Joe McCrea and Fay Wray try to survive the night in "The Most Dangerous Game"

This has to be one of the best “classic” movies I’ve watched so far. Granted the setup is a bit dragged out and the hero is a bit slow in putting the pieces together, but once the hunt begins, The Most Dangerous Game moves at a tense, break-neck pace (pun intended).

The story has a very simple setup. The hunter is a rich Count who owns a private island and plays host to ship-wreck victims. He offers them food, shelter and clothing after they’ve washed ashore, providing them with a sense of security as it were. His one rule is that they are not allowed to go into his trophy room. The lovely Fay Wray of King Kong fame starts putting the pieces together. When her brother, drunk off of vodka, agrees to go with the Count to his trophy room and doesn’t come back , Wray along with our slow-witted game hunter hero, played by Joe McCrea, set off to investigate.

They find out what’s in his trophy room (I think you can figure that part out) and become the next victims on the Count’s hunt. The biggest “Duh” moment is when McCrea’s Bob looks straight into the camera and says, “So THAT’S what you meant by the most dangerous game.” *forehead smack*

Like I said the actual hunting sequence is really well done, although filming a fog sequence at night on black and white film… yeah, not such a great idea. Since Hollywood is devoid of original ideas and likes to remake everything nowadays, I would love to see this movie re-done. I can totally see Hugh Jackman or even Bruce Willis (Yippie-kai-yai Jungle-Boy!) as Bob and Rachel McAdams or Jenna Fischer in the Fay Wray role.

So what’s your favorite man-hunting movie? Battle Royale? The Running Man? The Condemned? If you say yes to the last one, I will not acknowledge your existence. (Kidding… kinda)