The Stalking Fields – Review
90 Minutes, Not Rated
Written by Sean Crampton and Jordan Wiseley
Directed by Ric Maddox
**NOTE: Remember, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST.**
Synopsis:
A group of civilians run for their freedom when they find themselves caught in the middle of a Black Ops program designed to cure PTSD.
Yep, another “civilians fighting for their lives” movie. This time with a twist.
Despite the fact that (first time feature) director Ric Maddox is, himself, a veteran, The Stalking Fields still feels conflicted to me.
On the one hand, it’s about a bunch of soldiers simply happy to have been “rehabilitated” from their PTSD to get back to what they do best: kill.
On the other, it’s a not-too-subtle indictment of the governmental tendency to perform unethical research on its people generally, and its soldiers specifically.
Finally, we have our hero: a protagonist so damaged he is thought to be unrecoverable, perhaps even for the Stalking Fields program, from both his war trauma and post-war trauma.
And perhaps he should be. But he isn’t. Instead, he’s the only one capable of throwing off the shackled of military indoctrination and governmental experimentation to — spoiler alert — attempt to tear the entire program down from within.
I’ve said it before: maybe I’m too hard on movies with a military angle. This one, however, feels cheap, like it’s cheapening the bonds between soldiers into tropy, almost campy, conversations between “recovered” members of the Killing Fields team.
I can’t say it’s a bad movie, though, simply one I wish I had been able enjoy more, instead of focusing on its shortcomings.
And if you enjoy these kinds of films where people are hunting people in a not-at-all fair contest, you’ll probably enjoy this one. Heck, I’ve enjoyed then, generally (The Hunt, etc.), so it’s not like I dislike the genre.
The Stalking Fields is now streaming and stars Sean Crampton, Taylor Kalupa, Adam J. Harrington, Rachael Markarian, Jordan Wiseley, and Richard O. Ryan.
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
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