Review: Prey (2009)

A bunch of surfie friends (a mixture of Aussies and Americans, curiously) head to the outback (WTF? Sounds like someone failed geography at school...) and after getting a map and some weird necklace from a mystically-inclined hobo (Nicholas Bell), decide to head to his ‘watering hole’. Bad decision, as they awaken some bad spirits who unleash hell on the travellers one by one. Couple no. 1 are doctor Natalie Bassingthwaighte (who has just found out she’s pregnant) and Jesse Johnson. Couple no. 2 are typical larrikin Christian Clark and his intriguingly ethnically mysterious girlfriend Natalie Walker. Couple no. 3 aren’t really a couple, ditzy hippie Kristin Sargent and her gay bestie Ben Kermode.

I know why I watched this, and you know why I watched this. It’s because although it was rumoured that a planned lesbian shower scene was scrapped, there’s enough indecision out there to suggest that maybe, just maybe it’s actually in the film after all. Well, I’ll set the record straight (so to speak) immediately. No, there is not a lesbian shower scene in this film. There is a shower scene by star Bassingthwaighte and another female is watching her, clearly sexually aroused, but that’s it. But, and it’s a reasonable but (get it? Oh shut up!), there is some rather strong lesbian overtones throughout, and the final scene, whilst hardly Jess Franco (“Vampyros Lesbos”) territory, gives you more Sapphic action than the film’s naysayers would have you believe.

With that business out of the way, let me tell you that this 2009 supernaturally/mystically-inclined Aussie genre picture is pretty ordinary, but not as cataclysmically awful as I had heard. The cinematography by Andrew Topp, whilst in a washed-out fashion I’m not keen on, is nonetheless quite interesting and really nice at times. In fact, Topp seems to experiment with different kinds of photographic styles throughout (Not to mention that it’s edited in the MTV fashion, but that’s a negative in my view), and manages to make the outback- often filmed to look vaguely otherworldly- look like a completely different planet! Plus, Bassingthwaighte shows mucho cleavage, which is nice. Her obvious no-nudity clause, is less nice. And why the film’s director has adopted the clearly fake, and frankly stupid moniker of Oscar D’Roccster, is one for the ages (I’ve heard it’s the name of a crew member’s cat and that the real director, possibly George “Man From Snowy River”-not “Babe”- Miller, walked off the project).

The main problem with it (aside from some dodgy FX and some Aussie actors adopting American accents in a film set and filmed in Australia) is that for about 80% of the film’s less-than-90 minutes running time, nothing happens. Nothing at all. But credit where it’s due, the film’s unlike any Australian film I’ve seen in a very long time (it’s reminiscent of some of the flicks made in the 70s and 80s that included indigenous mysticism like “The Shout”), it’s really different. I can’t recommend the film at all, but it’s not as horrid as I anticipated and...it’s got something, the basic idea is workable.

Awesome bit where a guy’s head pretty much explodes, ala “Big Trouble in Little China”. I particularly appreciated that whilst impossibly attractive, the cast looked to be in their 30s, rather than the bland twenty-somethings we get in most other horror films these days. Not that these characters were any smarter, I mean yeah, give the creepy-looking guy $20 for a map and some shitty pebbles, and go to his ‘watering hole’ (not a dirty euphemism, but it’d be kinda funny if it was). That’s such a smart decision. And ultimately, the performances are pretty bland, even Johnson, son of Don. He looks just like him and acts just like him. Not a compliment, folks, not a compliment. Bassingthwaighte (who became a bit of a punching bag over this for a few minutes, but I think that’s a case of ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’) is a talent, but not so much on evidence here. Walker, however, shows some charisma and is kinda hot.

The rock/industrial score by Dale Cornelius is a bit of an odd fit. It needed more of a pub rock vibe or Aussie surfie music. Overall, as I’m fond of saying, this film could’ve been something, but it’s not.

Rating: C