Hunters' Crossing

Hunters' Crossing is a 2017 American mockumentary-comedy and the first film in the Hunters' Crossing series. It is directed by Zach Zeman and starring Noah Schindler and Rieves Bowers. The film follows an aspiring hunter, Hank Williams (Schindler), and his dreams of winning the local hunting competition. He takes off a little more than he can chew, though, when he decides to make a rival out of backwoods hillbilly, Clive Harris. In an effort to stay alive and win the competition, Hank teams up with an aging bear-slayer (Mason Taylor), and a Bigfoot hunter (Bowers) to take the crazed hunter down. It was followed by a prequel in 2018 called Brotherhood Bloodlines: A Hunters' Crossing Story.

Plot
The film follows around Hank Williams in a faux-documentary style, showcasing his false knowledge of historical locations and hunting techniques.

He eventually signs up for a hunting competition called "Hunter of the Year", which leads to him staying at Willis Hampton's cabin. At the cabin, he meets Trevor Farleys and the two instantly bond and have to deal with the bizarre characters that plague their stay at Willis'.

Trevor is trying to hunt Bigfoot and he decides to take a moment away from his hunt to aid Hank in his mission to sabotage a crazy rival hunter, Clive Harris, claiming to own the land that Willis' cabin sits on. Meanwhile, Willis deals with an animal rights activist, Samantha Burd, that is trying to get him to close his doors to hunters.

Eventually, Trevor and Hank are kidnapped by Clive and Willis and Samantha come to their rescue. Clive is killed and the group all head back to the cabin, only to be attacked by Bigfoot. Trevor finally gets his fight and kills Bigfoot, only to die in the process.

A year later, Hank reveals that he never won the competition but he will always remember his time with Trevor, as they instantly became best friends. He remarks that even though Trevor wasn't competing, he was the real "Hunter of the Year".

Release
Hunters' Crossing had a very limited premiere of a one night screening at New York University on April 21, 2017. Zach Zeman, Mason Taylor, and Marisa Roper were present for a Q&A after the film.

Reception
Hunters' Crossing has received mixed reviews from critics.

Taryll Baker of UK Film Review praised the film, giving it "four out of five stars" and saying "Satirical mockumentaries are a hard subject to tackle, but [Hunters' Crossing] manages to capture the brilliance of such a genre and creates some of the most ridiculous characters you’ll see on-screen."

Carl Burgess of ScreenCritix gave the film "three out of five stars" and stated that "Hunters’ Crossing is in the same vein as This is Spinal Tap, Best in Show, Borat and with a little bit of The Office" but "come across on screen as a group of friends having a laugh and acting the ape in front of a camera". However, he adds "This is not a problem though, as the camaraderie and strong bond gives the independent feature an added layer of charm and one that I liked."

IndyRed gave the film "three out of five stars" and said "but the characters are funny... even if completely unbelievable" but added "the unbelievable character traits are what make them so comedic."

On the other hand, Hunters' Crossing received heavy criticism from Diamond in the Rough Films and ReelRomp, giving the film "two out of five stars" and classifying it as a found-footage film. ReelRomp stated "the found footage aspect simply doesn't work here" and Mark Schwab of Diamond in the Rough Films said "Every other found footage movie I've seen only knows the notes and can't play any actual music...Hunters' Crossing tries to do something a little bit different by eschewing the horror genre in favor of comedy but it is not enough to overcome the constraints of a tired genre."

Hunters' Crossing has been received well in the independent circuit, getting into the Derby Film Festival, Underground FilmFest, and Camp Feast Film Fest. Marisa Roper won an award for her portrayal of Samantha Burd at the Videoscream International Film Festival and the film received Honorable Mention at the LA Underground Film Forum.

Prequel and Sequel
In an interview with Zach Zeman conducted by Chris Olson of UK Film Review, Zach Zeman said

"I’m in production for a prequel to Hunters’ Crossing with Rieves Bowers (the dude who played Trevor) and my good friend and colleague, David Scherker. It’s not a mockumentary, but it focuses on Trevor and his relationship with his family—and his twin brother—before Trevor met Hank. There’s a new monster in this film too. It’s funny and scary and all sorts of weird.

"It’s also a play on the idea of cinematic universes and why everything suddenly needs to be a franchise or be connected in some absurd way. I’m hoping to attack a lot of prequel clichés and tropes. We shoot starting at the end of this month and we hope it goes well!"

The prequel title, Brotherhood Bloodlines: A Hunters' Crossing Story was revealed on the Facebook Fan Page in January of 2018.

Zach Zeman and Rieves Bowers have also discussed the idea of Hank eventually meeting Trevor's twin brother after Trevor passes away and uniting the two in a quest to hunt monsters. This sequel would also deal with the aftermath of Trevor's death.