The Stalking Fields is a crowd-funded independent film. It’s another modern-day day retelling of the Most Dangerous Game, a short story by Richard Connell. In this version, a group of former Navy Seals and other Special Forces are recruited for a new program designed as a cure for PTSD affiliated with the AmaCorp corporation. Similarly, a group of not-so-innocent civilians is also selected for this program based on criminal records and other deviant behavior…as targets for the aforementioned soldiers. The idea is meant to promote stress relief for severely mentally damaged veterans.

What could possibly go wrong?

Directed by Ric Maddox, he has a certain knack for shooting fun action sequences because they’re staged creatively. Flashbacks are used to provide just enough exposition to give characters context without slowing the plot down too much.

Writers Sean Crampton and Jordan Wiseley touch on clear themes of how PTSD affects veterans. When extended to extemporaneous circumstances is when they can’t decide which direction to move the plot. Is it about the soldiers dealing with trauma or the civilians trying to escape with their lives in this deadly game of cat and mouse? And what about the AmaCorp corporation? What’s their story?

The acting isn’t all that great. Dramatic scenes lose their emotional gravity because of this. The way some lines get delivered is unintentionally funny. Sean Crampton is Woodman, the central protagonist. Adam Harrington is Rawlings Sr, the team leader for the program. Tara Conner is Lipson, the standout character with the most personality of the bunch. Rachael Markarian is Abawi, an Amanda Waller-type character a la Suicide Squad, running the show. Jordan Wiseley is Claver, a rival soldier. Taylor Kalupa is Sara Wiler, a civilian. Most of the characters are one-dimensional bland clichés except for Woodman and Lipson.

Overall, once the film picks up momentum it doesn’t slow down. The predictable, cliché plot moves at such a brisk pace there’s not too much downtime in between the action. The writing is where it falls apart. When including social commentary in films, no matter the subject matter, it shouldn’t be forced or the substance loses its meaning. Case in point, this reminds me of the more recent The Hunt minus the bold political statements or the satire included. The Stalking Fields takes itself too seriously and doesn’t have anything to say except PTSD is bad. None of the characters have personal growth and halfway through the plot becomes unfocused almost as if the writers forgot the point they were trying to make. It’s left open for a sequel but the conclusion felt underwhelming to me because of this. It also reminds me of Surviving The Game or The Running Man. I’d recommend it to fans of those films. And remember, it’s all fun and games until it becomes dangerous.

Grade: 6/10