Let Us Prey

I was surprised. This Indie film is great! I'm a very critical viewer and the IMDb rating of 5.6 didn't offer much encouragement. The odd thing is, a number of those reviewers admitted to liking it (so much for the rating system).

The plot of this comes straight out of those Amicus movies (From Beyond the Grave, etc.) as a mysterious stranger arrives at a small-town nick where pretty soon all Hell breaks lose. The acting is fine, the effects effective, script and direction good, and there's a nice nod to John Carpenter with the soundtrack. If you like the better Carpenter movies, you'll probably like this one. Oh, and something a few IMDb reviewers agreed on: they loved the end. So did I.

...from director Brian O'Malley. It's Rachel's (Pollyanna McIntosh) first night as a policewoman in a new town, and when a mysterious stranger (Liam Cunnigham) is brought into the police station, all Hell breaks loose, and the sins of the prisoners and the police officers come back to haunt them.

There's a lot of style on display, from the music to the moody widescreen cinematography. The performances from the leads Liam Cunningham and Pollyanna McIntosh are very good, and raise the material up a few points. The violence depicted is very graphic, almost to a comical degree at times, and the script could have used a little more polishing, as the mid-section, with frequent time-jumps and location changes, is disorienting. Still, this was better than many of the horror films of recent years, and I enjoyed the ending. Filmed in Scotland and Ireland.

Wow, I REALLY liked this film! I could tell Immediately that I liked the feel of it. The first several shots alone are to die for. Seriously, they were stunning and beautiful. I instantly liked the soundtrack, the cinematography, and the tone that the director set for the film. I could tell right away that this was my kind of movie. Even the lighting of the main street was exquisite and reminded me a LOT of the way Bava would light his sets with otherworldly blues and reds, setting the perfect tone for this Good vs. Evil 'Morality' tale. Nicely done...

I have always liked religiously themed Horror films. I really dig the Prophetic or Biblically based stuff (movies like 'THE PROPHECY' or 'THE SEVENTH SIGN', for example) Although this film isn't as overtly religious as those, it is based upon similar themes. What I felt made this movie particularly intriguing was that it didn't treat the Good vs. Evil theme in the usual way that a lot of these types of films do, but it added more dimension and complexity in portraying 'Evil' more from the angle of Retribution or Punishment, which is a little different.

This movie had PRECISELY just the right tone that I really like with Horror films. It was stylized, but with just the right balance to give it an entertaining 'Punch' and yet, not so much (or so stupidly self-conscious) as to overdo it and ruin it, as happens often in many of today's Horror films. I am not familiar with this director, but I REALLY loved his approach to the material. He kept a good, tense edge on the proceedings, but allowed himself nice touches of style here and there. There were a few really effective jump scares too.

Just one thing... And this is just MY personal preference. But, what the HELL is the point of showing extended scenes of people brutally beating on others. Why...? It's mindless with absolutely NO entertainment value. It's not creative or clever in any way. Are we supposed to 'Get Off' on it...? In my lowly and wretched opinion, it's just pure, stupid brutality. BUT... other than FFing through just a few of these pointless and repetitive scenes, I truly found the film overall to be done very well and the acting was quite good. Just for my taste, I felt the violence was a little too much. To me, the story and atmosphere were strong enough not to needlessly rub our faces in the extreme violence so much. I think that so much of it begins to detract from the true strength of the film, which is NOT 'Torture Porn', but a strong, atmospheric Morality tale.

If you like your Horror films with a slight fanciful touch or based on religious themes, or more basically in this case a kind of Good vs. Evil morality tale, and you like a director who adds a REALLY nice artistic tonal style to the story, then I think you might find this clever and well written Horror film quite entertaining...

The plot of "Let Us Prey" might very well be derivative and predictable (I can already list at least 5 similar titles without even thinking too hard), but debuting writer/director Brian O'Malley nevertheless managed to deliver a compelling, brutal and sinisterly atmospheric horror/thriller. Straight from the eerie opening sequences – with a particular fascination for black birds, by the way – you'll immediately notice that O'Malley must be a tremendous genre lover and definitely knows the classics. The script borrows all kind of ideas and elements from different horror sub genres, from raw 70's grindhouse features to grotesquely silly 80's slashers, but somehow everything neatly and coherently interweaves into a tense and gruesome little film. Liam Cunningham, the extremely charismatic and marvelous actor who previously starred in "Dog Soldiers" and Dario Argento's "The Card Player", is well-cast as the mysterious stranger (complete with beard and clichéd long raincoat) who comes wandering into the police precinct of a quiet and remote Irish community. He seems to know an awful lot about the darkest secrets of everyone that is there – cops as well as petty criminals – and clearly intents to penalize them and mess up their minds beyond repair. It's up to Constable Rachel Heggie, on her very first night at a new location, to deal with the overload of maniacal tendencies that suddenly come to the surface. The Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Films promoted "Let Us Prey" as a – and I quote – demonic version of John Carpenter's "Assault on Precinct 13". That is actually a rather apt description, and I can also add the film is properly produced and brings forward impressive special effects, make-up art and a handful of cool stunts. The primarily stern plot makes a couple of absurd loops near the end, including the most derailed serial killer in recent cinema history, and admirers of harsh violence and explicit slaughter certainly won't be disappointed. Cunningham receives good and solid support from the rest of the cast, including powerful females Pollyanna McIntosh (watch "The Woman" if you dare) and Hanna Stanbridge, whom I already admired in the obscure "Outcast" and whose accent makes Irish sound like the sexiest language on earth.

A mysterious man hands himself into a police station in small town one night. It soon appears that he seems to know about the inner demons of everyone there, the cops and prisoners alike. All of these individuals have dark secrets it seems and the mystery man is the catalyst that brings them to the fore and drives them to further depravity and violence.

Let Us Prey is one of a small group of horror films set in Scotland. As it happens, two of its stars featured prominently in a couple of the other most notable Scottish set horrors of the last few years, namely Liam Cunningham who appeared in Dog Soldiers and Hanna Stanbridge so impressive as one of the main characters in The Outcast. In this one Cunningham has the central role of the mysterious demonic stranger, while Stanbridge gets to sink her teeth into a role of a female cop with a penchant for violence. She is not the only strong female character here though; Pollyanna McIntosh plays the other policewoman and is in fact the lead character to all intents and purposes. It is refreshing to have a genre picture give women more central roles; I have no idea why it doesn't happen more often. As it is McIntosh's cop is on her first night at this remote police station, the very night when things go horribly wrong. In this respect, the influence of John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 is pretty obvious. In addition, the electronic soundtrack used here sounds very Carpenteresque too, which was also nice.

It's a pretty modest production but it makes the most of what it has. The cast all acquit themselves very well and make the most of their characters. The direction is pacey and nicely stylised in places. I particularly liked the opening credit sequence with images of giant waves and sinister ravens. It maybe could be argued that the film doesn't perhaps ultimately go into as interesting places as it promises it might and it does get a little generic towards the end. But it is still different enough to ensure it is interesting. It also has the distinction of having a central demonic villain who is not one dimensionally evil; he's just a guy with a job to do.