Magic Hunter

Max is a weathered, once-respected Hungarian police officer who hasn't recovered from a traumatic incident when he nearly killed an innocent woman while she was in custody. Haunted by that mistake and drifting through a hollow life, he encounters a stranger offering an otherworldly bargain, a set of bullets that never miss. Desperate for absolution and tempted by the clean efficiency they promise, he accepts and begins using the bullets to settle scores and chase a lost sense of control. As each shot lands, the cost of trading his soul becomes clearer, and the line between justice and obsession blurs in a story that mixes folklore, moral conflict, and bleak urban atmosphere without revealing how it ends. It stays unsettling.

Ildikó Enyedi directed Magic Hunter, released in 1994, from a concept by László Révész. Shot in Hungary, it pairs British actors Gary Kemp and Sadie Frost with Eastern European performers, giving the film a cross-cultural art-house feel and international festivals.

No widely reported box office figures survive for Magic Hunter, and it never reached broad international distribution. The film stayed mainly within festival and limited theatrical circuits, so it remained obscure outside specialist art-house circles rather than becoming commercial abroad.

Though largely overlooked, Magic Hunter has kept a modest profile among fans of Eastern European surreal cinema, partly because of Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy's presence, which links it to a certain arthouse lineage. Its mix of folklore and urban grit has made it a touchstone for collectors seeking offbeat, morally ambiguous films.

Critical reaction was mostly mixed or negative, based on a tiny rating pool. Viewers who do respond highlight themes of guilt, atonement and the ethical cost of using violence as a shortcut. The film's gothic mood and moral ambiguity position it closer to art cinema than mainstream drama, with restraint.