Shudder has been down this lone sniper road before and arguably travelled it with better results in one of their earlier Exclusive and Original features, Downrange. In this instance, Night of the Hunted takes up the plight with Alice (Camille Rowe – No Limit) who is heading home with her work colleague / lover, John (Jeremy Scippio) when they choose to stop off at a petrol station; a decision that will make a drastic turn in their lives when they come under attack from a hidden assailant, armed with a sniper rifle.

As the horrifying events unfold Alice comes to the realisation that this is no mere stroke of the wrong place, wrong time and that she has been specifically targeted by a man with a violent vendetta. Alice can’t rely on her social skills to talk her way out of this predicament, but must rely on her wiles and the limited resources that a petrol station can offer, in order to have any hope of survival. All the while, she comes under psychological scrutiny from the shadows of both her past and the killer in the night.,

The Prognosis:

Director Franck Khalfoun has produced mixed results in his canon of work thus far, which has never quite hit the mark since 2010’s Maniac. With Night of the Hunted, a remake of Spanish film, Night of the Rat, is once again middle of the road affair for Khalfoun. While Rowe manages to portray a woman under siege, carving through the emotions of grit, determination, vulnerability and loss (and even tips the balance of audience backing at one point), the run of the mill is all too predictable, refusing to veer outside of the comfort lane. 

• Saul Muerte 

Night of the Hunted is currently streaming on Shudder.