"The Hunters" concerns an expert in cave paintings from past civilizations, Dr. Cline(Louise Fletcher; One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) involved in the study of a recently discovered cavern found by a boy who fell through its entrance (a hole located on land due for the development of suburban homes). While livestock start to disappear, local farmers grumbling, the sheriff(Michael Logan) notices that a blood trail leads up to the cavern—what exactly will his investigation uncover? Cline is staying the night to determine just who is causing the disturbances plaguing the area..but will she be prepared for what lies within the cavern? I must admit that, despite a shocking murder at the very end, I found "The Hunters" rather tacky, the unfolding surprise the episode unveils—how Lisa notices that the cave paintings are changing daily as if someone is drawing new ones, replacing what was once painted on the wall before, soon learning the mystery, as does the sheriff (who actually sees a supernatural occurrence, even unknowingly saving his own hide by taking it upon himself to *erase* a threat before his own life is snuffed out). I always like to watch old chiller anthologies like The Twilight Zone for the actors/actresses that appear such as Louise Fletcher in the case of "The Hunters". She has a spirited standoff with developer Jim Hilsen (Cronenberg regular Leslie Carlson ; Videodrome) over the importance of the archaeological find, and encounters "history" the hard way. Directed by Paul Lynch (Prom Night (1980)).
4 Reviews
Ghosts from the Past
sol12183 June 2011
***SPOILERS**** When boy scout ,Steven Andrade, accidentally discovered this cave outside a new soon to be built housing development that bells started ringing all over town with archaeologist Dr. Cline, Louise Fletcher, organizing a dig to see if there's any ancient history in artifacts bones and paintings on the wall to uncover there.
It's not long that a number of sheep and cattle are found killed and dismembered outside the opening of the cave with the local farmers and ranchers suspecting that something from inside the cave had been doing all this damages to their flocks. With local Sheriff Roy, Michael Hogan, checking out the place Dr. Cline is confronted by the developer who's property the cave is located on Jim Hinsen, Leslie Carlson, who demands that Dr. Cline stop her digging or he'll have her and her digging team arrested!
Given all the time she needs to finish the job by Sheriff Roy Dr. Cline soon discovers that the paintings on the wall seemed to have changed places overnight! Determined to find out what exactly is happening Dr. Cline decides to stay overnight in the cave, all by herself, and find out who's been messing around not only with the paintings but who's been leaving slaughtered and cooked animals parts there also!
***SPOILERS*** It was a big mistake on Dr. Cline's part to stay the night over at the cave because by doing it ended up costing her life. Sheriff Roy who entered the cave and found Dr. Cline's body, with a wooden lance stuck in her back, decided himself to find out who was responsible for her murder and catch him or it the next time he entered the place!
***MAJOR SPOILERS*** Unknown to the Sheriff Roy whoever killed Dr. Cline and was killing the livestock was in the cave all the time. Seeing, in the dead coming to life, and realizing that he's dealing with something beyond his understanding Sheriff Roy does the only thing that he can think off to erase the whole thing from his memory and thus, without even knowing it, he ends up erasing it off both the face of the cave walls and the face of the earth as well!
It's not long that a number of sheep and cattle are found killed and dismembered outside the opening of the cave with the local farmers and ranchers suspecting that something from inside the cave had been doing all this damages to their flocks. With local Sheriff Roy, Michael Hogan, checking out the place Dr. Cline is confronted by the developer who's property the cave is located on Jim Hinsen, Leslie Carlson, who demands that Dr. Cline stop her digging or he'll have her and her digging team arrested!
Given all the time she needs to finish the job by Sheriff Roy Dr. Cline soon discovers that the paintings on the wall seemed to have changed places overnight! Determined to find out what exactly is happening Dr. Cline decides to stay overnight in the cave, all by herself, and find out who's been messing around not only with the paintings but who's been leaving slaughtered and cooked animals parts there also!
***SPOILERS*** It was a big mistake on Dr. Cline's part to stay the night over at the cave because by doing it ended up costing her life. Sheriff Roy who entered the cave and found Dr. Cline's body, with a wooden lance stuck in her back, decided himself to find out who was responsible for her murder and catch him or it the next time he entered the place!
***MAJOR SPOILERS*** Unknown to the Sheriff Roy whoever killed Dr. Cline and was killing the livestock was in the cave all the time. Seeing, in the dead coming to life, and realizing that he's dealing with something beyond his understanding Sheriff Roy does the only thing that he can think off to erase the whole thing from his memory and thus, without even knowing it, he ends up erasing it off both the face of the cave walls and the face of the earth as well!
The Attack of the Petroglyphs
Hitchcoc1 July 2017
A boy falls in a hole which turns out to be a cave. In the cave are prehistoric drawing of hunters and their prey. As the woman, played by Louise Fletcher, investigates, she senses that there is someone moving around down there. Also, the petroglyphs begin to change from day to day. Nearby, people are losing livestock during the night. A local sheriff does what he can to balance what is going on scientifically with a land developer who has a lot to lose. It's just that the episode lacks much suspense and imagination. The curse of the 22 minute episode.
Intriguing Concept That Falls Apart
chrstphrtully21 December 2016
Warning: Spoilers
A boy scout falls accidentally finds a cave on a housing development, which contains primitive cave paintings. While the local archaeologist (Louise Fletcher) investigates, she finds the paintings are changing each day; meanwhile, the local sheriff (Michael Hogan) must investigate the killing of local livestock.
Paul Chitlik's and Jeremy Bertrand Fitch's script sets up the beginnings of an interesting mystery, but fails to pull off the twist effectively, spending far too much time with filler dialogue from Fletcher and Hogan (whose delivery seems to show they know its filler). Director Paul Lynch manages some clever visual effects (the animation of the paintings is neat), but even these touches are undermined by the contrived "answer" to the mystery -- i.e., the paintings are, in effect, the mysterious people, who can apparently be removed by simply erasing the paintings. It's a resolution that might have worked if the script were more existential, but the realistic groundings of the story make it seem more like a lazy way to finish up the story than an effective twist.
Paul Chitlik's and Jeremy Bertrand Fitch's script sets up the beginnings of an interesting mystery, but fails to pull off the twist effectively, spending far too much time with filler dialogue from Fletcher and Hogan (whose delivery seems to show they know its filler). Director Paul Lynch manages some clever visual effects (the animation of the paintings is neat), but even these touches are undermined by the contrived "answer" to the mystery -- i.e., the paintings are, in effect, the mysterious people, who can apparently be removed by simply erasing the paintings. It's a resolution that might have worked if the script were more existential, but the realistic groundings of the story make it seem more like a lazy way to finish up the story than an effective twist.
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