the plot, however (pre Roe v. Wade), is one of the movie's few really interested angles (as well as the use of San Francisco as a backdrop).

That darn cat!

[brefane · 7/10 · 4 February 2007]

Worthwhile B movie that fails to make the most of a good idea. And both Play Misty for Me(71) and Fatal Attraction(87) reworked its premise and plot. Mark Robson's direction is economical to a fault, and the film needs more detail and development;it feels perfunctory and thin like a made-for-TV film. And the supporting characters are cardboard.

The film has some effective scenes, generates interest and suspense, though the build-up is ultimately better than the payoff. Scott Hylands is very good and convincing but, Carol White is perhaps too stoic,and she doesn't garner much sympathy for her character. The rest of the cast goes through their paces without making an impression, except for an annoying housekeeper, and "Prissy",the cat. Ultimately, the subject matter and Scott Hylands' performance are what make it worthwhile. Hard to find film deserves a DVD release, hopefully with the trailer.

Very scary revenge movie

[marbleann · 7/10 · 25 February 2005]

I haven't seen this movie in years. It is rarely shown on cable. I was just a kid when I fist saw this movie. And even then I got the message. A very scary one. A young woman goes out with the Scott Hyland character. She soon finds out that he is not Mr Wonderful and in matter of fact he is a nut. She finds she is pregnant and she obtains a abortion. She moves on with her life and marries Paul Burke and she gets pregnant. The ex finds out about it and decides to kill everyone who has anything to do with her abortion and is after her to kill the baby she is carrying. This movie must of been the poster movie for the right to life movement, but it is scary. The message is do not have a abortion because in the end people are going to pay for it in a bad way. Well the message should of been watch out for psychopathic boyfriends and use birth control. I don't know what I would do if I was in her position but whatever I did I would hope people would not get killed over it. I loved this movie, even though it does political undertones. It is scary because I can see something like that really happening. Scott Hylands was excellent, he scared me. I just wish this movie would come out on DVD.

Thoroughly underrated

[Cujo108 · 9 May 2010]

After the man she's been seeing turns out to be mentally (and financially) unstable, Cathy aborts his baby and moves on with her life. She eventually marries a political hopeful and once again finds herself pregnant. While shopping for a crib, she sees her former flame, Kenneth, working as a department store Santa. He spots her too, but the real bad news for Cathy is that he notices she's carrying another child. Bad news for her and her baby, but would Kenneth resort to killing a child as vengeance for the death of his own?

Mark Robson (The Seventh Victim, Valley of the Dolls) directs this morbid little gem, a film with some rather potent subject matter, particularly for the time it was made. Melding the incredibly touchy subject of abortion with a psycho-suspense storyline, Robson crafts an effective film full of bizarre mood and situations. As Cathy becomes more and more guilty over what she did, we see how it works into her psyche, and images as simple as toys yapping on a table take on a rather perverse feeling that gets under the viewer's skin. Robson knows how to utilize such elements to their maximum effect, though never in an overly graphic manner. The use of subtlety and implied horror goes a long way here.

As Kenneth, Scott Hylands is one of the creepiest nutcases you'll see. He has the most unnerving eyes, and a rather blank glare that truly makes one feel uncomfortable. The scene where he learns of the abortion is downright chilling. He puts Cathy through some real psychological torment, one of the standout moments being a nasty surprise he leaves under her car. Carol White plays Cathy, and she's fine in the role, but I find her character to be quite unlikable due to her incessant bitchiness.

This is a great film, well acted, well directed... The climax is quite thrilling as well. This is not your typical psycho story, and it is really quite unique in it's storytelling. Disturbing and effective, I highly recommend this one.

Wasted potential

[MissSimonetta · 6/10 · 30 December 2022]

DADDY'S GONE A-HUNTING might be of interest to film academics looking to analyze attitudes about abortion and motherhood in the wake of the 60s sexual revolution. For those wanting a good thriller, they'll have to look elsewhere. Leadenly paced and poorly acted (with one exception), this movie feels like it was made for television. It boggles the mind to think the director was responsible for some of the best Val Lewton chillers back in the 1940s.

The single bright spot is Scott Hylands as the stalker villain. His stare is chilling and his vengeful plot is truly disturbing. Such a shame the woman he's menacing isn't up to snuff-- Carol White's performance is wooden and her character is often unlikable, treating the people around her like garbage when it isn't warranted. This makes it very hard to root for her, a deadly problem for a suspense thriller.

Also, that title song is truly putrid, dated in the worst possible way and almost comical in how it blatantly describes on-screen action. Hard to believe the legendary John Williams was responsible for that travesty-- though to be fair to him, most of the score is alright, if nothing exceptional.

An overlooked suspense flick.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 11 March 2018]

Brit beauty Carol White ("Some Call It Loving") stars as Cathy Palmer, a newcomer to San Francisco. Almost immediately, a stranger named Kenneth Daly (Canadian actor Scott Hylands ("Death Hunt"), receiving an "introducing" credit) contrives a way to meet her. Initially, he seems quite charming, and they enter into a relationship for a while, until he starts revealing himself as a major league turd. She breaks it off with him, even aborting the baby that he had fathered. She moves on, and finds a new guy (Paul Burke ("Valley of the Dolls")), a rising politician, and gets pregnant by the new guy. Trouble is, Kenneth is not going to let her go unpunished. He begins to terrorize her, demanding that she kill her baby in order to atone for the death of his child.

This is a pretty decent movie, albeit with some flaws. It's kind of a mixed bag, with a lead character who's not terribly sympathetic, a script credited to Larry Cohen ("The Stuff") and Lorenzo Semple, Jr. ("Flash Gordon") that has lines both bad and good, a lack of complete credibility, and performances that are uneven. It does get better and better as it plays out, leading to a seven minute finale high above the city streets that will actually have people catching their breath. Director Mark Robson, who'd started out crafting some fine psychological black & white horror for producer Val Lewton, and graduated to bigger things like "Valley of the Dolls" and "Von Ryan's Express", handles things with a certain degree of style. The filmmakers don't seem too concerned with making viewers choose a side in the still-contentious "pro life" vs. "pro choice" debate, and mainly focus on making an entertaining, slick, tried-and-true revenge thriller.

Ms. White is lovely to look at, but doesn't make her character all that interesting. Hylands is fine, having a little more to work with; Kenneth supposedly was prepared to become a better man upon learning of impending fatherhood, so he takes the abortion thing VERY hard. Burke has little to do in the grand scheme of things. The very fine supporting cast includes such familiar faces as James Sikking ('Hill Street Blues') and Barry Cahill ("Coffy") as FBI agents, Mala Powers ("Cyrano de Bergerac") as Cathy's friend Meg, Walter Brooke ("The Graduate") as Jerry Wolfe, Mathilda Calnan ("Silver Streak") as Ilsa the maid, and Dennis Patrick ('Dark Shadows') as the abortion doctor.

Excellent location shooting and an effective pace help to make this reasonably engrossing, and worthy of another look from genre devotees.

Seven out of 10.

Wrong Message available

[artzau · 6/10 · 4 May 2002]

I suppose Right-to-Life supporters will find a workable premise in this film for their political agenda. Another reviewer has noted that and this requires no further comment. However, this film did stick in my mind after having seen in in '69. The only actor of note was Paul Burke who was the young cop in TV's Naked City. I found myself wondering who were Scott Hylands and Carol White? Truth is, after having refreshed my viewpoint visiting this site, I still bring up little memory of them beyond this film. The film itself is an interesting story of a young ne'er-do-well who lives on the edge (his only productive activity is trying to build a Rube Goldberg arrangement to condition his cat not to eat his bird) who gets dumped by his live-in love who aborts his kid. She goes on to marry Paul Burke, handsome, successful and our kinda guy. Later, the dumped boyfriend strangles the doctor (with his stethoscope, of course) and kidnaps the ex-girlfriendie's kid. It goes on from there with a decent thriller ending, showing that you don't mess with mothers. All in all, not a bad film for an evening's viewing, albeit I, like the first reviewer, have serious reservations about the mixed message of choices women make about their bodies. But, that's a discussion topic for another time and place...

A snowball in hell

[mls4182 · 5/10 · 5 October 2023]

In an early scene, a snowball is thrown at someone in the city of San Francisco. It doesn't snow in San Francisco.

I had to get that out of the way. This film is a pretty good thriller. A young woman meets and moves in with a mentally unstable man. She becomes pregnant and decides to terminate the pregnancy (back when it was illegal). He becomes obsessed with the fact and obsessed with her.

She leaves him and marries a conservative politician. They have gave a child of their own. There is no way the stalker is going to let them be happy. I won't go into details and spoil it.

This film is an effective thriller and also a great time capsule showing 1968 San Francisco.

Top notch psycho-thriller with pinches of horror and social commentary.

[capkronos · 8/10 · 2 March 2008]

In my opinion, this is a much better film than some people on here are giving it credit for. Young Brit Cathy Palmer (Carol White) has just arrived stateside and is looking to make a fresh start in San Francisco. Almost immediately upon arriving, she runs across handsome Kenneth Daly (Scott Hylands), a charmer whose idea of making a good first impression involves nailing her in the back of the head with a snowball. Ken shows her around, takes her to dinner and uses his connections to help her land a good job at an ad agency. Eventually, the two are living together, but various red flags are making Cathy question their relationship. Ken is immature, aimless, can't seem to hold onto a job (and can't decide whether he wants to be an actor or a photographer) and is cruel to her pet cat. Aside from that, she senses there's something else not quite right about him. Fed up, Cathy decides to end the relationship. One problem; she's pregnant. Her co-worker Meg (Mala Powers) helps her arrange an abortion through gynecologist Dr. Parkington (Dennis Patrick). Things go off without a hitch, except Cathy decided to go through with the procedure without informing Ken.

After he slaps her across the face in a crowded restaurant, Cathy moves on with her life and wants to put the whole experience behind her. She meets and eventually marries Jack Byrnes (Paul Burke), a successful and wealthy lawyer who's well on his way to becoming a powerful (conservative) politician. Cathy becomes pregnant with Jack's child. Just when things are looking up for her, Ken comes back into the picture, a little unhinged and looking for revenge... He stalks her, blackmails her and weasels his way into her new home, kills the doctor who performed the abortion and otherwise makes her life a living hell. After she gives birth, he demands she kill her new baby to make up for the fact she "murdered" his. When this doesn't happen, he kidnaps the baby and tries to manipulate Cathy into killing it using various clever and sadistic methods than will startle even modern viewers.

Some people seem to think this film is pushing a certain agenda, and maybe it is to a degree. Oddly, some see it taking a Pro Life stance, while others see a Pro Choice stance, which is a testament to how well made the film actually is. Both sides of the abortion debate are touched on and they're covered in a realistic and matter-of-fact way thanks to the intriguing and non-preachy screenplay from horror master Larry Cohen (IT'S ALIVE) and Lorenzo Semple, Jr. (PRETTY POISON). When Cathy goes to get her abortion it's done secretly, but not in some grimy back alley like you usually see, but a brightly lit clinic by a respectable doctor. Cathy seems somewhat haunted by her decision and hesitant to tell the truth about it for fear of the social stigma surrounding her decision. She's also afraid of being thrown out by her politico husband, but her husband turns out to be completely supportive and non-judgmental about it when she's forced to reveal the truth. The only one coming down on her and labeling her a "murderer" is Ken himself, and he's out of his mind. Make what you want of that.

The film was made four years before the landmark Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision (in 1973), so the subject matter was probably quite risqué for the time. Some of the psychological torment Ken puts Cathy through is also pretty strong stuff for 1969, especially to people who hate seeing defenseless infants put in harm's way. Be forewarned that it's slow to get started, but when it finally picks up about half-an-hour in it's shocking, very suspenseful, somewhat horrific and even thought-provoking. In my opinion, it's good enough to deserve a decent DVD release from a respectable company and good enough to deserve a reevaluation from critics, mystery/thriller fans and horror film buffs. Many of its themes even pre-date the highly influential PLAY MISTY FOR ME (1971), which went on to influence such films as FATAL ATTACTION (1987) and BASIC INSTINCT (1992). If you can find it, I definitely recommend a watch.

It's still a good psycho/thriller even if the dress, decor, and cityscapes are outdated

[Ed-Shullivan · 7/10 · 2 November 2023]

Well done I must say for a 1969 film. The gist of the story involves a mentally disturbed and well connected man named Kenneth Daly (Scott Hylands) who although being brilliant and exudes confidence, thinks he has fallen in love with a young and attarctive woman named Cathy Palmer (Carol White) he picked up at a bus terminal, they quickly move in together and he impregnates her. It does not take Cathy long to assess that her boyfriend roommate Kenneth is not who he appeared to be at first glance but rather a somewhat lazy and controlling man who is both threatening and menacing.

I do not want to give away any of the plot other than to say that after Cathy breaks off the relationship with Kenneth and moves on to marry a true gentleman, Kenneth begins to suddenly appear in several different places out of the corner of Cathy's eyes. Is she just seeing hallucinations or is Kenneth stalking her and to what end?

This thriller has some excellent scenes such as when Kenneth convinces Cathy to climb up to the top of a skyscraper rooftop from the outside walls where they are surrounded by Christmas lights in the evening and her crying baby who Kenneth has a firm grip on Cathy's new baby which she had with her new husband.

Yes, the dress and decor are outdated for a 54 year old film since its initial release and the music score has that "Goldfinger" insignia type attached to it but the director Mark Robson should be commended for his unique approach and camera work.

I give the film a decent 7 out of 10 IMDb rating.

Chills and thrills

[nickrogers1969 · 5/10 · 25 December 2013]

This film is like a fun bad TV movie. It has a thrilling story but the film is marred by the stale performances by the lead actors. If you've never heard of Carol White it's no wonder. She is sweet but gives her part no energy. Her line readings are flat and don't add any life at all to this thriller.

She looks like a bargain basement copy of Julie Christie but with out the charm. This seemed to be her big break in Hollywood after having had some success in England. Here she displays why there was no reason she would ever become a star. Why was she cast in this? There must have been countless other actresses who could have brought some fury to character. This part required a bit of madness and Carol was just too ordinary to deliver. But I suppose a film featuring abortion was a sensitive subject then and perhaps bigger stars did not dare take the part.

The early scenes of the film seem contrived and trite when the characters meet. The changes that show time progressing are quite corny and dated but the late sixties fashions are cool. Carol White, though, looks short with that heavy hair-do which gives the impression that she has no neck.

The film picks up after the dreary first half. There are some neat twists and turns that keep this film from being totally forgotten. The ending is exciting even though the lead actors don't show any tension in their performances. You can't tell if Carol White is terrified or ready to do anything to help her baby. Her character goes to great lengths plot wise but you could never tell by looking at her face.

So, over all it's fun and chilling thriller thanks to the plot but not the actors.

Tragic story.

[PWNYCNY · 8/10 · 16 October 2012]

This movie could have been made today; it withstands the test of time. It's about a man who wants to take revenge on a woman who aborted their child. The movie is also about the hypocrisy of the woman who is living a lie, trying to conceal a past which includes illicit sex, pregnancy, and abortion, the latter so that she could get end the relationship with the guy who wants the baby and wants to marry her. After she dumps him she marries a local up and coming politician and gets pregnant and this time gives birth. The movie is about how the first guy cleverly re-injects himself into her life through her husband and then plots to get her to kill her own baby which to him is perfectly logical because if she could kill his baby, then why not her husband's? Of course, problems ensue as the tension between the guy and the woman becomes obvious and soon she has to confess her past to her husband and the husband is loving and supportive and it's just a matter of time before the guy gets his just deserts, which is quick and violent. The movie's premise works because the guy does have cause to be angry and the story is set before Roe v. Wade, when getting an abortion was (and still is) a serious matter, not only morally but legally, and when the right of a woman to control her reproductive options was not yet fully established as a matter of law. Hence she really had no one to turn to with which to discuss her issues, especially the police, since abortion was a criminal act. As for the guy, he has no one to turn to for support either, knowing what his ex-girl friend had done. This movie dramatizes why the decision to have an an abortion has to be treated entirely as a medical matter. The alternative, to treat it as a criminal matter, just creates more problems, especially in the area of conflict resolution. Carol White gives a powerful performance as the woman and Scott Hyland's performance is compelling as the guy whose mind becomes twisted by righteous indignation, with tragic consequences.

good Lifetime movie

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 13 September 2023]

Cathy Palmer (Carol White) is an innocent British newcomer to San Francisco. Kenneth Daly (Scott Hylands) throws a snowball at her and the relationship begins. There are red flags right away. She moves on to Jack Byrnes (Paul Burke).

This is the equivalent of a Lifetime woman-in-peril horror thriller. As such, it's effective. I don't recognize any of these actors. This is the next movie for director Mark Robson after his infamous Valley of the Dolls. Quite frankly, I like this movie a lot better. My main issue is the title. The character is quoting a nursery rhyme. I don't know it and I don't like the sound of it.

Stalker melodrama has tight wrap-up but isn't much more than a soap opera

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 21 August 2021]

Newly-arrived in San Francisco from the UK, pretty young artist has a meet-cute with a strange, handsome photographer at the bus terminal (he throws a snowball at her head). He fixes her up with a job interview and they move in together, but he has responsibility issues and won't earn his share, throwing her out of her own apartment after she asks him to see a psychiatrist. Melodrama from screenwriters Larry Cohen and Lorenzo Semple Jr., from Cohen's original treatment, skips ahead fitfully; before we know it, the girl has had an abortion, the ex-boyfriend finds out and is furious, and she's gotten married to another man. Purports to be "adult entertainment", but director Mark Robson is still playing the same coy games (when the girl gets undressed to make love, the camera drops to her clothes hitting the floor). Unsettling scenes are entwined with phony soap opera hysterics, while the performers look somewhat unsure of themselves. ** from ****

Grim thriller...underrated.

[EyeAskance · 13 October 2003]

A surprisingly potent and strangely disregarded psycho-stalker picture marked by taut direction and capable performances, it also benefits from its appealing San Francisco location filming. It's a distressingly plausible scenario...girl aborts the child of her former lover, latterly marries another man, and becomes pregnant again. The first lover, now quite clearly a dangerously unbalanced nutcase, shows up to settle the score.

A briskly paced little nail-biter which occasionally goes a tad bit over-the-top, DADDY'S GONE A-HUNTING is ripe for a much-deserved reinvestigation.

6.5/10

There's way too much good luck and conveniences with the stalker for me to recommend it

[jordondave-28085 · 4/10 · 13 September 2023]

(1969) Daddy's Gone A-Hunting PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE THRILLER

Produced and directed by Mark Robson that has a young lady, Cathy Palmer (Carol White) hooking up with photographer,Jack Byrnes (Paul Burke). And while living together, Cathy becomes successful as advertiser, while her live in boyfriend, Jack's income is waning. And as soon as she ties to motivate Jack to seek other means of employment, he becomes irate and kicks her out of her own place. The part that did not make a lot of sense, is the fact that, on one hand, as soon as Cathy finds out she is pregnant and says that the father should not know about it, so that she can abort it. For some odd reason, Jack does find out about it, and at a restaurant, he physically slaps her as soon as she told him she is no longer in love with him, and that she is going to send someone over to grab her stuff. And while she is headed to work, he tries to make it up to her by cutting her off and bringing her roses. Only for her to inform him that she has already aborted it, which ignited Jack to terrorize her, as soon as she hooks up and marries an inspired politician, Kenneth Daly (Scott Hylands) to whom she is expecting and having a baby with. Underestimating Jack's diagnosis as a lunatic going on an obsessive rant to go after Cathy's baby to who s he knows is not his.

The suspense and the motivation is there, but there is way too much good luck and lucky convenience on the side of the stalker, Jack, such as, as soon as Jack carries the baby in a.pet carrier. He notices someone was using the elevator, how does he know it was the police that were in that elevator? The fact that as soon as he leaves through the back alley again, which happens to be next door to a theater, it just happens to be an admission with a bunch of people walking out at the same time, giving Jack the opportunity to mix with the crowd. The fact that the sniper had the opportunity to shoot Jack as soon as Cathy grabs the handle on the carrier.

Obscure and compelling psycho-thriller

[Leofwine_draca · 9/10 · 9 July 2023]

DADDY'S GONE A-HUNTING (1969) is a relatively obscure psycho-thriller that I knew nothing about before watching and ended up loving. It stars British starlet Carol White (POOR COW, CATHY COME HOME) as an aspiriing artist who arrives in San Francisco and begins to romance a young man she meets on the street. Before long she's pregnant, but the relationship sours and she aborts the baby. Unfortunately her former lover isn't about to take that lying down...

This is one of those stories that plays out with an economy of narrative which really works in its favour. There are some great jump cuts to drive the narrative forward while the entire focus is on the psychological cat and mouse games. The cast are all excellent and the characters strike the right balance between likeability and believability. The extended chase climax is a real nerve-shredder!

Oh No! The Baby Is At Risk!

[boblipton · 5/10 · 14 September 2023]

Carol White gets out of the San Francisco airport a stranger to the city, moves in with Scott Hylands, falls pregnant, gets an abortion, breaks up with him, meets Paul Burke, gets married, has a baby. Hylands kidnaps the baby.

Mark Robson's movie is a marvel of storytelling brevity, thanks to Dorothy Spencer's editing. Burke's courtship of Miss White is a marvel of speed. On being introduced, Burke asks "How do you do?" and Miss White replies "I do" in a wedding dress. Unhappily, in its haste to get to the meat of the story, which is dealing with the abduction, all the characters are reduced to very limited types. Burke is stalwart, Hylands is crazy, Miss White is.... well, she is reduced to a plot item, saying and doing whatever is needed to advance the plot, and then moving on to the next act.

Clearly this is intended to make them less individuals, and more as stand-ins for the audience to experience their own feelings, so long as it does not involve empathy with the characters. It also leads to some dull line readings. In trying for universality, the film makers lose sight of the single human being.

Technically this is fine film making, with a score by John Williams and camerawork by Ernest Laszlo. What it lacks is humanity and the pathos that can engender.

A gem of a thriller..if you overlook the main character

[Sugarbehr1967 · 26 November 2010]

The premise of the movie is simple enough..Cathy, a young, beautiful girl arrives in America to find work, meets Kenneth, a handsome young photographer, they fall in love, but it turns out the young man isn't all he seems to be, and when she learns she's pregnant, she decides she doesn't want him-or the baby and has an abortion, and he decides to seek revenge.

The setting is San Francisco, and the visuals are well played out in the city, along with a taut, tense script by Lorenzo Semple and Larry Cohen, with sure footed direction by Mark Robson, fresh off of his smash hit 'Valley of the Dolls' two years earlier. The cast includes Mala Powers as a sympathetic coworker of Cathy's who talks her into the abortion, Paul Burke (fresh off of his work as Lyon Burke in 'Valley') as Cathy's new husband, a senator wanna be, and of course, Scott Hylands, who as Kenneth, brings a creepiness to his role, but at the same time, you do feel for him as the spurned lover who wants revenge for the abortion that Cathy decides to get.

The only weak link in this movie is Carol White as Cathy. Beautiful as the young Brit who arrives to seek work and becomes involved in a nightmare, is harsh, childish, and for most of the movie, a total bitch. You never feel how Paul Burke's character fell for her, suddenly they are wedded, and there is very little passion between them in their scenes. She comes across shrill, completely obnoxious, and downright hateful. You wonder if she really wanted to have a baby in the first place with the way she acts. For the most part, this movie is a fine addition to the 'damsel in distress' genre, but having a heroine that is more sympathetic might have worked much better.

A movie that leaves a lasting impression

[andynagy · 15 October 2010]

The one and only time I saw this movie was with my mother and younger sister at a Drive In theater on Cape Cod when I was ten years old. That was forty years ago, yet the movie made such an impression on us that night, that I've never forgotten it. For years I tried to find it or see it again without success, and then once more made a search last night. At last, here it is, being talked about at least! The sense of creepy fierce tension, coupled with the child like theme song is what I remember most, aside from the closeness and talking that it inspired afterward in my little family as we drove back to our campground. If impressions that last for decades count, this movie is certainly worth tracking down, and I, for one, look forward to seeing it again!

Good premise

[scottydog2 · 3 September 2001]

It would've been better if the character,'catherine' had been more sympathetic.

I apologize,but I was rooting for 'ken' to get away with it all. The story is different,though.A boyfriend terrorizing his ex-girlfriend because she aborted his child...it really could've been done better.

"I Don't Think You're Completely Well!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 16 September 2023]

DADDY'S GONE A-HUNTING is a rather bizarre, ultimately satisfying thriller about Cathy (Carol White), a young woman who meets a man named Kenneth (Scott Hylands), and moves in with him. We realize immediately that Kenneth is quite odd, in a childish, unbalanced way. When Cathy gets pregnant and decides to get an abortion, Kenneth doesn't take the news very well.

In fact, this is when his true nature as a full-blown psychopath emerges.

Director Mark Robson took the script by future horror Director Larry Cohen, and created a semi-psychedelic suspense film, based in the heartland of 1960s hippiedom, San Francisco. At first, this is more like an offbeat, romantic comedy, until shifting into stalker / murder mode. Once it gets going, it's nerve-jangling right up to the incredible finale.

Hylands is quite effective in his maniacal role, underplaying it while still managing to instill terror in the viewer. Kenneth makes us want to smack him and run from him by turns.

NOTE: It's interestring to watch a pre-1973 movie tackling this subject matter...