The Prey (1984)

User Rating:

2.4/10   

Director:

Edwin Brown

Writers:

Edwin Brown (writer)
Summer Brown (writer)

Release Date:

November 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

It's not human, and it's got an axe!

Plot:

Six campers jaunt off to North Point, where they're promptly stalked and killed by a ghoulish man who ultimately is just looking for a little love.

Plot Keywords:

Sex In Car | Revenge | Lust | Police Officer | Monster

Cast

Debbie Thureson	...	Nancy
Steve Bond	...	Joel
Lori Lethin	...	Bobbie
Robert Wald	...	Skip
Gayle Gannes	...	Gail
Philip Wenckus	...	Greg
Jackson Bostwick	...	Mark O'Brien
Jackie Coogan	...	Lester Tile
Connie Hunter	...	Mary Sylvester
Ted Hayden	...	Frank Sylvester
Garry Goodrow	...	Sgt. Parsons
Carel Struycken	...	The Monster

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R | UK:18 | USA:R | Norway:18 (video premiere) | Norway:(Banned) (1986-2003) (cinema release)

Filming Locations:

Utah, USA

Company:

Essex Productions

Trivia:

Jackie Coogan's last project.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Characters' voices don't match lip movement; numerous instances within the first 5-10 minutes.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in WIthIN (2005/I)

The stock footage murders

I think that would have been a more appropriate title for this film, since it is padded to hell and back with stock footage of various bugs and animals. I recently found The Prey in its original VHS 'big box' form and was very excited. I just LOVE finding old slasher films on VHS because the cover artwork is fantastic. Usually though, it turns out that the film itself is less than fantastic. The Prey is one of those films.

To be fair, it started off OK, with the killer stalking the cliché teenagers in the woods. The heartbeat sounds used are a great effect that make you tense as you watch. This film is basically a big fat cliché, and when the "campfire stories" section rolls in, the film takes a new direction and spends almost half of the running time on the back-story of the killer. I actually thought this was quite an original idea. However, the back-story ends abruptly and shows us some stock-footage of a burning woodland (the lack of budget really starts to show now). After this, we are returned to the dumb teenagers being picked off in the woods. The killer himself isn't shown until the end, which is a shame because he actually makes an effective looking killer. Sort of like Cropsy from The Burning, but better. As for gore, there isn't too much, although there's an OK face squishing moment at the end.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone other than slasher completists - it really is a big mess.