Let Us Prey

Let Us Prey features a police station in a ghost town. Literally. You cannot find any people in this town making you wonder what these idiots are policing. Regardless, a stranger played by Liam Cunningham (Ser Davos from Game of Thrones) appears in the police station and sets off a chain of events which results in everyone in the station confronting/unleashing (mostly the latter) their inner demons.

And boy are those demons nasty or what! The film is not that scary but it is quite fun and has a good sense of humor. It also has good performances from Cunningham and Pollyanna McIntosh as a likable rookie named Rachel. Also in the mix are a gallery of interesting, if not likable characters such as a really creepy sergeant, his two vengeful subordinates alongside Rachel, a (not so) slightly unstable doctor, a grammar Nazi wife-beater and a drunk-driving teen.

Overall, the movie is quite fun with a delightfully nutty climax. The 5.9 rating is a bit too low. Do give it a look!

After one of the better opening sequences in any horror movie in recent memory, LET US PREY begins.

A mysterious man (Liam Cunningham- DOG SOLDIERS) heads for the sleepy little town of Inveree, Scotland. Upon his arrival, bizarre occurrences begin taking place.

In the local police precinct house, rookie PC. Rachel Heggie (Pollyanna McIntosh- THE WOMAN) joins the skeleton crew of officers and two inmates for what should be a long, dull night. Right away, we realize that PC. Heggie is the only cop who does her job by the book, while her comrades seem to have never even heard of the book!

When the mystery man arrives at the station, the nightmare unfolds, as he seems to know secrets about everyone around him. Secrets that result in desperate acts and death.

Bleak and sinister, this movie maintains this atmosphere throughout its running time. It also contains some shocks and gruesome revelations. With all other characters as fodder, it's really down to Ms. McIntosh and Mr. Cunningham to carry the film. An excellent supernatural thriller, the gore elements may turn some away, which is a shame since this is a hell of a good movie!...

...from director Brian O'Malley. It's Rachel's (Pollyanna McIntosh) first night as a policewoman in a new town, and when a mysterious stranger (Liam Cunnigham) is brought into the police station, all Hell breaks loose, and the sins of the prisoners and the police officers come back to haunt them.

There's a lot of style on display, from the music to the moody widescreen cinematography. The performances from the leads Liam Cunningham and Pollyanna McIntosh are very good, and raise the material up a few points. The violence depicted is very graphic, almost to a comical degree at times, and the script could have used a little more polishing, as the mid-section, with frequent time-jumps and location changes, is disorienting. Still, this was better than many of the horror films of recent years, and I enjoyed the ending. Filmed in Scotland and Ireland.

An apparent victim of a hit and run, a mysterious stranger is held at a remote police station and starts to take over the emotional state of staff and inmates alike.

It's not a new premise, something which is being held against Brian O'Malley's film like it's a crime, but the execution, the technical guile, and atmospheric touches brought to the piece, mark this out as a horror film of some merit. Boosted by having the great Liam Cunningham in the lead role, it's a film that shocks and awes with each passing chapter. It revels in the bloody aspects that unfold, positioning the vile nature that some human's are prone to right at the forefront, and with bloody impact.

Piers McGrail's cinematography is superb, the bold and beautiful shine of the blues and golden browns mingle disconcertingly with the down and dirty feel of the police cells, the latter of which appropriately marry up with the characters on show. Steve Lynch's score is a treat, a real nerve bothering piece of work, gnawing away at the senses in the same way that Cunningham's character tugs away at the emotional conditions of his prey. It's a film of many pleasures for the so inclined, it does get away from itself a little at the end, asking a little too much of the viewer, but it doesn't kill the pic and this is very much a horror necklace worth wearing on a night out. 7/10

... I've decided this was quite good. I'm hovering between a 7 and 8.

At first my main thought was "Meh. So Judaeo-Christian-specific that this atheist cannot find a thing scary about it." However, even if it is within that tradition, it does some surprisingly daring and fresh things inside of it. This is a movie with ambitions, and it is stylish enough and solidly-acted enough to pull most of them off.

I particularly liked the performances by the two leads. Both roles could have easily led to lots and lots of scenery-chewing, but neither Cunningham nor McIntosh go this easy and tired route: they are both subtle, varied and positively aces, as is Douglas Russell as the feral Sgt. MacReady (his role does call for some scenery chewing, and he does it well).

I absolutely adored the ending. Kudos.