The ‘creature feature’ horror subgenre has treated movie fans to an array of different animals attacking a group of people and instilling fear in its audience. Sharks, crocodiles, spiders and snakes have all had their part in this subgenre, and sometimes it can become tiresome to see the same creatures attacking holidaymakers or people stuck in storms.
Now in walks Hungry with a new animal to add to the mix in the form of the loveable-looking but terrifying and dangerous hippopotamus. The film follows a group of holidaymakers stuck in the Louisiana swamplands after entering an area they shouldn’t, and their bid for survival against a very hungry hippo.
It’s a fairly standard set-up, one that fans of the subgenre will know well and unfortunately doesn’t add anything new to the overall story. Characters are all mostly frustratingly annoying and make equally frustrating decisions which take away any form of reality from the film; it’s extremely hard to believe that the boat’s skipper, Rodrigo (Michel Curiel), would take a group of people to a part of the island for a very small tip, and that passengers would not listen to advice given to professionals, however this is a common theme in lots of creature feature films.
This also leads into how nearly every character throughout is so unlikeable; whilst some may argue it makes the kills more satisfying, it doesn’t work well when the audience struggles to find one character they want to survive. It doesn’t take away from the acting, however, which is solid throughout; it just unfortunately falls victim to a fairly poor script and poorly written characters.
Hungry also spends too much time building tension; it takes far too long for the audience to get a good glimpse of the hippopotamus, and it is only until the last half an hour or so that we really see the creature in all its glory; however, when we do, it does look amazing and really shows off why we should be terrified of these creatures – this is thanks to a fantastic use of practical effects in the close up scenes to really show off the size and create a closer feeling of reality.
There are also some very minor nods to the Hasbro game Hungry Hungry Hippos, but not enough to warrant the name of the film; the tagline being “This Hippo Isn’t Playing Games” and other small bits like throwing marshmallows into the river to replicate the small white balls from the game is a nice touch, but it needed to do more and be extra ridiculous with it.
Overall, Hungry promises more than it delivers; it’s great to see a new animal hit our screens and give audiences another animal to be scared of, but what it lacks is the over-the-top and silly nature that many of the other films in this subgenre provide. It needs more hippo action because the practical effects work really well when we do finally see it in action, as well as more likeable characters to allow audiences to root for. However, it does set a new path for more creature feature films with other animals and sets out to try something different from what audiences are very used to.
Hungry had its English premiere at FrightFest on Friday, August 28
