Devil's Prey | Ashley Jones, Charlie O'Connell

Devil's Prey | Ashley Jones, Charlie O'Connell | Not As Bad As You Would Think

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Devil's Prey

	Devil's Prey Ashley Jones, Charlie O'Connell Lions Gate, 2001 average customer review:based on 11 reviews
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GOOD

during the summer on sci fi at like 3 in the morning, i watched this movie, for a movie that looks kinda B- ish, and not the best quality, I really enjoyed it, Its a typical college teen type thing when they go to a rave party that has satan worshippers around it, and they dress up with masks and robes and chase them around, killing and trying to make sacrifices, I think it is worth buying, kus i only saw the t.v. version, and thought it was really really good, so i would Definatly buy this film!

Not As Bad As You Would Think

Somewhere inside me there's always going to be a place for lesser known horror movies. Whether they be low budget b-movies (Shark Attack 2!), horribly written 80's slasher flicks (oh Slumber Party Massacre), or just downright awful attempts at being scary and coming off incredibly cheesy (my god Cheerleader Camp). For some reason I just seem to be drawn to these movies. They are by no means the best films ever created, but there's something about them that distinctly separates them from the Hollywood mass. "Devil's Prey" is one of those films. Truth be told the only reason I even decided to watch this movie was because it was a Lion's Gate Films movie, and to my knowledge I have never seen a LGF film I didn't like. And after the 88 minutes of "Devil's Prey" are over, I felt the exact same way I did when I watched other LGF films like "Cabin Fever" and "100 Girls". While it has its fair share of problems, "Devil's Prey" will be an entertaining viewing experience for anyone interested in the horror/suspense genre of films, or who has come to be interested in one of the finest film companies around. But please don't expect this movie to be ground breaking or utterly unique.

The story follows a group of five friends, Joe, Eric, Chris, Susan and Sam, who after getting off work for the night get an invitation to a rave being held out in the middle of nowhere from a person passing them out on the street. Unfortunately for them they decide to take the people up on their open invitation and head out to the party. While each has their own motivations for attending the rave(Chris (Craig Dawson) to sell drugs, Joe (Rashaan Nall) to hook up with girls, Same (Jennifer Lyons) to hook up with guys) no one could have expected what they would be getting themselves into. After getting into a fight at the rave, the five leave and proceed to head home, until a mysterious van begins stalking them and attempts to run them off the road. After narrowly escaping the van, the five accidently "run" into Fawn (the incredibly sexy Elena Lyons) who claims to have escaped from the group who was chasing the five. Turns out the people after them are called "The Shadows", a group of Satanists whom intended to sacrifice Fawn to Lucifer. The five take Fawn with them, only to run into The Shadows yet again, and have their car destroyed. Turns out The Shadows not only want Fawn, but Susan and Sam as well. From there the group must do anything to survive and get help for not only themselves, but the now badly injured Fawn. And of course you know more than a few of them are going to lose their lives in the process.

For a script that looks like this, you could almost imagine this movie would be absolutely terrible. However the writers took the idea and simply ran with it. The end result was a fairly well (not astounding though) written plot, that has many twists and turns, and will constantly keep you guessing right up until the climax. There were quite a bit of moments in the movie where I found myself extremely surprised and pleased, although after thinking about it afterwards, I should have obviously seen it coming. The three main actresses, Ashley Jones (Susan), Jennifer Lyons (Sam) and Elena Lyons (Fawn), are all extremely talented, and very nice to look at for the whole movie. The three main actors, Eric (Bryan Kirkwood), Chris (Craig Dawson) and Joe (Rashaan Nall), do well with their roles. Overall the acting talent is not bad, especially for the cast being more or less unknown. The parts of each character aren't necessarily the most well written, but the actors attempt to do what they can with what they're given, and it works pretty well. There's not a lot of graphic violence (some occasional murders with a large knife and such), but there are a few suspenseful moments which make the movie much more enjoyable. Some of the violence also takes place off screen, which leaves your imagination to do the work on what really happened. This actually adds a lot to scenes like the intro or Joe's murder. The townspeople are also genuinely creepy. I mean I know the stupid redneck cult town idea is totally played out by now, but "Devil's Prey" knows the secrets to making it work it seems. One of my favorite lines of the movie is when the old waitress in the diner tells Chris and Sam, "Don't worry you'll be eaten soon enough."

But the movie definitely has some problems. First it plays on cliches way too much. First you have your typical redneck town which the fivesome is forced to travel to after being stranded in the woods, and you can instantly tell that there is something up with everyone. There's the oblivious know it all sheriff who believes the kids were really behind it all and trying to cover up the murders (The happiest moment of the movie for me was when the Pastor shot him in the face, oh sweet justice). Also some things are just way too obviously stupid. I mean when Joe gets hit by the van in the road, his friends simply jump in the bushes off to the side, and let the shadows grab him and throw him in their van (where they eventually take him off and murder him). I don't know about you, but if a vicious group of satanic murders were chasing me and they were trying to take one of my friends away to potentially murder him or her, I would at least attempt to save them. Too bad they just watch. Poor Joe. Some of the violence is incredibly cheesy. When Fawn beats the Shadow member to death with the club, I couldn't help but laugh. Oh and the end scene with the Pastor is just hilarious. And don't get me started about "The Shadows" themselves. First not only do they wear the most incredibly cheesy masks of all time (only rivaled by the horrendous one in "Valentine") they carry no weapons or anything that would make them remotely intimidating. I mean I wouldn't run from a bunch of trick or treaters with flash lights, like the heroes in this movie do. Oh well. But if you can overlook these flaws, the movie is actually quite entertaining.

Whether or not "Devil's Prey" is the best horror movie ever made, is not even an issue. It's not. It's not perfect either, but in the end, it's not really meant to be. Coming down too harshly on it like many reviewers have is really going to make you miss the good things about the film. It's not without its flaws, but "Devil's Prey" is a solid movie, from a great film company, that always makes films they know their fans will enjoy. I was and still am a huge LGF fan, and most likely will be for a long time. If there's a place in your heart for lesser known films, especially of the horror variety, then I would recommend this film with the utmost regard. Some can trash it or write it off, but those who do are missing the purpose that the film was made for, and that is to entertain. And on that note, this movie does just that.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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