6- The 10th Victim (La Decima vittima) (The Tenth Victim)
Directed by Elio Petri
Written by Tonino Guerra, Giorgio Salvioni, Ennio Flaiano and Elio Petri
Italy,1965
The 10th Victim was the first film to offer up the concept of a TV show wherein people hunt and kill one another for sport and to expand the idea into a satire on gameshows. Set in the 21st Century, the government and the private sector have joined forces to create a solution to crime by giving it a profitable outlet titled “The Big Hunt,” a popular worldwide game show in which contestants are chosen at random to chase one another around the world in a kill or be killed scenario. The winner of the first round moves on to the next. After ten wins, a player is retired from the game and gets a cash prize of one million dollars, but very few make it that far. As in The Hunger Games, there are sponsors who give contestants bonuses for quoting their slogans on camera. Product placement is the ultimate form of media violence here.
Directed by Elio Petri, this campy futuristic satire of commercialism, violence, and dehumanization has earned a cult following among film buffs and with good reason. It stars Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress at the height of their stardom, and they share remarkable onscreen chemistry, running about in one of the most bizarre curiosity pieces of ’60s Italian cinema. Groovy and ridiculously satirical, the film clearly lent much inspiration to many films to follow, especially the Austin Powers franchise. From the Italian pop and jazz score to the outrageous sixties chic fashions, the ultra-modern sets that recall films like Danger: Diabolik, to the less than subtle anti-media agenda, this revamped version of The Most Dangerous Game is truly a one of a kind. Petri directs with tongue firmly in cheek, and although it doesn’t quite hold together in the final reels, it is something you will never forget. This interesting pop artefact features a number of memorable scenes, none of which I want to spoil here. Trust me, you want to seek this one out.
Note: The film was based on The Seventh Victim, a 1953 short story first published in Galaxy magazine by prolific sci-fi writer Robert Shakley.
7- Le Prix du danger (The Prize of Peril)
Directed by Yves Boisset
Written by Yves Boisset
France, 1982
In a futuristic society, contestants pit their survival skills against each other in a fight to the death for cash prizes on a popular TV program. Sound familiar? Based on a novel by Robert Sheckley, who also wrote the original source material for the 10th Victim, the short story is noted for its plot, which predates reality television by several decades. Much like The Running Man (which it clearly inspired), there is a charismatic gameshow host and an unarmed contestant who slowly wins over the approval of the audience. Unlike Running Man, the film does a better job at exploring the sociological repercussions of gladiatorial combat for the televised masses and is far more interested in debating the ethics of the sport. Not a huge hit on its release, Le Prix Du Danger boasts a refreshingly downbeat ending in contrast to many other films of its kind in which the hero rises above the odds and triumphs. Also worth noting are the satirical commercials aired during the show – an idea that was borrowed by Paul Verhoeven later on. The film stars famous French actors Gérard Lanvin and Michel Piccoli.
8 -The Truman Show
Directed by Peter Weir
Written by Andrew Niccol
USA, 1998
Apart from the obvious death-match featured in The Hunger Games, the film’s text is thematically provocative, its allegorical elements highlighting the way the “Games” amplify today’s obsession with reality television. Perhaps one of the greatest cinematic commentaries on all-pervasive media manipulation is found in Peter Weir’s Truman Show, starring Jim Carrey. For Carrey detractors, The Truman Show proves his talent reaches far beyond physical humour. Carrey remains in complete control throughout, commanding and exhibiting the charm and charisma needed for a role which calls for much sympathy and likeability.
Truman Burbank lives a happy life, but what he doesn’t know is that the life in question is completely manufactured within a giant domed television studio. He’s been the focus of a reality TV show ever since his birth; filmed, observed, scrutinized every second of his life. He’s the star, his hometown is a giant set piece, and even his family and friends are actors. Only he doesn’t know it. Not yet.
The paranoid ingeniousness of The Truman Show brings to mind 1984, while Carrey turns Truman into a postmodern Capra hero. This funny, sweet, and thought-provoking parable about privacy and voyeurism is a must-see. While the film features no fight-to-the-death tournaments, in a way it is the most twisted film featured on this list. I don’t think I’ve ever rooted for a character in a film as much as I did here, desperate for Truman to break through Seahaven’s fourth wall and for the first time in his life actually come alive and become a true man.
9- Louis 19, le roi des ondes (Louis the 19th, King of the Airwaves)
Directed by Michel Poulette
Written by Sylvie Bouchard and Émile Gaudreault
Canada, 1994
Louis always dreamed of being a TV star, so he enters and wins a contest in which a documentary film crew follow his daily life for three months. The only problem is that Louis lives a rather dull life, and so the TV execs decide to inject some much needed excitement to boost their ratings. If the plot sounds all too familiar, it is because the film was later remade in America as EdTV.
The film isn’t anywhere near as brilliant as The Truman Show, but nowhere near as generic as EdTV either. Being a native of Montreal, though, I couldn’t go without mentioning it. Quebecers may take pleasure in the various cultural references and countless cameos, but the rest of the world may find themselves lost or even somewhat bored. The film won the Claude Jutra Award for the best feature film by a first-time Canadian film director, and the Golden Reel Award for the year’s top-grossing film. It was also a nominee for Best Motion Picture, ultimately losing to Exotica.
10 – They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
Directed by Sydney Pollack
Written by James Poe and Robert E. Thompson
USA, 1969
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? is a wildly acclaimed 1969 American drama directed by Sydney Pollack that went on to receive a total of nine Academy Award nominations. Like most of the films to appear on this list, it is based on a novel, in this case the 1935 tome by Horace McCoy. Penned by James Poe and Robert E. Thompson, the film is an allegorical drama set amongst the contestants in a marathon dance contest during the Great Depression.
So how does a movie revolving around a dance competition relate to The Hunger Games? Much like The Hunger Games, the participants (all teens) are broken down into couples in hopes of winning and taking home the prize money, a cash flow much needed during such hard economic times. There is even a sleazy opportunistic MC who urges them on to victory and corporations who will sponsor participants who catch their attention. They Shoot Horses does an excellent job exploring a wretched event that caters to the wealthy and uses the underprivileged to provide entertainment. “People are the ultimate spectacle,” as the tagline reads.
As the marathon winds into a staggering second month, suspicion, doubt and insecurity rages among the competitors, bringing out the worst in everyone. The tension builds as the dancers self-destruct and begin to fight among themselves, eventually leading to a shocking crime.
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? is a tour de force of acting. Jane Fonda offers the first sign that she inherited her dad’s talent, proving herself as a serious dramatic actress. She went on to receive universal praise, as well as an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, and Gig Young won his Oscar for his superb performance as the slimy promoter. Syndey Pollack does some of his best work directing this fascinating film. From the start, the movie’s story arc heads only downwards to an appropriately bleak ending. Take this as a warning – this movie goes out of its way to deny the audience any moments of pleasure.
11- Turkey Shoot (Escape 2000)
Directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith
Written by Jon George and Neill D. Hicks
Australia, 1982
Saving the craziest for last; here is Brian Trenchard-Smith’s Turkey Shoot, aka Blood Camp Thatcher, aka Escape 2000. Turkey Shoot is so cynical, cheap, tasteless, violent, exploitive and ludicrously over-the-top, that none of the original cast or crew members were willing to defend the pic for Mark Hartley’s documentary on Australian genre film, Not Quite Hollywood.
Once again inspired by The Most Dangerous Game, Turkey Shoot is set in an Orwellian future – a futuristic, fascistic Australia to be exact, in where a group of criminals and rebels are sent to the draconian Camp 47, and reprogrammed through a strict regimen of abuse, torture and rape as a means of social rehabilitation. It may sound like a brutal, darkly nihilistic film, but it also helps that the movie never treats itself too seriously. The prison film/totalitarian future background is only an excuse for vast amounts of blood and gore. In lieu of the reputation that precedes it, it’s impossible for any exploitation/horror aficionado to pass it up. The sum total of political commentary runs to naming the camp’s totalitarian commandant Thatcher – and that’s about it. This is purely a sadistic mélange of over-the-top action set-pieces and ultra-violent sensationalism. In other words, the perfect guilty pleasure for the midnight slot.
Note: Trenchard-Smith went on to direct low-brow classics BMX Bandits, The Man From Hong Kong and Dead-End Drive In.
Ricky D is the editor-in-chief of Sound on Sight and one of the hosts of the Sound On Sight podcast and the Sordid Cinema podcast. He is Sound On Sight's expert on Horror and contributes written reviews when time permits.
One Response to Essential Viewing For Fans Of ‘The Hunger Games’ (Part 2)
Staindslaved March 26, 2012 at 9:27 am
I was also heavily reminded of “1984″, however I guess the quality of the movie adaptation is at best suspect. The same could be said of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” adapted as a short a few times but none very highly regarded.
Its funny, the author claims she was inspired by the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Something I don’t think anybody got.
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Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games series has often been compared with Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight novels primarily because both centre on a young female protagonist and somehow both became phenomenons for their shared young-adult demo. Personally, I think this is both an insult to the novel and the latest big screen adaptation, since The Hunger Games is leagues above Twilight in artistic credibility. The sense of familiarity of The Hunger Games in fact goes much further back, recalling everything from William Golding to Phillip K. Dick and even Stephen King. Here are several films which may or may not have inspired Gary Ross’s big screen adaptation – eleven films which come highly recommended and should be essential viewing for any fan of the soon-to-be billion dollar franchise.
1- Battle Royale
Directed by Kinji Fukasaku
Written by Kinji Fukasaku
2000, Japan
The concept of The Hunger Games owes much to Japanese author Koushun Takami’s cult novel Battle Royale, itself adapted for the cinema in 2000 by Kinji Fukasaku. Set in a dystopian alternate-universe-Japan with the nation utterly collapsed, leaving 15 percent unemployed and 800,000 students boycotting school. The government passes something called the Millennium Educational Reform Act, which apparently provides for a class of ninth-graders to be chosen each year and pitted against one another on a remote island for three days. Each student is given a bag with a randomly selected weapon and a few rations of food and water and sent off to kill each other in a no-holds-barred fight to the death. With 48 contestants, only one will go home alive. Yes, this has been often noted as the “original Hunger Games”; whether or not the author of that series (Suzanne Collins) borrowed heavily from Kinji Fukasaku’s near masterpiece or the novel is ultimately unknown. In the end, it really doesn’t matter. Art has always imitated art. The fact is, both films share the same premise, but stand at opposite ends in tone, style, genre, and narrative shape. The film aroused international controversy and was either banned or excluded from distribution in many countries, yet it became a domestic blockbuster, and is one of the 10-highest grossing films in Japan. It received near-universal acclaim and gained further notoriety when Quentin Tarantino was quoted as saying he wished he had directed the movie himself.
Battle Royale is part exploitation, part teen angst drama, part black comedy and part survival thriller. This is about as bleak and cruel as they come, yet it remains endlessly entertaining. Fukasaku’s direction doesn’t get any points for subtlety, but like all great films, Battle Royale has something to say. This is a harsh critique and a dark funny satire of a wide array of elements of modern Japanese society. Think of it as a cross between reality TV with Lord of the Flies. The targets of satire vary: there is the unsettling social commentary on our tolerance for violence and thoughtless self-preservation, Japan’s obsession with authority and obedience, how adults place far too much pressure on their children’s educational achievements, and finally the obsession with violent video games and anime. Put aside the social commentary and even the deliberately provocative violent teen-hunts, and Battle Royale is downright cartoonish, hilarious, and exciting, as Fukasaku maintains the right tone, never slipping into seriousness or preachiness.
2- Lord of the Flies
Directed by Peter Brook
Written by Peter Brook and William Golding
1963, UK
Peter Brooks’s big-screen adaptation of Nobel Prize-winning author William Golding’s classic Lord of the Flies adheres so closely to the spirit of the source material that some would argue that at every turn, Brook captures the ferocity and fascination of Golding’s symbols and metaphors perfectly.
Following a plane crash, 30 British school-age boys find themselves deserted on an island and try to govern themselves, with disastrous results. As with Golding’s book, human nature and individual welfare versus the common good earned are themes explored within the film. Even when innocent children (much like in The Hunger Games) are placed in isolation, fear, hate and violence are inherent.
The film was shot in black-and-white and on a shoestring budget, with an entirely non-professional cast, and neither cinematographers Gerald Feil nor Tom Hollyman had never been behind a movie camera before. The casting of amateur actors required intensive overnight rehearsals and improvised dialogue, and the extensive editing took nearly 2 years to complete, the majority of which was spent fixing the sound due to the continual crashing of the ocean waves. All of this would in most cases be unfavourable for a motion picture, but somehow here it all lends to the natural aspect of the film, which sparkles with raw intensity. Its a miracle that Brooks not only got the job done, but directed such an unsettling film, one that brings out Darwin’s theory of “the survival of the fittest” to its darkest light. If Piggy doesn’t win your heart, you have none.
Note: The story was adapted with less success in 1990, and so I recommend this version instead.
3- The Running Man
Directed by Paul Michael Glaser
Written by Steven E. de Souza
USA, 1987
Directed by former Starsky and Hutch TV star Paul Michael Glaser, this post-apocalyptic science fiction yarn starring Arnold Schwarzenegger is without a doubt the most mainstream film to appear on this list. Much like The Hunger Games, The Running Man satirizes American entertainment, deriding everything from professional wrestling to reality TV and game shows. The film, which is very loosely based on a novel by Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King), is set in the totalitarian America of 2019, wherein convicted criminals are forced to take part as bait in a hideous TV manhunt called, yes, “The Running Man.” Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Ben Richards, a cop framed for massacring rioting civilians during a protest and later picked to go on the show, where he must survive a gang of skillful assassins like “Subzero” (Prof. Toru Tanaka) and “Captain Freedom” (Jesse Ventura), each armed with unique weapons. Think American Gladiators mixed with WWE, Let’s Make a Deal, Max Headroom, and The Most Dangerous Game.
Admittedly the commentary on America’s preoccupation with violence and game shows is heavy handed, but what is most obvious is a set of double standards present. On one hand, it has a plot that harshly criticizes a society that keeps the masses at peace with televised ultra-violence (much like The Hunger Games); on the other, the filmmakers revel in the violence, showing little interest in exploring any intellectual commentary. Yes, The Running Man is brainless and somewhat dated, but it is still a must see, if only for the onscreen combo of Jim Brown and Schwarzenegger kicking ass. Also on display is Paula Abdul’s dance choreography, long before her days on American Idol.
4- Series 7: The Contenders
Directed by Daniel Minahan
Written by Daniel Minahan
USA, 2011
I’m not the biggest fan of Series 7, but I felt it deserved some mention simply because its timing was impeccable. The movie was filmed before the first airing of a Survivor episode, and thus seemed more radical when first released. Essentially a satire on reality TV, The Contenders is the name of the Survivor-style show depicted within the film in which six contestants are set loose in the same Connecticut community, with orders to kill each other. Series 7: The Contenders marked the directorial debut for Daniel Minahan, who previously tackled pop culture and America’s obsession with violence in his script for I Shot Andy Warhol and later would go on to direct episodes for hit TV shows such as Game OF Thrones and True Blood.
5- The Most Dangerous Game
Directed by Irving Pichel and Ernest B. Schoedsack
Written by James Creelman
USA, 1932
The Most Dangerous Game was made in 1932, in the era known as “Pre-Code Hollywood,” a time when filmmakers were able to get away with sexual innuendo, illegal drug use, adultery, abortion, intense violence, homosexuality and much more. It was during this time that a film like The Most Dangerous Game was allowed to be made and shown to the general public without fear of censorship.
This was the first of many official and unofficial screen versions of Richard Connell’s short story of the same name. The film was put together by producer Willis O’Brien while in pre-production on King Kong and features several of the same cast and crew members as well as props and sets from Kong. Despite these obvious cost-cutting measures, Dangerous Game never feels like a second-rate production, and in fact features impressive effects, moody cinematography, smart dialogue, and fine acting.
Running a lean 63 minutes, the film is tightly constructed with hardly an ounce of fat, quickly establishing the basic premise within the first five minutes. The plot concerns a big game hunter on an island who chooses to hunt humans for sport. The Most Dangerous Game is basically a mindless action movie, but remains a genuine classic no less. Although the film stays close to its original source material, visually and tonally, it draws heavily on the tradition of Grand Guignol – a mix of deviant sexual desires, cruelty and grisly horror. Many people have remade the story, some more successful than others, but none have matched the level of craft on display here.
Ricky D is the editor-in-chief of Sound on Sight and one of the hosts of the Sound On Sight podcast and the Sordid Cinema podcast. He is Sound On Sight's expert on Horror and contributes written reviews when time permits.
One Response to Essential Viewing For Fans Of ‘The Hunger Games’ (Part 1)
the truth April 16, 2012 at 9:50 am
hunger games is one of the most overrated movie and book that has come out, with such a cliche plotline it makes you cringe. obiviously catered to female teens, read the book after so much internet buzz a few years ago, and nearly puked at the uninspiring and uncreative plotline. i think this is getting recognised as a great movie by people who did not watch some of these movies before watching hunger games. its a ripoff of battle royale with some fairy dust. you have not seen battle royale if i do not agree with this point.
Ricky D is the editor-in-chief of Sound on Sight and one of the hosts of the Sound On Sight podcast and the Sordid Cinema podcast. He is Sound On Sight's expert on Horror and contributes written reviews when time permits. 
I was also heavily reminded of “1984″, however I guess the quality of the movie adaptation is at best suspect. The same could be said of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” adapted as a short a few times but none very highly regarded.
Its funny, the author claims she was inspired by the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Something I don’t think anybody got.