Review
The Stalking Fields (Action) (2022)
Director: Ric Maddox
Writer: Sean Crampton, Jordan Wiseley
Stars: Sean Crampton, William Gabriel Grier, Richard O. Ryan, Adam J. Harrington
Captured, a group of civilians are forced to be included in a Black Ops program making them victims in a cruel foxhunt with them as the targets.
Being crowd-funded, and written by Sean Crampton and Jordan Wiseley, Ric Maddox provides his feature-film debut with themes of PTSD translated to a human fox hunt meant to alleviate pressures any veteran could face after time in wars. The film has been produced by Bloomfield Boys Productions and Strapped Media while being distributed by Gravitas Venturas.
Taking part in an experiment designed by the U.S. Military to find solutions for PTSD, civilians have been kidnapped, drugged and implanted with head-popping explosives. They’re set free in a forest environment serving as animals for trained military operatives to hunt. 
From their experiences in military families, suffering from PTSD and the wide-ranging effects of warfare on the human psyche. Crampton and Wiseley provide an inhumane narrative in which they star, directed by Maddox seemingly approaching a keen action film with nods to horror.
During an initial hunt, ‘’The Stalking Fields’’ provides a quick peek into the eventual ordeal within the cold open. Before allowing the viewer to grasp the militaristic operation around remedial measures for PTSD enough is shown to confuse rather than convey logically. The questionable solution, of handing firearms to unstable veterans and liberating them in vindication of unapologetic murder becomes clear and this discharge of built-up tension seems troublesome at best.
Within a wide range of films, ‘’The Stalking Fields’’ provides somewhere in the B-movie spectrum, despite the serious and dedicated air it has. Meant to shock it struggles to provide a spark of interest. Due to lacklustre character development despite decent performances by some, there’s no tension or proper pacing, and the band of civilians provided as target practice could’ve been replaced by target dummies and you’d likely not know the difference, but perhaps that was the intention, as it might be seen by an individual with PTSD, however doubtful.
What sorely feels like a horror/thriller in narrative, provides none of what it needs. Such messaging around post-traumatic stress and the effects of war might’ve been heightened in a short film. Maddox’s debut, if anything isn’t too long making it a watchable venture at least, but as it’s near-impossible to comprehend with characters and plot twists that the audience couldn’t care less about there’s a question of whether narratively it’s too simple. As from the synopsis, everything is clear-cut and definition to anything is incredibly difficult to find here.
Verdict
The Stagnant Fields.
3,0
