Prey

Call me crazy, but a pride of lions being the pinnacle of evil instead of the usual axe-wielding psycho is kind of refreshing. That's where the good stuff I have to say about this one ends. I think this movie is actually the director's cut of the Lion King...you know, the violent part of Simba's life that couldn't be shown in a Disney movie.

This movie is almost like a real-life version of movies like Anaconda, Jaws or Cujo where innocent people are being stalked by a predatory animal that is purely bent on killing them. Like I've already noted, I really like the idea. Being out in the middle of nowhere and not at the top of the food chain is a scary thought to me...which is why this movie sparked my interest.

However, it didn't deliver like I hoped for. Check it out if you'd like but don't get your hopes too high.

This film contains extremely graphic(realistic)violence and is probably not appropriate for preteens. The play on words of the title is the cleverest thing about the film. Otherwise, the film is predictable. The main characters get into and stay in jeopardy by doing dumb things. The middle of the film consists of repeated episodes of attacking and waiting. There are two reasonable outcomes to the situation the family. About half way into the story I got curious about whether the screen writers would find a third possibility. That helped me stick with it to the end. The close up photography of the lions is worthwhile and the work of the lion trainer is impressive. It's a movie to watch on an afternoon when you have nothing better to do.

True story or not (and I'm sure plenty of the facts are manipulated) There is nothing in Prey that we have not seen before. Its generic formula and a certain lack of credibility/scientific accuracy certainly do some damage but they don't make the movie unwatchable.

It certainly could have been worse. For a start, it places a certain value on character, something that many b-movies care little for. There is no obvious reason why we should be rooting against the Newman family, who get screwed while on an African safari.. Their guide is attacked and killed by a lion while escorting the youngest Newman on a pee break. The hapless family is forced to hide and wait in the lousy little tour jeep, until Mr. Newman shows up (he's working construction on a local dam) Meanwhile, three hungry lions are waiting patiently outside.

So the film doesn't have us disregarding the protagonists, that's a start. another advantage is the lions being real. There is no five cent CGI in this picture to distract us. Well, some of the blood is clearly digital, but most of it is make up. The movie does have it's share of gore, yet nothing too unrealistic or severely overdone. Prey is shot in a heavily saturated colour scheme and because blood is the only red in the film, it really stands out. (although it is certainly not the only film to try this). The acting quality is nothing to be proud of, but it suspends disbelief enough. As long as it doesn't sound like the characters are reading off a teleprompter, I'm fine with that.

So where then does the movie go wrong, well in the same way that many of these films have, it has been done before. Prey is one in a million, and the only possible distinction for one to see is its protagonists being a lion, not a common creature feature creature. If lions sound interesting, my recommendation would be the Ghost in the Darkness.

Cat version of Cujo If you've seen Stephen King's Cujo, you'll like Prey. Prey is about a step mom and two kids who get stuck in a Range Rover on the African savanna and are stalked by a pride of man eating lions. Dad goes off to work leaving step mom to bond with the kids on a sight seeing trip. The guide gets killed by a lion and the girl bickers to the point where she deserves a good face slap. They make mistake after mistake and you're never quite sure whether they are going to be rescued.

(Ratings: Bad=1; Average=5; One of the best=10); Acting=06; Plot=05; Scenery=08; Character believability=07; Continuity=05; Dialog=05; Directing=07; Casting=07; Special effects=04; Overall Rating=06

A father (Peter Weller), his new wife (Bridget Moynahan), and his two children (Carly Schroeder and some boy) go to Africa, where he is overseeing the construction of a large dam. One day as his family goes on safari without him, they decide to go off the road and end up stranded in a field full of bloodthirsty, man-eating lions. That's a bummer. In a country without cellular reception or decent police, how can they be found?

I watched this film because I felt obligated as a horror reviewer to tackle it. Not because it was something I thought would be any good. Usually -- and this is no exception -- my instincts are correct. They found a way to take lions -- the kings of the jungle -- and make them seem like just lazy, overeating cats. I really couldn't care less that a family was surrounded by them (especially since the family does everything possible to dig themselves a deeper hole).

There isn't much good to say about this film, but at least the cast included two good choices: Wisconsin native Peter Weller (still best known for "RoboCop"), and Carly Schroeder, who I recall seeing on "Dawson's Creek" some time ago and telling my friend Kristy that this girl was going to have a bright future. I guess I made a mistake -- I never dreamed she'd end up starring in bad no-budget films.

For the first part of the film, this seems like a weaker version of "Wind Chill" or "Penny Dreadful" due to the idea that a person or small group is stuck in a car surrounded by harsh situations. Is this a new trend in horror? I hope not. At least it's short, but not short enough. And by the way, did this film need to be even 84 minutes? Couldn't it have been written as some special episode of "Hannah Montana" or something?

I didn't like the mother and step-daughter fighting, and the bratty stepdaughter archetype... boring. If I see one more film where the daughter blames her step-mom for everything wrong in the world, I'm going to scream my head off. No matter what happens in this film, the new wife is the enemy.

I really disliked the "lion vision". I have complained and complained and complained so many times in my reviews about "snake vision" and "vampire vision" and "pinata vision"... and this is no exception. I don't care that lions see things differently from humans, and I have no interest in seeing some lame effect to tell me where the lion is. Go ahead and give me "lion cam" but don't give them a special lens. That's just unoriginal and lame.

Every intelligent thing you could do, these people avoid -- they drive too fast, they run and scream from lions, yell for no reason when no one can hear them, go off the designated road to find animals... dumb dumb dumb. I don't feel bad for them in the slightest. The only part of this film that was at all worth watching was the run-in with the natives. There was a strong tension that had me on the edge of my seat waiting to see how they were going to play out a racially-charged rape scenario. And they took it where I never expected them to go with it!

Please don't rent this film, and absolutely don't buy it. I don't want these people thinking they did something right so they can make "Prey II" or some other "When Animals Attack" garbage. This film will go to the cheap bin and then never get a second printing, and I think that's the best thing one could wish upon this waste of my time.