The Prey main backdrop
The Prey main poster

4.3/10 • 51

1983-11-041h 36m

Horror

It's not human, and it's got an axe!

Three couples go on a camping trip in the woods of southern California during the summer, where a deformed man is stalking their camp.

Directors
Edwin Brown
Editors
Michael Barnard

Top Billed Cast

View Credits
  1. Debbie Thureson

    Debbie Thureson

    Nancy

  2. Steve Bond

    Steve Bond

    Joel

  3. Lori Lethin

    Lori Lethin

    Bobbie

  4. Robert Wald

    Robert Wald

    Skip

  5. Gayle Gannes

    Gayle Gannes

    Gail

  6. Philip Wenckus

    Philip Wenckus

    Greg

  7. Jackson Bostwick

    Jackson Bostwick

    Mark O'Brien

  8. Jackie Coogan

    Jackie Coogan

    Lester Tile

  9. Connie Hunter

    Connie Hunter

    Mary Sylvester

Reviews2

View Reviews
Charles Tatum Avatar

Charles Tatum

Jul 15, 2023

2/10

Sure, most of the slasher films of the 1980's were not worth the celluloid they were filmed on, but this video nightmare may well be one of the dullest produced. Six horny, pot-smoking students decide to go camping. Of course, and you know this already, they begin getting killed one by one by a mysterious stranger. The climax has a hunky forest ranger trying to get to the teens in time before the last cute girl becomes buzzard bait. John Carl Buechler did the lousy makeup effects. The cast features Carel Struycken, of "The Witches of Eastwick" and the live-action Addams Family movies. He does not pop up until the very end of the film, and is covered in burn makeup, rendering him unrecognizable. Steve Bond has an early role as a victim. Brown's direction, and the script he co-wrote, both smell like the presents brown bears leave in the woods. He pads the film with so much stock wilderness footage, I thought I accidentally rented an episode of "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom". The cast sit around the campfire and eat, then walk, and sit and eat again. The forest ranger is involved in the strangest scene ever put in a slasher film: he tells a joke about a wide mouthed frog to a baby deer. Jackie Coogan, who must have forgot he once worked with the legends of silent cinema, has two scenes, and is involved in the second strangest scene ever put in a slasher film: he and the hunky forest ranger have a conversation about cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches on oatmeal bread...yeah. There is not one minute of suspense. The killer watches the students from behind trees. We know it is the killer because the film makers have dubbed in a heart beat sound effect that serves to wake the viewer up every few minutes. Skip this pile of pine sap and watch "Halloween," instead.

Media

  • The Prey poster
  • The Prey poster
  • The Prey poster
  • The Prey poster
  • The Prey poster
  • The Prey poster
  • The Prey poster
  • The Prey poster
  • The Prey poster

Recommendations

  • Color Out of Space main backdrop

    Color Out of Space

    6.0

  • Curtains main backdrop

    Curtains

    5.3

  • The Battle of Midway main backdrop

    The Battle of Midway

    5.8

  • The Lady from the Shanghai Cinema main backdrop

    The Lady from the Shanghai Cinema

    5.5

  • Dune main backdrop

    Dune

    7.8

  • Barbie main backdrop

    Barbie

    7.0

  • Spider-Man: No Way Home main backdrop

    Spider-Man: No Way Home

    7.9

  • Conclave main backdrop

    Conclave

    7.2

  • Oppenheimer main backdrop

    Oppenheimer

    8.1

  • Knives Out main backdrop

    Knives Out

    7.8

  • 2001: A Space Odyssey main backdrop

    2001: A Space Odyssey

    8.1

  • Joker main backdrop

    Joker

    8.1

  • La La Land main backdrop

    La La Land

    7.9

  • Where the Crawdads Sing main backdrop

    Where the Crawdads Sing

    7.6

  • The Gray Man main backdrop

    The Gray Man

    6.9

  • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring main backdrop

    The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

    8.4

  • The Shawshank Redemption main backdrop

    The Shawshank Redemption

    8.7

  • Gladiator II main backdrop

    Gladiator II

    6.7

  • A Quiet Place main backdrop

    A Quiet Place

    7.4

  • Forrest Gump main backdrop

    Forrest Gump

    8.5

Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
campingwoodsslasher