Prey, the (1980)

It's not human and it's got an axe! It's cheap and campy, it's ugly and thirsty... it's slasher time. It's 1980 and the slasher genre is skyrocketing, mainly because of F13. It's an example for many slasher movies to come, one of them is The Prey. Also released in 1980, trying to breed on the succes of this subgenre. Does it succeed, or should it be left behind in the woods?

It all takes place somewhere in North Point where a group of six people is camping out in the woods. They just didn't expect to end up dead, or loved. You'll figure that out once you've seen it, it's quite funny. Normally I can't do the story justice with just one sentence, but this time it's obviously different. We all know it's not the selling point for slasher films or even horror in general for that matter..

We only care about the killing with the additional creepy and/or funny vibe. In this case it's the first. It combines the always lurking fear with lots of nature shots which gives it the perfect 'no man's land' feeling. Adding the well-known POV-shots and some cool (maybe even out of place) slowmotion near the end. It can't get any cheaper at this point, but that's just part of the fun.

There's not a whole lot to be shocked by, or suprised. Though I'm really excited about how they integrated the nature in almost every kill. Ranging from abseiling to giving head to a tree (quite literally). It's hard to recommend this when it's really not that good. I kinda choose to remember the cool stuff and forget about the bad spots. And it has quite a few of those.

It's fairly slow paced and even though it has lots of scenes revolving around the characters, you never get to know any of them. It's like you're observating a group of people talking to eachother without ever knowing what it's all about while constantly wondering why you should care. Normally a film focusses on one subject which they discuss, now I found myself listening to a bunch of people producing different kinds of bull shit through their mouths.

The ending is satisfying though. It, of course, reveals the killer and the motive. Probably as 80's as it gets, with his monsterous appereance and clumsyness. Gotta love it! It's not one of my favorite slashers, not even close to be honest, but it's worth your time when you think you've seen them all. The lack of budget doesn't stop this freak from messing up an innocent group of campers.

Score: 74/100