Innocent Prey

P.J. Soles (sporting a truly atrocious perm) stars as Cathy, a Dallas native recently married to Joe (Kit Taylor), an upstart businessman from New Zealand. She couldn't be happier, but her husband is more focused on closing a business deal. When the deal goes south and he's exposed as a conman, Joe's inner psycho comes out. Cathy witnesses his murder of a hooker (the luscious Debi Sue Voorhees of Friday the 13th: A New Beginning) and turns him in to the police. Once he's put away, Cathy contemplates joining friend, Gwen, in Australia. Joe's subsequent escape from prison finally gets her to take the hint, and she heads down under, where she immediately catches the attention of another lunatic, her voyeuristic landlord, Phillip (John Warnock). Joe is also determined to track her down and finish what he started.

So, we have an Australian slasher partially shot in Dallas and directed by Colin Eggleston... Talk about right up my alley! Indeed, seeing on film the places that you regularly see in real life never gets old. Dallas has changed a lot since the early 80's, but downtown is basically the same. When the story moves to Australia, most of the action is confined to Phillip's estate. We do get a few glimpses of that glorious Australian scenery, brief as they may be. "Innocent Prey" is not on the same level as Eggleston's masterful "Long Weekend", and it's not trying to be, anyway. It is, however, an incredibly fun picture with an underlying playfulness aimed at certain genre conventions, namely that of the final girl. The tone of the film is serious, but you get a sense of the true intent with the habitual victim scenario and that terrific last frame before the credits roll.

P.J. Soles is decent in the film, but she doesn't exactly come across as lead actress material. Of course, it doesn't help that Cathy isn't the brightest heroine to ever grace the genre. Not only is she painted as being quite naive, she can also be truly dense at times. Following his escape, Joe shows up at Cathy's and is chased off by the cops. Two officers stay outside to see if they can find him while Cathy remains inside with a third watching over her. When the policewoman disappears, Cathy calls for her repeatedly before stating "If this is you're idea of a joke, it isn't funny!". As if a cop, who she just met, would prank her, let alone in such a serious situation! Sure, this could be just a furthering of the joke on the final girl, almost as if she's talking directly to the filmmakers for putting her through such hell. That said, in context of the film itself, it just makes her stupid. Aside from that, she's really a bitch towards Phillip before she has any reason to be. No, Cathy is not that likable, but hey, all the more fun to see her deal with the misfortune that plagues her!

The villains fare better. Kit Taylor plays Joe as a leech who switches from his New Zealand accent to a stereotypical Texan drawl when dealing with the good ol' boy oil men. Once he flips out, he has an icy glare. Warnock is also solid as Phillip, the awkward voyeur with a mean streak. He watches his tenants via closed-circuit television cameras hidden all around the house, getting upset when the girls engage in intercourse since he wants them for himself. His "shocking" method of murder may be rather over the top, but that's the point, and it's certainly a unique touch.

Those who watch slashers just to see some bloodshed should look elsewhere. Anyone wanting to view an entry possessing more intelligence than you'd expect, an out there plot and a sense of fun beneath the seriousness should go for it. Think of it as Eggleston's joyous deconstruction of the final girl archetype. It's also a brisk watch at 86 minutes, though the video case mistakenly says 77.

Australia's addition to the 80s psychotic slasher market, "Innocent Prey" is a surprisingly modest foray by writer / director Colin Eggleston. Who'd be remembered for his eco-horror; "Long Weekend" (1978) and then two years later after prey he gave us the highly stylish supernatural slasher "Cassandra" (1986). It's as customary as you can get, but its selling point would be that of American actress P.J Soles (Halloween, Carrie) taking on the heroine role. For most part of the movie she looks bemused in the face (that's when your eyes are not distracted by her permed hair), but it's no wonder why, as she has two… yep not one but two psychotic nut-jobs that are seeking her attention. These two aren't working together either! One is the perfect husband with a real dark side and the other is a wealthy, loner weirdo who likes to watch.

Living in Dallas Cathy is happily married, well that's how it seems but one night she curiously discovers her husband murdering a prostitute while peeking through a motel window. She aids the police in his arrest, where he's taken to a prison for the criminally insane. Soon he escapes and goes back after her, but after another encounter she decides to move in with her best friend in Australia, Sydney. But here in her new place, might just be another threat in the shape of her new landlord.

The low-budget production is sturdily presentable, as there's nothing too flashy if some professionally expressive camera-work. Other than that it's quite plain, but even during its slow progression Eggleston delivers moments of tension grabbing jolts, more so in the first half and there's no hiding its quite unpleasant in its details. Far from graphic, but it's still sleazy, voyeuristic and suitably uneasy. This tone can be attributed a lot to the creepy performances of Kit Taylor and particularly the sly turn by John Warnock (who has an inventive way to knock some one off) as the psychos. It was an interesting if overblown set-up, especially how it dresses things up before twisting and turning upon itself with the dangers that Soles' character faces and then a smarting closing frame to end on. The soapy hysterics remain elaborately amusing; as it seems to get a lot darker, tighter and even trashier the further it goes along. Some questionable actions shoot up (in regards to Cathy), and the dialogues can be awkwardly goofy. The thing that disappointed me more than anything was Brain May's inconsistently overwrought music score, which simply seemed to be going through the motions.

Soles is simply sub-par in the lead, as her beady character is not all that sympathetic despite the ordeals she finds herself in. The support features some familiar faces; Martin Balsam is likable as the town sheriff and Debi Sue Voorhees as an unlucky prostitute. Also there's decent show-ins by the locals Grigor Taylor, Susan Stenmark and Richard Morgan.

A conventional, but endearing Aussie slasher.

"Innocent Prey" has a couple of marks against it right from the outset. For one thing, it was filmed in 1984 but not released until 1991. How does that happen? It's not like we're dealing with "Begotten" or something like that with genuinely challenging material that people might not want to touch. And here's the other thing: it's never been released on DVD.

Both of these facts add up to one thing: nobody was happy with the way the movie turned out. And who can blame them? There is something fundamentally wrong with the movie's pacing, and direction. Key scenes and vital information are not underlined, so you don't realise what's supposed to be important, you don't feel what you're supposed to feel - you don't even know what you're supposed to know.

The (ridiculous) plot is about a woman who not only catches her husband mid-coitus with a prostitute - she also witnesses him slicing the woman's throat, and all in the one shot.

This shot is a piece of work. Our heroine peeks through the window and can see the naked prost with her husband standing behind her. She can also see into the hotel room's bathroom mirror, which helpfully reflects to give us a view of her butt. Who said this movie was shabbily directed?

So when our heroine - whose name I never picked up - witnesses her husband slicing the poor lady's throat, she freaks out and runs off to Australia, where the movie gets more lost than Burke and Wills did. Why didn't she just go to the police?

I didn't understand much, or anything, about her life in Australia, and certainly didn't understand the ending. We see that there is a pervert with hidden surveillance cameras in all the rooms of the hotel or whatever it is that the lady stays in. But this is communicated so badly to the viewer that I didn't know what to think.

And then it was over.

Scream queen Soles features in a rare lead role (although still a victim) in this Australian film no less, playing the wife of a sadistic serial killer who emigrates down under after he escapes from the mental hospital.

Top-notch cast features locally well-known Australian TV actors Kit and Grigor Taylor (no relation) and Americans Balsam as a sheriff and Thurman in a small role as an oil investor early in the first act. Warnock is an interesting one, I was never certain whether he was sympathetic or sinister suffice to say the film doesn't leave you in limbo.

Cliched but intriguing, this rampaging Ozploitation thriller has a decent plot, taut suspense and is violent and gory just the way nature intended such films, an odd mix of southern slasher meets voyeuristic thriller that's better than you might expect.

Probably could've succeeded with a local cast/location, although the commercial benefits of Soles (and to a lesser extent Balsam) should've been bulletproof in 1983, which makes the fact it wasn't released until 1990 all the more confounding. Soles demonstrates she's more than a supporting ingenue, able to carry a film with two distinct plot lines (across two continents) and despite her character's suffering, still exudes a wholesome, cheery disposition potentially the result of enjoying herself on what was her maiden voyage to Australia (according to her on-screen interview in the Umbrella DVD extras, where she also speculates on the film's long gestation period prior to its belated release). Worthy viewing for slasher or Ozploitation fans.

"Innocent Prey" is a sleazy Australian slasher that was shelved for years.I managed to get the copy of this film and I can safely say that it's pretty good.Cathy(P.J.Soles)discovers that her husband Joe brutally murders a prostitute with a razor.She confronts her husband who violently turns on her.Cathy seeks refuge from her friend sheriff Virgil Baker(Martin Balsam).Joe is sent to the state hospital for the criminally insane.Cathy resumes her life but is shocked when she learns that her husband has escaped..."Innocent Prey" offers a nice amount of suspense and bloody violence.The murder of a hooker is surprisingly nasty and gruesome.The acting is decent and the direction is well-handled,unfortunately the climax is rather disappointing.Still the film is enjoyable enough to watch it few times.Recommended.