IT’S THE LAND OF HOSPITALITY… UNLESS YOU DON’T BELONG THERE.

In 1973, nine National Guard soldiers are in a Louisiana bayou for maneuvers, but soon make a fatal decision that turns them into prey. Walter Hill insisted this Deliverance (1972) wannabe was not a Vietnam War allegory, which is strange because it’s impossible not to read that into it. Tension builds as the soldiers find nothing but deadly traps in the hostile swamp and an enemy that remains largely invisible. The climactic scenes in the village are a nail-biter, but it’s hard to care for characters who are this stupid and unstable; it doesn’t matter who survives in the end.

1981-U.S. 106 min. Color. Directed by Walter Hill. Screenplay: Michael Kane, Walter Hill, David Giler. Music: Ry Cooder. Cast: Keith Carradine (Spencer), Powers Boothe (Hardin), Fred Ward (Reece), Franklyn Seales, T.K. Carter, Lewis Smith… Peter Coyote.

IMDb