How Have You Not Seen This? - “The Most Dangerous Game”
I once again find myself taking movie recommendations from an unlikely source. That’s right, this week’s pick comes from the Zodiac Killer. I’m mostly joking. I chose the 1932 film, The Most Dangerous Game, because it was short and I was sleepy. When I went to log it on Letterboxd, so many reviews mentioned that they were there because of the Zodiac Killer. Upon further research, there’s no definitive tie from him (assuming the Zodiac Killer uses he/him pronouns) to this film. In one of his letters, the Zodiac Killer called Man "the most dangerous animal of them all." Famously, though, this is the most dangerous game, not animal. I have found no evidence that this movie calls Man “the most dangerous animal,” so is there really a connection between the Zodiac Killer and this movie? Maybe not. Regardless, The Most Dangerous Game is this week’s pick.
RKO Pictures
Perhaps I should not be watching this a few weeks before I go on my first cruise. What if I, too, accidentally find myself on an island where humans are hunted?
I wouldn’t say I’m against cruises as a whole, but there is something unnerving about the open water. I just don’t think it’s our business to be out there. What’s down there? We shouldn’t know!
I simply love the overbearing foreshadowing of old movies like this. A man is giving a full speech about how he is a hunter and therefore could never be hunted. Joke’s on you, sir. That is the plot of the movie you’re in!
Unfortunately, all of these men look the same, so after the boat crashed and only one man survived, there’s simply no way of knowing if it’s the same guy who gave that speech.
“He has the misfortune to be dumb” is such a sick burn, Count Zaroff.
I love how little emotion this man is showing when talking about how all of his friends died like ten hours ago. My guy (Rainsford is his name) is making jokes about how uncomfortable his wet clothes are, but only spent one sentence mourning his buddies. Should I be rooting for him to perish? Because I’m not against it yet.
Rainsford sees a fellow survivor of a boat crash, a hot lady, and decides he’s moved past any feelings of loss.
RKO Pictures
The hot lady, Eve, has a brother, Martin, who asks Rainsford what his job is. Martin’s guess is that Rainsford is a “flagpole sitter.” I thought this was some sort of old-timey derogatory term, but no. I guess in the 1930s people were just sitting on top of poles as an endurance sport.
I did some research and it was a brief little fad. I was about to say how boring and bleak things must have been in the past and then I realized that only a few years ago, with all the technology in the world, people couldn’t stop planking. Humans are dumb.
Of course Eve figures out that the creepy man who lives alone in a castle on an island has something weird going on.
Call me old-fashioned, or maybe new-fashioned, but thirty minutes is quite a long time to make me wait to start seeing murder.
For fun, I would like to know if I could survive this. Zaroff gives Rainsford and Eve all day to explore the island and prepare. At midnight, Zaroff gets to hunt, but he only has until 4:00 A.M. You’re telling me this island is so small that you couldn’t just find some hiding spot and camp out? Rainsford keeps wanting to set up all these elaborate traps instead of just maybe burying himself in the weeds a la Peeta in The Hunger Games.
He should not be allowed to hunt with dogs! Sorry, Zaroff, but your whole thing is Man hunting Man. I don’t even think he should get a gun or bow and arrow. If he really wants to fight Man, it should be hand-to-hand combat. Zaroff is bored by how easy it is to hunt animals, but he is also taking the easy way out when hunting Man. I cannot believe this movie has me advocating for more violence, but here we are. A lot can change in this one-hour runtime.
RKO Pictures
The final fight really gives away the fact that this movie was made at the beginning of the Talkie era because there are so few sound effects beyond the score.
I don’t love that these movies keep featuring dogs being murdered!
Zaroff also plays the piano. This is a man who has hobbies and, you know what? Good for him.
Now I’m getting the hand-to-hand combat I asked for and, in retrospect, I don’t want it. This is the goofiest fighting I’ve ever seen. I have never fought anyone, but I have confidence that I could do a better job than that.
And then Zaroff just falls out of a window as Rainsford and Eve ride away on a boat. What a film. So much accomplished in 63 minutes that it would put certain contemporary films to shame *cough* Wicked *cough.*
See you all next week when I maybe accidentally take a movie suggestion from another serial killer.
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