Toby (Logan Miller); trauma survivor and participant in the ‘Lost and Found Program’; a kind of therapy that places troubled youths on remote islands where they are encouraged to reflect on themselves and their troubles, soon finds he is being stalked by some sort of preternatural presence and it’s going to take a whole lotta doing to survive this retreat!
Thankfully he is joined by Madeleine (Kristine Froseth); a young woman raised on the island by her explorer-type parents. This lethal lady has survival skills and is good with a bow and arrow… but, her mother is not what she seems, and Maddie may have a secret or two of her own.
Along the way we learn tidbits of the horrendous history of the island as Toby struggles to keep the beast at bay. Good luck kiddo.
So what does Prey have going for it? Well the narrative, while derivative of The Most Dangerous Game, is mostly well-paced, loaded with suspense, and full of engaging mystery as to just what the deal is with this damned island. Speaking of which, the mythology and world building we do get is pretty solid, and co-writer (along with David Coggeshall)/director Franck Khalfoun makes the entire affair seem plausible.
Adding to that is the solid performances from Miller and Froseth. Both characters come from a background of losing a father, and both bring great emotional strength to their roles, and the island setting is beautiful while still maintaining a dangerous edge.
All of that is well and good, but I know what you are really wondering; how cool is the monster in this creature-feature? well, I’m happy to report that when you eventually catch a glimpse of the damned thing it is incredibly well done; all horns, fangs and evil intent, so A-fuckin’-plus there cats n’ creeps!
If anything holds this one back it’s that it does drag here and there, and as stated before, this is a riff on The Most Dangerous Game, and that is a revoltin’ road that is well traveled indeed.
So the feature presentation is decent enough, how do the bonus features on this DVD stack up? There aren’t any, so who fuckin’ knows. As a plus, my job just got exponentially easier…
Prey is a solid lil’ creature feature with a cool monster and some interesting elements at play… I doubt it’ll become your fav fright flick or anything, but it’s definitely worth a wicked watch!