Hunting Ground – Mondo Macabro (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Spain, 1983
Director: Jorge Grau
Writers: Antonio de Jaén, Manuel Summers, Jorge Grau
Cast: Assumpta Serna, Víctor Valverde, Luis Hostalot, Montserrat Salvador, Paloma Lorena, Sahli Mimoun Amar El, José Antonio García Romeu, Manuel Rodríguez, Alejandro Hernández, Alicia Hernández, Manuel Pereiro

Release Date: June 8th, 2021
Approximate Running Time: 108 Minutes 46 seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVCC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Spanish, DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $29.95

"Adele, a female lawyer, brilliantly played by Assumpta Serna, passionately defends criminals, believing that everyone deserves a second chance and that criminality is more often than not bred by deprivation. In the courtroom, a pair of local hoods see her in action and decide to follow her. They steal her car, find the keys to her country villa and decide to rob the place. Unfortunately, Adele’s family turn up at the villa mid-burglary, and her husband is killed. But that is only the beginning of the nightmare..." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, “brand new 4k transfer from film negative”.

Hunting Ground comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 23 GB

Feature: 21.7 GB

The source used for this transfer is in excellent shape and any source related debris is minimal. Colors, image clarity and black levels look strong throughout.

Audio: 4.5/5

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in Spanish and a DTS-HD mono mix in English. Both audio mixes sound clean, clear and balanced. Included with this release are removable English subtitles for the Spanish language track.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a Mondo Macabro preview reel and an archival interview with director Jordi Grau (49 minutes 24 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Spanish with removable English subtitles).

Summary:

Though Jorge Grau is most remembered for a pair of horror films he directed, The Legend of Blood Castle and The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue. He was a versatile filmmaker who worked in most of cinema’s genres. His other notable films are Violent Blood Bath, Hunting Ground and Love Letters to a Nun.

Jorge Grau’s Hunting Ground a revenge themed tale that's overflowing with social commentary. At the heart of Hunting Ground is a film that explores crime and punishment, and the effects that both of these things have on society. The narrative revolves around a defense attorney who believes that everyone is redeemable and that punishment handed down to the convicted is counterproductive. Along the way, her lifer intersects with a vicious gang of criminals who murder her husband during a home invasion. From there she’s forced to go against everything she believes in when it becomes clear that her only way of surviving her tormentors is becoming them.

From a production standpoint, there’s no area where Hunting Ground does not deliver and then some. The crime and punishment premise is superbly realized and the narrative does a great job maintaining tension. With the finale providing an excellent conclusion to the events that have unfolded.

Mondo Macabro have put together another impressive release that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and an insightful interview with Jorge Grau who discusses his most celebrated films, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer