#hell hunters

Hot chicks, burly guys, and Nazis. Hell Hunters has them all! 

The film came out in 1986 and I'll admit, it's a movie I would have quickly passed right over at the VHS rental store when I was renting 2 or 3 movies every weekend.

Now as I sit and watch this cheesy 80s action flick I get a lump in my throat as I'm overcome with a certain nostalgic feeling. It's not because this film is good because it's not. It's just that it takes me back to when life seemed simpler and I had nothing more to do than rent movies on the weekends and remember to bring them back by Monday morning or be penalized with a 1 dollar late fee.

Hell Hunters is low budget cheesiness wrapped into an action flick with hot ladies in the jungle who know how to handle an automatic weapon. Everything a guy could ask for.

Hell Hunters stars Stewart Granger who was a big actor from the 40s through the 60s, Maud Adams, a frequent actress in 70s and 80s television and most notably a Bond Girl in 1983's Octopussy. Romulo Arantes who sadly died in his early 40s and appeared in several films including a film I remember renting in the eighties called Blame It On Rio. Candice Daly who plays Ally in the film also somewhat unknown only lived eight more years after she made this film.

I mention these actors and actresses because back then and even today these films are made on such low budgets that they attract fading stars and rising stars alike. It is always interesting to me to research the actors and actresses in these lesser known movies.

The storyline is right out of a comic book. An evil Nazi scientist has discovered a poisonous spider deep in the South American Jungle who's venom is able to be turned into a mind-controlling serum. The story is quite good, to be honest, although far from original. I enjoyed the many locations and traveling back and forth to them. I like helicopters and that is what was used to get back and forth to the mad scientist's lair. For that the movie gets points. It had all the usual comedic moments such as a sniper trying to shoot his target but people and cars keep crossing in front of him at just the right moments. The climactic battle scene is everything you would expect in one of these bad 80s action films. Lots of gunfire and fiery explosions cap this fast-paced action tale off.

File under so bad it's good. Seriously, if you like these low budget films I think you will enjoy Hell Hunters. It encapsulates everything I remember about going to the drive-in movie theater and later renting movies at home.

Review by @forrisday