Indy Film Fest: Climate of the Hunter

Alma (Ginger Gilmartin) and Elizabeth (Mary Buss) are sisters pining for the same man, the suave silver fox Wesley (Ben Hall), a childhood friend who is visiting with them at their vacation cabin. Wesley's wife is suffering from dementia, and is in an assisted living facility.

Alma too is of questionable mental health, hiding out in the cabin the sisters share as a vacation home. She is close to her sister in the way that sisters can be at that age, which means they're often inseparable, though they often can't seem to stand each other. This animosity grows each day Wesley spends with them.

Wesley's seductive ways may hide a more sinister secret, though. He has his own issues, particularly in dealing with his son Percy (Sheridan McMichael), who is upset with his father retiring their mother to a nursing home while he "carouses." Wesley and Percy are both writers, and use their way with words to charm others, though one does so much more effectively than the other.

And what is Wesley's secret? Well, let's say that his garlic allergy was more problematic than one might think on the surface.

Director Mickey Reese plays marvelously with shadows and colors, particularly in a dinner scene late in the film, where Alma's daughter Rose (Danielle Evon Ploeger) visits her mom and aunt and finds herself strangely drawn to the elder Wesley. Using gothic backlighting tricks and bathing his subject's faces in shadow, combines with dialog to create a mood that dances the line between horrific and comedic.

He ups the ante as well, employing Argento-like closeups meant to oddly create both a creepy vibe and upping the comedy. It somehow works to a degree for both, but is not as effective for either as it could be.

But "Climate of the Hunter" is more comedy than horror, though it's often effective in both lampooning and homaging its predecessors. And while the narrative is fun, how they get there is repetitive, and sometimes causes the film to drag. We meet too many characters, and Wesley's true motives take too long to emerge, as does exactly how much the sisters know, and why they even suspect anything from him in the first place.

A film like this would do well to make its intentions known a little sooner, make a decision on its direction, and go strong at it. "Climate" tiptoes around, playing footsie a little too long before getting down to it. It's often fun, but it also feels like opportunities to do something really strong were passed by.