I’ve said it a million times before – summer is the season for slashers and creature features. In a world where sharks are king, I jumped at the chance to watch a movie about another killer predator. A hippopotamus, and yes, I had to spell check that. I’m going to say just hippo going forward. It’s estimated that hippos murder about 500 people a year, not to eat but due to being territorial. Some of this is touched on in James Nunn’s HUNGRY. The creature-feature horror-thriller bayou-drama was released to video on demand in June 2026 by Signature Entertainment following a small international theatrical run. It’s a shame this movie didn’t find the success the cast/crew were looking for while in theaters because I actually found it quite entertaining.
HUNGRY is written & directed by James Nunn. It was produced by Ben Jacques. It features cinematography by Job Reineke and editing by Richard Blackburn. Main cast members include Madison Davenport, Tracey Bonner, Michael Curiel, Joaquim de Almeida, Samantha Coughlan and River Codack. HUNGRY follows a small boat of passengers and their tour guide as they trail the Louisiana bayou in hopes of watching alligators in the wild. After a bribe takes the crew down an unfamiliar path, they’re suddenly attacked by a very large and very pissed off hippo. It begs the question: what are you supposed to do when nowhere is safe? Can’t go in the water, can’t go on the land. Find out when you rent/buy HUNGRY on demand.
This movie isn’t groundbreaking by any means. It follows the same animal-attack format, where you meet the characters and build the suspense before picking them off one by one. It has the sane characters, the stupid characters and the emotionally distraught characters. So, you’re able to tell quite clearly who isn’t making it to the end of the movie. What HUNGRY did that I was not expecting was fit in a couple moments of truly heartbreaking gut punches. Especially if you put yourself in the position of the passengers. What I also didn’t expect was how hot their tour guide was. Hello, Michel Curiel. All things considered, the brutality of the kills and guessing what comes next is what kept this hippo afloat.
And what’s interesting, spoiler alert, is that there could be a very small grain of truth to this formula. I’m always a slut for a horror film with a believable plot. How does a hippo attack in Louisiana make any sense? Again, you’re going to have to rent/buy HUNGRY on demand to find out. It’s the perfect summer horror film. You get a good feel of the swamp while sitting on your couch. The hippo is very cute, though very angry. It was nice to see something other than a shark, a snake or a mutant hybrid getting the spotlight. I don’t know if I would watch HUNGRY a second time, but my friends and I had a good time while watching it on Tuesday. It didn’t feel like a chore to finish, and that tells you all you need to know!
Big, ballistic and full of blood! Final Score: 7 out of 10.
