Let Us Prey

When director Brian O'Malley introduced his new film, Let Us Prey, via a prerecording in front of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival he informed us that his intention was to make a timeless horror classic. To accomplish this, he set on out to deliver a film that could not be dated (watching Let Us Prey ten years from now and there is nothing in the fashion, look or feel of the film that would immediately reference 2014) and that had a synthesizer styled score reminiscent of the great John Carpenter films of the 1970's and 80's. Check and check.

Let Us Prey stars Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones) as Six, a mysterious drifter who is hit by a vehicle driven by Caesar (Brian Vernel) on a quiet town road. Casear is immediately taken into custody by first-day-on-the-job Constable Rachel Heggie (Pollyanna McIntosh), but Cunningham's Six character cryptically disappears. It is while at the police station we are introduced to the remainder of the cast which includes a Sargent, two Constables that are lustfully engaged, a wife beating prisoner and a doctor who is called to assist when Six suddenly appears at the front door of the station.

The veteran Constables and Sargent do not immediately warm up to the by-the-book newbie in Rachel, but their personal feelings towards her routine are quickly swept to the side once Six begins to instigate mayhem in the prison taking over the minds and souls of all those with a dark past to hide. And this is when the fun really starts.

Each character shows a history of violence in their backstories from the simple (hit and run) to the extreme (mass murderer) and when a prior transgression is revealed, Six is there to ensure their life pays for their wrongdoing.

With a backdrop of a fantastic musical score (as promised) there are fights, shootings, beatings, murders and attempted murders as things at the station escalate quickly and deadly for all those involved.

Cunningham is a standout and plays the mysterious Six with devilish glee. The film hinges on Cunningham's character and the well-trained thespian delivers the goods with a Clint Eastwood cool. Pollyanna McIntosh is equal to the task as the freshman fish-out-of-water new Constable. She is equally beautiful and tough and McIntosh walks this line with the ease of a veteran.

The story goes a bit off the rails towards the end as some of the character's revealed background stories and subsequent actions are a bit 'out there'. But it is a means to an end to heighten the violence and give the audience the good time expected from the action/horror intention.

Let Us Prey was a surprise delight and the perfect way to begin winding down the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. It was violent and fun and the ending opened the door to a multitude of possibilities and, hopefully, sequels.

www.killerreviews.com

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!

I was surprised. This Indie film is great! I'm a very critical viewer and the IMDb rating of 5.6 didn't offer much encouragement. The odd thing is, a number of those reviewers admitted to liking it (so much for the rating system).

The plot of this comes straight out of those Amicus movies (From Beyond the Grave, etc.) as a mysterious stranger arrives at a small-town nick where pretty soon all Hell breaks lose. The acting is fine, the effects effective, script and direction good, and there's a nice nod to John Carpenter with the soundtrack. If you like the better Carpenter movies, you'll probably like this one. Oh, and something a few IMDb reviewers agreed on: they loved the end. So did I.

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...

The plot of "Let Us Prey" might very well be derivative and predictable (I can already list at least 5 similar titles without even thinking too hard), but debuting writer/director Brian O'Malley nevertheless managed to deliver a compelling, brutal and sinisterly atmospheric horror/thriller. Straight from the eerie opening sequences – with a particular fascination for black birds, by the way – you'll immediately notice that O'Malley must be a tremendous genre lover and definitely knows the classics. The script borrows all kind of ideas and elements from different horror sub genres, from raw 70's grindhouse features to grotesquely silly 80's slashers, but somehow everything neatly and coherently interweaves into a tense and gruesome little film. Liam Cunningham, the extremely charismatic and marvelous actor who previously starred in "Dog Soldiers" and Dario Argento's "The Card Player", is well-cast as the mysterious stranger (complete with beard and clichéd long raincoat) who comes wandering into the police precinct of a quiet and remote Irish community. He seems to know an awful lot about the darkest secrets of everyone that is there – cops as well as petty criminals – and clearly intents to penalize them and mess up their minds beyond repair. It's up to Constable Rachel Heggie, on her very first night at a new location, to deal with the overload of maniacal tendencies that suddenly come to the surface. The Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Films promoted "Let Us Prey" as a – and I quote – demonic version of John Carpenter's "Assault on Precinct 13". That is actually a rather apt description, and I can also add the film is properly produced and brings forward impressive special effects, make-up art and a handful of cool stunts. The primarily stern plot makes a couple of absurd loops near the end, including the most derailed serial killer in recent cinema history, and admirers of harsh violence and explicit slaughter certainly won't be disappointed. Cunningham receives good and solid support from the rest of the cast, including powerful females Pollyanna McIntosh (watch "The Woman" if you dare) and Hanna Stanbridge, whom I already admired in the obscure "Outcast" and whose accent makes Irish sound like the sexiest language on earth.