''The Last Hunter'' ( it, L'ultimo cacciatore) is a 1980 Italian " macaroni combat" directed by

Antonio Margheriti Antonio Margheriti (19 September 1930 – 4 November 2002), also known under the pseudonyms Anthony M. Dawson and Antony Daisies ("daisies" is "margherite" in Italian), was an Italians, Italian filmmaker. Margheriti worked in many different film ...

and starring

David Warbeck David Warbeck (born David Mitchell; 17 November 1941 – 23 July 1997) was a New Zealand actor and model best known for his roles in European exploitation and horror films. A native of Christchurch, New Zealand, Warbeck became involved in local ...

and Tony King. Initially made to capitalize on the success of ''

The Deer Hunter ''The Deer Hunter'' is a 1978 war drama film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of Slavic-American steelworkers whose lives were upended after fighting in the Vietnam War. The three soldiers are played by Robert De Niro, Chr ...

'', ''The Last Hunter'' marked the first

Euro War Euro War, also known as Macaroni Combat, Macaroni War, Spaghetti Combat, or Spaghetti War, is a broad subgenre of war film that emerged in the mid-1960s. The films were named ''Euro War'' because most were produced and directed by European co-pr ...

set during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, as opposed to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

like all previous entries in the

subgenre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a Category of being, category of literature, ...

. While not prosecuted for obscenity, the film was seized and confiscated in the UK under Section 3 of the

Obscene Publications Act 1959 The Obscene Publications Act 1959 (c. 66) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom Parliament that significantly reformed the law related to obscenity in England and Wales. Prior to the passage of the Act, the law on publishing obscene mater ...

during the

video nasty Video nasty is a colloquial term popularised by the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association (NVALA) in the United Kingdom to refer to a number of films, typically low-budget horror or exploitation films, distributed on video cassette that w ...

panic

Plot

Following the suicide of his best friend, Captain Harry Morris (David Warbeck) accepts a final deadly mission to go behind enemy lines to destroy a radio tower that is broadcasting anti-war propaganda spoken by an American woman to American troops.

Cast

as Captain Henry Morris *

Tisa Farrow Theresa Magdalena "Tisa" Farrow is a retired United States, American actress and model. Early life Farrow was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Irish-born actress Maureen O'Sullivan and Australian-born film director John Farrow. S ...

as Jane Foster * Tony King as Sgt. George Washington * Bobby Rhodes as Carlos *

Margit Evelyn Newton Margit Evelyn Newton (born Margit Gansbacher in 1962) is an Italian actress who appeared in fourteen films between 1979 and 1990. Newton is perhaps best known for her performance in the 1980 zombie film '' Hell of the Living Dead'' (also known as ...

as Carol *

John Steiner John Steiner (7 January 1941 – 31 July 2022) was an English actor. Tall, thin and gaunt, he attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and performed on-stage for the Royal Shakespeare Company, but was best known to audiences for his roles i ...

as Major Bill Cash *

Massimo Vanni Massimo Vanni (born 8 July 1946) is an Italian film and television actor. Life and career Born in Rome, Vanni started his career as a stuntman, and had his first roles of weight playing tough guys in several poliziotteschi films directed by his ...

as Phillips *

Luciano Pigozzi Luciano Pigozzi, also known professionally as Alan Collins (10 January 1927 – 14 June 2008), was an Italian character actor. A long-time staple of Italian genre cinema, Pigozzi was noted for his resemblance to Peter Lorre and appeared in s ...

as Bartender

Production

Unlike director

Michael Cimino Michael Antonio Cimino ( ; February 3, 1939 – July 2, 2016) was an American filmmaker. One of the "New Hollywood" directors, Cimino achieved fame with ''The Deer Hunter'' (1978), which won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best D ...

, Antonio Margheriti did not want to make a political film that was for or against the Vietnam War. He just wanted to make a Vietnam War film that was fun.''Margheriti and The Last Hunter'' Documentary, 2007. Last accessed: September 2008. ''The Last Hunter'' was filmed in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

in many of the same locations as ''

Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius and Michael Herr, is loosely based on the 1899 novella ''Heart of Darkness'' by Joseph Conr ...

''. The film was extremely hard shoot due to heat, wildlife, and accidents on the set. Cinematographer Riccardo Pallottini later died in a helicopter crash during the production of a later Margheriti Vietnam War film ''

Tiger Joe ''Tiger Joe'' ( it, Fuga dall'arcipelago maledetto) is a 1982 Italian adventure film written and directed by Antonio Margheriti and starring David Warbeck, Annie Belle and Tony King.Kim Worthy. "Tiger Joe" in ''Vietnam War Feature Filmography: An ...

''.

Releases

When ''

'' was released in Italy, it was released under the title ''Il cacciatore'' (''The Hunter''). When Margheriti's film was released in Italy, it was titled ''Cacciatore 2'', which led to critic

Kim Newman Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula (1931 ...

commenting that this was ironic, as the film was more derivative of ''

''.

Reception

From contemporary reviews,

Tom Milne Tom Milne (2 April 1926 – 14 December 2005) was a British film critic. See also After war service, he studied English and French at Aberdeen University and later at the Sorbonne. Interested in the theatre too, he wrote for the magazine ' ...

of the ''

Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' described the film as an "Italian parasite feeding on ''Apocalypse Now''" as well as comparing the film to ''

The Green Berets The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army. The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal mis ...

'' as the "Vietcong atrocities dominate the film with the same grim relish, and partly because ideological conflicts are reduced to the same platitudinous level." The review also commented on the action scenes, which were found to be "directed with ..crude uncomplicated vitality".

References

Sources

* *

External links

* Films directed by Antonio Margheriti Macaroni Combat films Vietnam War films Films shot in the Philippines Films scored by Franco Micalizzi 1980s Italian films {{1980s-Italy-film-stub