Rent The Most Dangerous Game (1932)

Early talkie horror. - The Most Dangerous Game review by Steve

This explicit precode adaptation of Richard Connell's short story was shot at night on the sets of King Kong (1933) by the same crew. An all American big game hunter (a slim Joel McCrea) is lured onto the rocks of a remote jungle island by a crazy Russian aristocrat (Leslie Banks in his screen debut). So the hunter becomes the game.

The castaway proves a wily quarry, with his experience of bloodsports. He is accompanied by the original Queen of Scream, Fay Wray. As they make their way though the rugged terrain pursued by the Count and his hunting dogs, their clothes get shredded in a way that would lead to extensive cuts by the Hays Office on further release.

This is a tremendously exciting action film with a rich atmosphere as the fog falls on the island at twilight. There are evocative sets and locations. And there's a brilliant display of theatrical overacting by Leslie Banks, who wears the goatee of evil with conviction. A touch of philosophy in the script adds depth, without slowing the pace.

The film's most grisly moment is when the Count shows his prisoner around the human remains mounted in his trophy room. There was much more of this but audiences complained it was upsetting so RKO cut 20m. It has been remade many times, but even with the cuts imposed, it is the touch of the macabre, the feeling of transgression, that makes this the best version.