FANTASIA 2020: Climate of the Hunter
fantasia
Mickey Reece’s Climate of the Hunter opens on a medical report outlining the various psychological issues of Alma (Ginger Gilmartin). Her sister Elizabeth (Mary Buss) comes to visit their family cabin where Alma stays when Wesley (Ben Hall), an old friend, arrives from Paris, grief-stricken after leaving behind his severely ill wife Genevieve (Laurie Cummings). What unfolds is a very 1970s dinner party, complete with tension, desire and possibly a vampire.
With her philosopher dog and brief interactions with BJ Beavers (Jacob Snovel), a stoned woodsman, Alma’s life undergoes a dramatic change with the arrival of Elizabeth and Wesley. Elizabeth, a successful lawyer but never married, is jealous of her sister Alma’s carefree lifestyle. The relationship of the middle-aged sisters becomes tenser with introduction of Wesley. A traditional older gentleman, Wesley was a writer in Paris, his artistic charms being the clear reason why the sisters begin pining for him. He often tells stories of the stars, with special effects of the cosmos appearing between his palms. However, there is a darker side to Wesley, explored with the arrival of his son Percy (Sheridan McMichael) and Alma’s daughter Rose (Danielle Evon Ploeger).
The hints at Wesley being a vampire come with B-movie imagery, such as his allergy to garlic and hunger for Rose. But Mickey Reece’s Climate of the Hunter is less so a vampire flick and more so an exploration into the mind of Alma. The film largely unfolds with mundane dinner conversations but is interspersed with instances of Alma’s further descent into madness. Ginger Gilmartin gives an eccentric performance here. It is only Alma who picks up on Wesley’s vampiric tendencies, her sister and daughter believe her to be crazy for thinking this.
The aesthetics of Climate of the Hunter is what keeps the film accessible. A homage to seventies genre horror, Reece envelops the film with grainy and almost black lighting. The costuming is a stand-out greatly suiting each character. Elizabeth wears her hair slicked back, in more formal attire, and a noticeable sunglasses tanline, while Wesley is always in grey peacoats showing his posh Parisian influence. Alma’s wardrobe accentuates her kookiness with fur-trimmed coats, colourful leggings and irregularly shaped sunglasses.
Climate of the Hunter is purposefully incoherent as the film picks through the depths of Alma’s psychological issues. There are certain images and dream sequences that are difficult to know if they are occurring in real-time or solely in Alma’s troubled mind. Reece’s film is a sensory delight as it unveils the hypnotic tone surrounding his characters. It is layered, mysterious and provocative as it questions the true nature of an alleged vampire.