As horror films go, Prey has all the requisite ingredients: troubled, confused teens, low lighting, jump scares, and a voodoo-esk back story we’ve seen in similar horror films and heard around campfires. After his father is knifed to death in a carjacking, troubled 17-year-old Toby (Logan Miller) needs a bit of counseling. To help him get his head screwed on, he’s forced to spend three nights alone on one of hundreds of uninhabited islands.
It’s the last leg of a challenge in an outdoor adventure program. Why the powers that be chose to subject a troubled teen to this kind of isolation is one of many head-scratchers. But hey, it’s a horror film so why digress? Who cares if the poor kid never had any real survival training?
Initially, the island comes across as a beautiful paradise–lush greenery, fabulous beach, even a waifish teen, Madeleine (Kristine Froseth). Scantily clad, she teaches the young lad some survival skills—avoiding snakes, cooking small animals and eating mush off large green leaves. But it’s all prelude to this Island’s nasty little secret, revealed with the requisite fierce intensity by Madeleine’s mother (Jolene Anderson). We learn of the dark underbelly of this paradise, where muddy little natives carry sharp spears and wear large, toothy masks. It’s a forbidden culture that has consumed Madeleine and her family for years—since they first landed on the island.
Directed by Franck Khalfoun and penned by David Coggeshall and Khalfoun, “Prey” does a good job as a horror flick. You’ve got your dark jungle scenes, torch-lit things moving spookily in the dark and enough subsonic sounds to convince you you’re not watching a Disney film. There’s also no shortage of jump scares—big ugly things with long sharp teeth—designed to stop you from taking a bite of the candy bar you snuck into the theater.
“Prey” is all good fun with the suspension of disbelief just shy of a UFO sighting. Released direct to video and select theaters on September 27th.
Alex A. Kecskes is a published author of "Healer a Novel" and "The Search for Dr. Noble"—both now available on Amazon. He has written hundreds of film reviews and celebrity interviews for a wide variety of online and print outlets. He has covered red carpet premieres and Comic-Con events for major films and independent releases.
