The opening credits combined with music do a nice job of setting the tone for the movie. Then we cut to the first glimpse of the city, and it becomes blatantly apparent it is being shot with an awful brown filter. I hate filters—they're nothing more than a cheap way to set the mood of the scene.

This is the 2nd HBO original movie I've rented the DVD of in the past two days, and they must be shot with digital cameras because the picture quality is astounding…it's as if you're in the film. The editing give you a sort of off-balance distorted feel which aids you in feeling what the main character is feeling—very impressive. The music is engaging and successfully established a feeling of suspense. However, the slow-motion love scene was a bit random and pointless.

I enjoyed the subtle humorous moments between Sam (Patrick) and Buckley (Holly). I couldn't help but wonder how Buckley is a detective when Sam does her job better than her. As a die- hard fan of "The X-Files", I am well-versed in how to make a seemingly unexplainable phenomenon make sense and have the appropriate facts to support it. Buckley's revelation on the road after they track the killer through the woods for the second time was impressive —it finally showed her true color as a detective.

The film's momentum is disrupted by the fact that Alex Duncan just can't act. As a result, the last scene felt corny and contrived. But the main characters push the story along, so this divergence, while highly noticeable, remains minor.

VERDICT: Adequate character writing, however the plot, while intriguing and thought-out, remains underdeveloped. Simple and yet surprisingly clever—it certainly maintained my interest. Recommended to anyone who likes crime mysteries, but if it's a thriller you long for, you should look elsewhere.

5.5 out of 10.0

~AleXa~

This movie is not a wonderful surprise, but a solid thriller with an interesting twist on the "psycho-killer" style, with good performances by the lead actors. The idea of a man from a far and wild land in a big city is not new, or the pairing of a female detective with a victim's relative, but here these elements are presented in a simple and convincing plot that makes you keep interested all the way. Robert Patrick is perfect for the role of a lonesome hunter, and Lauren Holly is both strong and sexy. I really don't understand why so many people here wrote negative reviews about this movie, it works for me as a late night filler perfectly. If you want to see a decent thriller, don't miss the chance. Recommended.

This film starts out with Sam Brown, (Robert Patrick) tracking a wild killer of a wolf in Alaska and is attacked by the wolf while on the phone with a call from his headquarters that his sister has been killed in San Francisco. Sam arrives in San Francisco and finds out that his sister was murdered in a very horrible way and he decides to track down his sister doing it his way. Sam meets up with a police woman, Buckley Clarke, (Lauren Holly) who thinks Sam is crazy with his methods of tracking a killer like a wolf in the wild. However, Sam's method starts finding results in this murder and quite a few other crimes that are similar. The relationship between Sam and Buckley becomes very torrid and there is a very sexy love scene between the two of them. This film will hold your interest from the very beginning to the very end. Enjoy.