88 Films brings the DEVIL HUNTER to Blu-ray in more permissible times, shining a light on the ludicrousness of the "Video Nasty" debacle.

In Santo Domingo to scout locations for her next film, actress Laura Crawford (Ursula Buchfellner, SADOMANIA) is abducted from her bubble bath by her ex-assistant Jane (Gisela Hahn, MR. SCRAFACE), suave Thomas (Antonio de Cabo, A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD), and unstable Chris (Werner Pochath, THE IGUANA WITH A TONGUE OF FIRE) for a six million dollar ransom. While Laura is held prisoner in a cave hideout on a remote island, Hollywood producer Goldstein hires mercenary Peter Weston (Al Cliver, ZOMBIE) to make the trade with the additional offer of ten percent of the ransom amount if he comes back with both girl and loot. Joined by shell-shocked Nam vet Jack (Antonio Mayans, REVENGE IN THE HOUSE OF USHER), Peter heads to the drop-point provided in a note delivered by a mysterious beauty (Muriel Montossé, FASCINATION). On the island, Jane is unnerved and Chris driven nearly insane by the endless drumbeats of the nearby tribe who worship a seven foot, bug-eyed, buck-naked being who rapes and eats the hearts of nubile sacrifices. When Peter and Jack arrive at the beach, their plan to switch the real ransom money with fake money goes awry since Thomas has planned the exchange as an ambush. Amidst the gunfire that injures Jane and blows up Jack's helicopter, Laura flees into the jungle and is captured by the natives. While Jack arranges a second exchange, Peter has snuck onto the island hoping to surprise the kidnappers who have headed into the jungle to recover Laura to get the money as the "devil hunter" works up his appetite for Laura as the tribe's next sacrifice.

The attempts of Eurociné – a French sexploitation house run by father and son Marius Lesoeur and Daniel Lesoeur – to cash in on the Italian zombie genre with OASIS OF THE ZOMBIES and ZOMBIE LAKE were barely competent but possessed meagre charms; however, the French exploitation company's attempts to cash in on the cannibal genre with DEVIL HUNTER, CANNIBAL TERROR, and WHITE CANNIBAL QUEEN (released on US and UK DVD under the original export title CANNIBALS) test even the most patient and trash-hungry viewers. DEVIL HUNTER sports a busy adventure plot and comely damsel in distress in Playboy Playmate Buchfellner, as well as some of director Jess Franco's better eighties presences in de Cabo (who also directed the dubbing of the Spanish versions of Franco's seventies films), Mayans and Montossé (the latter two had already been bumping 'n grinding in Franco's erotica companion pieces CECILIA and THE INCONFESSABLE ORGIES OF EMMANUELLE), as well as a conceptually outrageous cannibal creature; but the end result is an epic slog in any of its cuts. The English version exported by Eurociné ran just under ninety minutes compared to 102 minutes of the Spanish cut with listless pacing and Franco's own synth noodling sapping the suspense out of the Vaseline-lensed monster POV stalkings (into which the creature sometimes steps while the shot remains occluded) and the splash-of-red-paint and pig innard-chompings.

DEVIL HUNTER went straight to video under that title in the U.K. from Cinehollywood during the pre-cert days and ended upon the Video Nasty list despite comparing quite poorly to the Italian entries on there, and on VHS in the United States as MANHUNTER from Trans World Entertainment in the aforementioned shorter cut prepared by Eurociné. The longer Spanish cut showed up first on DVD from Severin in both territories from an HD master that was complete but ungraded with grayish blacks and pale colors with the English track and English subtitles for the French track despite coming from Spanish elements. The same ungraded master was ported over to Blu-ray by Severin a couple years ago in a double feature with CANNIBAL TERROR. While it featured new extras, it replaced the French dub with the Spanish track but unfortunately dropped the subtitle track. 88 Films utilized the same master for their 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen Blu-ray; however, they have gone to the trouble of regrading it and the colors are now vibrant from the blood reds to the jungle greenery offering up a much more "enjoyable" presentation. While 88 Films have included English subtitles here, they have unfortunately only included the English dub in LPCM 2.0 mono. Despite that deficit, the improved image is a major upgrade for Franco fans.