Analysis of “The Hunted”:

The film begins with an action packed war scene. This is effective as it throws the audience right into the action and story. The whole scene looks red due to lighting; this may be used to represent the bloodshed and murder happening within the scene, and in fact, the rest of the film. The scene ends with a bloody murder of a man which again informs the audience that this will be a violent film.
The next scene completely contrasts the first scene as it is shot in snow, so the screen is very light. This is used to tell the audience that the man in the scene may be a good character within the film (the character the audience will feel sympathy for).
Later, two “Deer hunters” are in a forest following a deer. However, within a short time you realise they aren’t hunting Deer, but are trying to track down and kill a man. They then have a conversation with the man; however you do not see him as he is hiding from them. The audience not being able to see the man adds to the idea that he is unknown, and mysterious. You then see that this man is the soldier who killed the man violently with a knife at the end of the first scene. After this conversation, a suspenseful “hide and seek” type sequence takes place. He kills both the men (who have rifles) with just one knife. This shows and informs the audience that he is a very skilled and dangerous man. It is obvious he will be the ‘bad’ guy within the film. The scene ends with a strange noise that gets louder and louder which would make the audience feel uncomfortable.
The music is effective within the film as it is very uneasy and mysterious, much like the main characters. This adds to the overall feel of the movie.
The costume was obviously chosen very carefully for each character. For example, the killer often wears very simple and bland clothes which represent that he is a very precise and one sided person.

This film is very successful as a thriller as it has plenty of action, suspense and an interesting story line. The gore within the film adds to the uneasiness that flows throughout the whole movie and adds to the appeal of the target audience who may enjoy films like this.
The one main point I think that let the film down was that they revealed too much information about the killer, which allowed the audience to feel more comfortable, and therefore not feel the terror in some of the later scenes. I think it would have improved the tension and suspense if the information about him was not revealed until later in the film, which would give the audience things to think about while watching the film from the beginning.