Hungry is one of those loglines that leave little to the imagination. A group of tourists embark on a gator tour through the swamps of Louisiana. After going off the beaten path, the travelers find themselves facing off against one of nature’s most dangerous beasts. Is there any way they will be able to overcome an angry hippopotamus?
There is a big red flag that immediately makes an appearance. No, there are not any hippos in Louisiana. As a matter of fact, aside from zoos, there is nowhere a person would be able to see one in the wild in North America. That being said, Hungry explains away what would be one of the funniest gaffes in movie history. Even crazier, it is accurate. Which leads to the inevitable question. Why wasn’t the movie marketed as being inspired by true events?
Still, there are other questions that are not answered. What did the lead Sistine (Madison Davenport, Sharp Objects) previously do? A scene in the beginning makes it seem like she had some sort of office job. Perhaps she was a reporter, or blogger, or financial analyst. It is never clear.
What is obvious is that Sistine is the most versatile and athletic character in Hungry. She scales trees effortlessly, parkours between tight spaces, swims like an Olympic swimmer, and holds her own against the movie’s big creature. It is incredibly impressive and aside from a throwaway line about her once being a gymnast, it is never explained. Ultimately, it ends up being more of a funny footnote than anything else, but it is a weird decision to make with the Final Girl.
(Also, why would you toss the one object that could save the group into the river as if it served no purpose?)
But let’s face it, Hungry is all about the hippo action. The pacing is a little off–it takes a little too long to show off the monster, and once they do there is an odd halting of the action. But when the film is firing on all cylinders and the hippo is the center of attention, it is amazing. All of the usual cuteness has been removed. This hippo is a gigantic killing machine. There are some great shots of the animal, but the best ones take the audience right into the audience’s cavernous mouth. It is the kind of old school creature feature that will have you laughing in terror.
Hippo emerges on Video on Demand June 23.
