The Last Hunter

The Last Hunter (1980) is a “macaroni combat” film directed by Antonio Margheriti under the pseudonym Anthony M. Dawson. It freely borrows from the big-budget films by Cimino and Coppola. Like Apocalypse Now, it was filmed on the same locations in the Philippines, with interiors shot in Rome. The Last Hunter punches above its weight and, on the whole, it succeeds in providing a gritty and gory view of the nihilism of war. Margheriti wanted to make a fun war movie, but there is no fun contained in its nihilistic portrayal of the Vietnam War.

A great cast is headed by Kiwi David Warbeck as Captain Morris, on a mission deep inside Vietcong country. Tisa Farrow (Zombie Flesh Eaters) plays Jane Foster, a journalist who becomes inextricably linked to Captain Morris’s mission. Tony King plays George “Wash” Washington, the lone survivor of the team ordered to support Morris in his plan. Margit Evelyn Newton (Zombie Creeping Flesh) is Carol, a figure from Morris’s past who haunts his dreams. Carol is providing the anti-war bulletins for the Vietcong, urging the GIs to lay down their weapons and return to their girlfriends. Morris’s mission is to destroy the transmitter that sends out the broadcasts.

The Last Hunter is more than an exploitation film riding on the coat-tails of the US studio pictures. It really sets its bar high and mostly succeeds. The cinematography by Riccardo Pallottini provides a big-budget view of its locations, and Margheriti directs the action with a grim determination to show every detail of its bloody narrative.

I first watched this film on a worn VHS in the early eighties from my local video rental store and had forgotten what a great film it is. It was seized under the UK Obscene Publications Act during the video nasty panic. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to see how the Italians viewed this dark chapter in American history.

The Last Hunter

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Trailer

From the score