Night Hunter (1996)

Instant Favorite.

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Crappy film

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

I always rent a film with the desire to like it. However, this film started with two strikes against it. The first strike is that its lead is Don "The Dragon" Wilson, an inept actor by anyone's standards but a solid martial artist. I'm not a martial arts fan so I'm not big on Mr. Wilson. Second, its a vampire flick and you can count all the decent vampire films in history on one hand--and you won't employ all your fingers. So, you might be wondering, why I rented this. Well, I'm a video completist and will watch anything that Melanie Smith appears in. So there you have it.The film focuses on Don who plays Jack Cutter, the son of vampire hunters who were killed by head vampire Nicholas Guest and his minions when Don was just a boy. He grows up determined to rid the earth of vampires. When the police chase him (he has the ignorant tendency to run around town with a shotgun at any hour, day or night) he is hit by a vehicle driven by Melanie Smith. Melanie's intro isn't a casual hello for she, in Mina Harker like fashion, is the reincarnation of a lost love from Guest's past. So Don must save the world from bloodsuckers and the girl from the head fang-face.Don does battle with far more eyeliner than Melanie Smith wears... I guess vampire killers need to look dark-eyed. Also, filmgoers that can't stand movies that have vampires walking around in broad daylight will hate this film. They can combat the sun with shades.STORY: $$ (Too clichéd. The reincarnation subplot wasn't needed. This film borrows too heavily from other sources to flesh out its weak script, such as the Bram Stoker borrowing. Also, when Melanie gets shot while driving her car, she clearly gets it in the left tit, which made for a tricky Kennedy-esque shot from the officer who accidentally drilled her. Yet when Don treats her, her wound is in the right shoulder. However, jumping wounds aside, the head vampire is quite progressive and should be applauded for adhering to the call for diversity. His four vampire followers are a woman, an Asian, a black guy and a white guy. Way to go!)ACTING: $ (Although this is B-Rate fare there are many B-Rate films that boast solid acting. When your lead is the wooden Don "The Dragon" Wilson, you've ascribed, before filming, to low-grade acting. We also have the terrible erotic-thriller actress Maria Ford as the female vampire and Nicholas Guest is quite less-than-menacing as the lead vampire. Melanie Smith does a fine job with what little she has to work with and James Lew, who, perhaps, should have been the lead, gives a fine cameo performance as Don's dad).NUDITY: None

In a change of pace, Roger Corman just distributed "Night Hunter", and didn't have anything to do with its making. That may explain why the production values of this Don Wilson movie a little better than usual, with some well-chosen locations that don't make this effort look as cheap as usual. Despite this, I knew I would still be in for a rough time, since the movie was made by schlock producer Ashok Amritraj. The script is pretty bad, with plot points that are never explained (like the healing elixir) or don't make up their mind (the movie at one point says vampires can be killed by breaking their necks... then later says they can be killed by breaking their backs!) Most people who watch this movie won't care about the script, and will just be interested in seeing the action. But be warned, the action isn't very good. The action is extremely tightly filmed, with rapid editing and unspectacular choreography. With most of his movies being as badly made as this, I think I know why Wilson retired from making movies several years ago.

Night hunter is a sold B style action movie. Get a life and grow up people. Don "the Dragon" Wilson is a kick boxer, (hall of fame) and not an actor. If your looking for an Oscar, it's not here brother. Looking for kick ass action movie with lower then low budget, this is it.The plot line may have been a little thin, but what B movie isn't. I understand everybody is a critic and how one man's junk is another man's treasure. Get real people, judging every movie like it is an Oscar contender, just silly. Awesome fight scenes, mixed with a new twist on vampire moves. See it if your a fan, rent something else if your a hater.

Hard Justice is an excellent action movie! The whole movie is really nothing but shooting and fighting but it does have a very good vampire plot! For the people who say they don't make shoot em ups and fighting films like they use to. Well, this one is really hard-core! Don 'The Dragon' Wilson is excellent and his character is really cool in the movie. Nicholas Guest was very good as well and he arguably steals the show! He really performs as a fantastic villain! Melanie Smith was also good. I think that this very fine looking actress is very underrated. Michael Cavanaugh was good. It was really cool to see Vince Murdocco in this film! As for the action, it is truly awesome with all of the gun fights and the super cool fighting scenes. The fighting in this picture is really some of the greatest I have seen! There is so much that happens in the 86 minute run time. For the action fans you will be blown away by all of the fire power and superb fighting that this film has to offer! Night Hunter is a movie that isn't easy to locate and if you are at a video store and you see it for sale buy it up because this movie is big keeper and plus the box is cool! There is a ton of action that has to be seen to be believed! Look and see if you can find some good deals on Ebay, Half.com, Amazon.com's Z-Shops and Market Place Sellers! In My opinion Night Hunter is one of the greatest fighting films that I have ever watched and the characters are so neat. If you like Don 'The Dragon' Wilson and want to see Nicholas Guest in a great performance then I strongly recommend that any action movie fan who loves shoot em ups, fighting movies, and vampire films and has been disappointed by other movies that has the look of a true non stop action flick but fails to deliver it to get and buy Night Hunter today!