Let Us Prey

A mysterious man hands himself into a police station in small town one night. It soon appears that he seems to know about the inner demons of everyone there, the cops and prisoners alike. All of these individuals have dark secrets it seems and the mystery man is the catalyst that brings them to the fore and drives them to further depravity and violence.

Let Us Prey is one of a small group of horror films set in Scotland. As it happens, two of its stars featured prominently in a couple of the other most notable Scottish set horrors of the last few years, namely Liam Cunningham who appeared in Dog Soldiers and Hanna Stanbridge so impressive as one of the main characters in The Outcast. In this one Cunningham has the central role of the mysterious demonic stranger, while Stanbridge gets to sink her teeth into a role of a female cop with a penchant for violence. She is not the only strong female character here though; Pollyanna McIntosh plays the other policewoman and is in fact the lead character to all intents and purposes. It is refreshing to have a genre picture give women more central roles; I have no idea why it doesn't happen more often. As it is McIntosh's cop is on her first night at this remote police station, the very night when things go horribly wrong. In this respect, the influence of John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 is pretty obvious. In addition, the electronic soundtrack used here sounds very Carpenteresque too, which was also nice.

It's a pretty modest production but it makes the most of what it has. The cast all acquit themselves very well and make the most of their characters. The direction is pacey and nicely stylised in places. I particularly liked the opening credit sequence with images of giant waves and sinister ravens. It maybe could be argued that the film doesn't perhaps ultimately go into as interesting places as it promises it might and it does get a little generic towards the end. But it is still different enough to ensure it is interesting. It also has the distinction of having a central demonic villain who is not one dimensionally evil; he's just a guy with a job to do.

... 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.

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!

One of my great pleasures is to see a movie I know nothing about, and have it totally surprise me. The first 1/3 of this movie is odd, I had no idea what was happening, but it sorts it self out and turns into quite a good bloody little quasi-horror. Decent performances, script, direction etc. Check it out, like me you might be pleasantly surprised.🤔👍

Wow, I REALLY liked this film! I could tell Immediately that I liked the feel of it. The first several shots alone are to die for. Seriously, they were stunning and beautiful. I instantly liked the soundtrack, the cinematography, and the tone that the director set for the film. I could tell right away that this was my kind of movie. Even the lighting of the main street was exquisite and reminded me a LOT of the way Bava would light his sets with otherworldly blues and reds, setting the perfect tone for this Good vs. Evil 'Morality' tale. Nicely done...

I have always liked religiously themed Horror films. I really dig the Prophetic or Biblically based stuff (movies like 'THE PROPHECY' or 'THE SEVENTH SIGN', for example) Although this film isn't as overtly religious as those, it is based upon similar themes. What I felt made this movie particularly intriguing was that it didn't treat the Good vs. Evil theme in the usual way that a lot of these types of films do, but it added more dimension and complexity in portraying 'Evil' more from the angle of Retribution or Punishment, which is a little different.

This movie had PRECISELY just the right tone that I really like with Horror films. It was stylized, but with just the right balance to give it an entertaining 'Punch' and yet, not so much (or so stupidly self-conscious) as to overdo it and ruin it, as happens often in many of today's Horror films. I am not familiar with this director, but I REALLY loved his approach to the material. He kept a good, tense edge on the proceedings, but allowed himself nice touches of style here and there. There were a few really effective jump scares too.

Just one thing... And this is just MY personal preference. But, what the HELL is the point of showing extended scenes of people brutally beating on others. Why...? It's mindless with absolutely NO entertainment value. It's not creative or clever in any way. Are we supposed to 'Get Off' on it...? In my lowly and wretched opinion, it's just pure, stupid brutality. BUT... other than FFing through just a few of these pointless and repetitive scenes, I truly found the film overall to be done very well and the acting was quite good. Just for my taste, I felt the violence was a little too much. To me, the story and atmosphere were strong enough not to needlessly rub our faces in the extreme violence so much. I think that so much of it begins to detract from the true strength of the film, which is NOT 'Torture Porn', but a strong, atmospheric Morality tale.

If you like your Horror films with a slight fanciful touch or based on religious themes, or more basically in this case a kind of Good vs. Evil morality tale, and you like a director who adds a REALLY nice artistic tonal style to the story, then I think you might find this clever and well written Horror film quite entertaining...