Code of Hunting (1983) User Reviews (13)

Excellent exploitation with a point!

[The_Void · 7/10 · 26 February 2008]

Coto de Caza is an obscure Spanish gem and one that is well worth seeing. The film is a bit like exploitation flicks such as The Last House on the Left and The House on the Edge of the Park, although the point this time is not just to see innocent people put in danger. Let Sleeping Corpses Lie director Jorge Grau takes the helm and the film is clearly taking a swipe at the legal system that often lets criminals get away with their crimes. For this reason, it might not appeal too much to exploitation fans as there's not a great deal of sleaze or nastiness, but those who are looking for a little more than just exploitation will find plenty to like here! The plot focuses on Adela, a defence lawyer for criminals. She gets a couple off the hook and they repay her by stealing her car. After finding the keys to her country villa, they naturally decide to rob the place; but trouble starts the lawyer's family turn up, and in the struggle; the husband ends up getting killed. However, this is just the start of the unfortunate lawyer's ordeal...

The point of the film is actually very well expressed as, at its heart, Coto de Caza is a depiction of the idea that if you don't put criminals in jail, they will commit more crime. This film was made over twenty years ago in Spain, but its social commentary is certainly relevant to modern day Britain and probably elsewhere in the world too, making the film poignant even today. The plot moves rather slowly and not a great deal happens in the first half of the film. However, the film is never boring and the scenes at the beginning succeed in building the characters and setting the scene which does benefit the story later on. As mentioned, there not a lot of sleaze in the film; but that doesn't hinder it too much as there's enough going on elsewhere and the action we do get treated to is generally very good; a sequence involving fire towards the end is certainly worth the wait too. Overall, Coto de Caza is an excellent little film and really is well worth seeing. It's also a shame that it's so hard to get hold of as this film is ripe for re-discovery!

Slow-paced Crime Thriller

[SMK-4 · 7/10 · 15 March 1999]

This slow-paced crime thriller was seen by some critics as a plea by Jordi Grau in favour of the death penalty. He categorically denies that.

Generally this film is uncomfortable to watch. In many ways the outcome is predictable, as is the ordeal Ms Serna's character is going through, but the predictability and the slow pace somehow make it worse. It is like falling out of an airplane at ten thousand feet without a parachute. You know what is going to happen and the anticipation of the inevitable gruesome outcome makes you wish that it is over sooner rather than later.

Interestingly, the film has much stronger female than male characters, an unusual attribute for movies (not counting TV movies) of this genre. The film centers around the lawyer played by Assumpta Serna, and she amicable pulls off the performance required to hold everything together.

Last Courthouse on the Left?

[Coventry · 7/10 · 27 December 2008]

It's very rare ambition for a low-budgeted European exploitation movie to, apart from to shock and repulse its target audience, also make a point and even attempt to provoke a socially engaging moral debate. I don't immediately claim that director Jorge Grau (director of the almighty "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie" fully succeeded in this courageous design with "Hunting Ground", but it's definitely a remarkable effort and it is most unfortunate to establish that the film is so obscure and nearly impossible to track down. The concept is basically a variation on the commonly known and numerously imitated "Last House on the Left", in which the relatives of a brutally killed individual take the law into their own hands and seek bloody vengeance against the culprits. The main difference in this film, however, is that the lead character is actually a devoted attorney and usually defends the rights of these low-classed rapists and relentless killers; supposedly because "society" forces them to revert to committing these vile crimes. Adela (splendid performance by Assumpta Serna) one days obtains the acquittal for a trio of thugs, but they promptly repay her by stealing the keys to her Christmas holiday resort and killing her husband in a fight. Adela remains behind with her two children but still she doesn't betray her moral principles, much to the disgust of her rancorous mother-in-law and even her own youthful son. But the criminals return and when one of them gets apprehended by the police and dies in prison due to medical circumstances, all hell truly breaks loose.

The pacing of "Hunting Ground" is very uneven. The fascinating plot and detailed character drawings unfold rather slow and atmospherically, but then the climax is suddenly extraordinary sick, repellent and most shocking. Especially when you carefully and attentively followed the elaboration of the story, the finale will hit you in the face like a ten ton hammer and leave you near speechless. I don't want to reveal everything, but it involves explicit rape scenes with penetration through torches and an almost equally grisly retaliation. Admittedly the moralist discussion evoked during the first 80 minutes of the movie suddenly don't mean much anymore after this, but – seriously - what a climax! "Hunting Ground" suffers from extremely poor productions values, like bad lighting and shoddy cinematography, but Jorge Grau's skilled direction keeps everything on track. The film has its flaws and shortcomings, but it's a hidden gem to treasure and certainly one you won't forget lightly.

Worth hunting for - OK, but brutal Exploitation thriller

[ninjaalexs · 6/10 · 6 November 2021]

Fairly obscure and downbeat "home invasion" exploitation film from Spain.

A pacifist lawyer who regularly defends down and out criminals has her Mini stolen. After finding some of her documents in the car the bad guys plan to rob the "rich b-word". The home invasion ends with Adela's husband being shot in the head by accident after he struggles to defend himself. A bit of stalking later and things come to a head with an unnecessarily graphic rape and some violent scenes.

The violence is graphic with massive blood splatters and bloody bullet wounds showing flesh. Clearly taking influence from splatter slasher movies of the 1970s and 1980s. This is a relatively short film at around 100 minutes with a lot of boring dialogue bits. It lacks the punch of taught violent thrillers like "Rabid Dogs" and "Bloody Friday". It's an OK film and despite being made in the early 80s it has lost none of its ability to shock.

The version I saw was the recent Blu-Ray from Mondo Macabro which has a superb 4K print with no archive damage from what I can tell and is about as good as it gets for a film most people will have seen on bootleg VHS. The subtitles were accurate conveying the nastiness of the thug's abuse. Unfortunately audio is only 2.0, but the levels are loud and balanced.

A Less Simplistic Revenger

[trentreid-1 · 6/10 · 20 June 2010]

Methodical Spanish thriller from Grau, (Let Sleeping Corpses Lie) takes the time to develop character and motivation of both villains and protagonist before an extremely graphic finale.

A very young Assumpta Serna is a criminal defense attorney who is confronted not only by the mother of her husband's killers, but by the vengeful mother of her murdered husband as well. Midway through the proceedings, she asserts that she doesn't want to live in a world where the only rule is the code of the hunt.

The setup could have easily been one for typical revenge fare, but this does not take the simple path of having her immediately hardened by misfortune and bent on vengeance. Instead, she tries to return to normalcy at every turn, until finally forced to do otherwise. Grau has some interesting shots during the initial home invasion, as well as the final confrontation and breaks up the interim routine by showing the impossibility of regular life.

This is a better film of the genre, in that it takes a more even tone and pace than is typical and does not provide simplistic fan-baiting violence every 15 min. Grau fulfills viewer expectations, but not in the most expected manner.

Brutal

[BandSAboutMovies · 7/10 · 10 June 2021]

Even being prepared for this movie by others who've seen it, I was not ready for the sheer onslaught that the last five minutes of this movie makes you endure. There's brutal and then there's this, a film that literally had me jumping around the room worried as to who would survive the final moments.

Adele is a female lawyer who believes that everyone deserves mercy. Unfortunately, several criminals steal her car, take her keys and rob her country home. Circumstances have led her and her husband there at the same time and he's shot and killed. Three of the four get away and despite the tragedy, Adele attempts to stay true to her values. Her mother-in-law continually reminds her that she's lost a son and that Adele's son and daughter now have no father.

The thugs who remain on the streets keep calling and taunting her, telling her to lie so that they can all escape justice. But when the one left on the inside is seen as a snitch and killed, they decide to get their revenge on her, leading to a scene so horrifying that I worry that my words won't do it justice. Seriously, this movie goes beyond Last House on the Left with old women brutalized, children punched in the fact and excessive use of fire. I was so sure that the daughter would be burned alive that I nearly watched this scene from the other room.

Directed by Jorge Grau (The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue, Blood Ceremony), this is a movie packed with fear and menace from the very start of the movie. Something bad seems like it's going to happen, something bad does happen and something bad has to happen to those who deserve it. Grau really takes you on a journey in this one.

Very gritty and unpleasant thriller.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 10/10 · 8 December 2004]

"Code of Hunt" is an extremely rare Spanish thriller that left me disturbed and speechless.This is one of the hardest to come by titles that existed in only two video releases,one Spanish(it's country of origin)and the other Greek.Both are now long deleted many years ago and both are ultra-rare.A famous Spanish actress Assumpta Serna plays Adela,a defender of poor criminals.Unfortunately her latest defendants steal her car and find the keys to her country villa.During the robbery her husband is killed and three of the criminals run away.The youngest criminal(who is the brother of one of the villains)is captured by the police and dies in prison.For Adela this is the beginning of pure nightmare..."Code of Hunt" is a very gritty and bleak film that has to be seen to be believed.The acting is excellent and the violence is ugly and brutal.The climax is incredibly vicious and sadistic in its cold depiction of sexual violence and revenge.This little gem seems to be forgotten by fans of European cult cinema,but if you get a copy treasure it.10 out of 10.

A very bleak and raw Spanish thriller....

[joshjack-35680 · 10/10 · 30 June 2021]

I originally saw this film on a bootleg print years back. But since mondo macabro released it on blu ray, it's alot better to view. Definitely not for everyone...the last 15 minutes atleast. But Definitely a great film. Jorge grau never disappoints.... I highly recommend this film.

Violent and tense film with some very unpleasant scenes and well starred by Assumpta Serna.

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 15 February 2024]

Adela (Assumpta Serna) is an honest pacifist lawyer specialized in Criminal Law and happily married to Jorge (Víctor Valverde). She is dedicated to defending criminals with total conviction of what she does and says about personal hardships and poverty is what leads them to crime and she does not think in natural evil. She is a lawyer with her own convictions that she believes in justice. Assumpta Serna competently plays the lawyer who passionately defends criminal scum who she believes commit crimes due to unfortunate life circumstances. However, her latest defendants have no qualms about pointing her out as her next victim. They steal her car, find the keys to her country villa and decide to rob her place at the next opportunity. Unfortunately, Adele's family shows up at the villa in the middle of a robbery, but then things take a turn for the worse during the home invasion.

Jorge Grau's Hunting Ground is a chilling story of revenge brimming with social commentary and underlying political criticism. At the heart of 'Coto de Caza' (international title: Code of Hunting or Hunting Ground) is a film that explores crime and punishment, and the effects both have on society. The narrative revolves around a defense attorney who believes that all criminals are redeemable, and that the punishment imposed on those convicted is counterproductive. This naivety leads her to the Mauri gang, one of whose members she defends, stealing her car with her personal belongings and preparing a hit on the family country house that has a private hunting reserve. From there, she is forced to go against everything she believes in when it becomes clear that her only way to survive her tormentors is to become one of them. The film turns out to be a crossover between the sub-genres of ' Home Invasion' , 'quinquis' and 'revenge', like ¨Michael Winner's Death Wish¨ with Charles Bronson, although I think it follows more the style of ¨I Spit sobre tu tumba¨ ('I spit on your grave' in its two versions: 1977 and 2010), adding some very strong scenes that would make ¨Wes Craven's The Last House on the Left (1972)¨pale. Along with the excellent starring Assumpta Serna, other good actors appear providing adequate performances, such as: Víctor Valverde, Luis Hostalot, Montserrat Salvador, José Sacristán, Adolfo Thous, Manuel Pereiro, among others. From a production point of view, there is no area in which 'Coto de Caza' does not deliver and even achieve certain slenderness in the violent thriller. The premise of crime and punishment is adequately realized and the director does a great job of maintaining tension throughout. With the ending providing an interesting conclusion to the events that have unfolded.

The film was professionally directed by Jorge Grau, although it developed with some ups and downs. Grau worked as a radio scriptwriter before embarking on his film career and was also a playwright and painter. He was a versatile filmmaker who was immersed in most film genres. He began studying at the 'Centro Sperimentale' film school in Rome, Italy. In Grau there is always a good filmmaker, who uncorked himself in the sixties and seventies with truly modern cinema, developing what was not widespread then, such as high-profile plots. Jorge Grau was an artisan, but he is best remembered for a couple of horror films that he directed, thus he made all kinds of genres such as Drama, suspense, comedy, such as: "The Stranger on Cruz del Sur Street", "The punyalada", "El spontaneo", "La siesta", "Death penalty", "Tutset Street", "Love Letters from a Nun", "Club Girls", ¨la Trastienda¨, "Acteon". Being his two greatest hits within the horror genre, such as: ¨Bloody Ceremony¨ (¨Ceremonia sangrienta¨,¨The Legend of Blood Castle¨, ¨The Femaler Butcher" or "Countess Bathory") and especially the horror classic, ¨No profanar el sueño de los muertos¨ (1974) ("Living dead in the Manchester Morgue"). ¨Hunting Ground¨ rating (1983): 6/10. Acceptable and decent film, in fact internationally and particularly in the United States it has a certain status of a "Cult Movie".

A different 'Quinqui' film

[parkerbcn · 8/10 · 27 June 2021]

A very interesting incursion by Jorge Grau in the Quinqui trend (a Spanish young delinquents subgenre), that switches the traditional point of view of these films from the aggressors to the victims. That makes the movie a little more conventional (it's much easier to empathize with the victims) and with the social message more prominent, but the powerful direction of Grau, the dark mood and the excellent acting all around makes up for it. It's a slow burner but with a big finale.

Society. Rules. People. Escalation.

[punishmentpark · 8/10 · 11 July 2013]

Exploitation - that it is, but director Jorge Grau tells it in a dramatically sensible manner, slowly building up to what is unavoidable in these films - a brute finale. Still, with plenty to think (and shudder) about afterward.

The portrayal of both sides of the same coin that is society - a woman and her family and a poor family and a few befriended criminals - begins with the main characters together in the same room, a courtroom. The woman is a lawyer defending a criminal with compassion, and two misfit type guys are in the crowd making jokes amongst themselves. After her elaborate plea, the camera zooms out slowly while the judges, lawyers and audience leave the room - finally it is pretty much empty... The lawyer then drives home, followed by the duo, who waited outside for her. They steal her car when she stops to buy groceries and find out she has a chalet on a large hunting ground. They intend to rob the place, but things go horribly wrong, and that is only the beginning...

There are all kinds of sidelines going on (the innocent brother of the main criminal being innocent but is incarcerated, the son of the lawyer couple who reads comics about a masked hero and is fascinated by dad's shotgun, the lawyer who at first intends to forgive the assailant) that make this much richer and deeper than your average revenge / home invasion flick, making this a unique feat - though still you'll have to be able to stomach some pretty nasty violent actions.

A big 8 out of 10, maybe more in the future.

An authentic work of art.

[paulofullmoon · 10/10 · 24 August 2023]

COTO DE CAZA (1983)

This is one of the best films I ever saw and I can't help but express my total indignation to the fact that filmmaker Jorge Grau doesn't have the attention he deserves. Only a master to conceive such a impactful work of art. This is a movie that couldn't be produced today with all the correctness imposed to art in general, and I will not take a position in relation to the discussion raised by the story. I believe that cinema must be evaluated not by any moral criteria, but by the excellence of its artistic conception. And what we have here is a perfect production.

Everything works wonderfully well. The script is carefully structured and the character development respects coherence and cohesion, leading us to immerse ourselves in the plot without any hesitation. All this is helped by a fluid editing and an impecable job by all the cast. I was speechless with the perfornance of Assumpta Serna. Previously, I had seen her in a small role in the bomb "Wild Orchid" (Zalman King, 1989) what made me have a negative impression about her, but I was totally wrong.

The disturbing violent scenes will put many viewers off, but they are vital to the efficience of its message. This is not an excercise in exploitation, but a serious drama that hurts our sensibilities precisely because it exposes how fragile our system of values can be. Only open and mature minds are prepared to this, but this is a movie that needs to be rediscovered and appreciated in its uncut format.

After watching the excellent "No Profanar El Sueño De Los Muertos" (1974), I developed an interest in the work of Jorge Grau. Now, after "Coto De Caza", I have no doubt that he is among my favorite authors.

Assumpta Sema who certainly earned her money

[christopher-underwood · 8/10 · 22 May 2022]

Jorge Grau's film, Code of Hunting aka: Hunting Ground was almost 10 years after is more well known, The Legend of Blood Castle (1973), Violent Blood Bath and Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, both 1974. It is well made but rather slow for the first half, and not to much happening with a hunting on the lake and looking inside supermarkets and stores. It does get going with a home invasion and an accident and then at the end a really terrible nasty sleaze another home attack with very brutal and sexual violence. Eventually there it comes the revenge and by this time we are almost shouting for the lawyer, Adela played by the famous actress, Assumpta Serna who certainly earned her money on this one.