James Nunn's Hungry is hardly the Jaws of killer hippopotamus movies, nor is it even the Anaconda of killer hippopotamus movies; it just goes by the numbers, simply existing in a suspense-free void.
Sistine (Madison Davenport) and her bestie Hannah (Olivia Bernstone) are vacationing in New Orleans when Sistine learns that she has been fired from her job. While drowning their sorrows in a bar, Hannah impulsively signs them up for a "Gator Tour" the following morning.
Hung-over, the friends show up and check in with captain Rodrigo (Michel Curiel). They are also joined by Sally (Samantha Coughlan), her son Mikey (River Codack), and Mikey's grandfather Tim (Jim Meskimen), as well as businesswoman Dionne (Tracey Bonner).
Rodrigo promises to take them to see an enormous gator, but when they get to the spot, the gator has been killed. Their boat unexpectedly capsizes, and Rodrigo's boss Walker (Joaquim de Almeida) comes to find them. But there's a predator in their midst, and it's relentless.
If only Hungry had embraced its low budget, dared to be a little bit worse, it could have been a lot more fun, perhaps even veering into Sharknado territory. But it's just good enough to be dull, yet bad enough to be not worth seeing. The story is all familiar beats, which renders the scares all-too-predictable. The visual FX look like rubbery CGI, and the characters are aggravatingly thin.
The Dionne character, a Black woman, is especially unpleasant, which is an odd choice on the part of writer/director James Nunn. It's entirely her fault that the others are in this mess, and then all she does is point fingers and refuse to help. (Only in the final stretch do we learn why she's such a miserable person.)
On the other hand, the Sistine character (why is she called that?) is a resourceful woman, coming up with plans and solutions at every turn, and boldly volunteering for dangerous missions. Plus, unlike many cheap horror movies, she actually gets a little time to mourn the loss of her friend.
In the end, it's also her compassion that saves the day. She's worthy of a much better movie than Hungry. Perhaps the next killer-hippo movie will try harder.
Aura's DVD release (no Blu-ray) includes optional English SDH subtitles and a making-of featurette (18:51).
