Deadliest Prey

• Written and Directed by David A. Prior
• November 1, 2013 (US)
• Based on characters created by David A. Prior and Richard Connell

A Vietnam War veteran must confront his nemesis who plans to broadcast his quest for revenge on the internet. At least the hero no longer looks like a surfer

Deadliest Prey. A sequel to Deadly Prey which is a minor cult film that most people didn’t know existed? Sure. Why not. They made a sequel to Samurai Cop. Unlike the latter, the former largely understands why enough people recall the first movie to make a sequel possible.

I have a soft spot for the grandpa/elderly action film and I’m always curious about a sequel to a very old film. This is both and does pretty much what the original did. Bad acting. Poor direction. Idiotic plot. The camera isn’t continually static and there are some interesting angles. The story is little more than a rehash of the first! This even has the ill fitting semi romantic music of the first. Once again it sounds like something straight out of elite 80s hotel lounge.

This brings back the two main players from the first film. Colonel Hogan (David Campbell) is released from Stalag 13, er, prison and immediately goes and kidnaps his nemesis Mike Danton (Ted Prior). Apparently starting a camp to hunt and kill people only gets you twenty something years in prison.

Surfer dude Mike Danton that is better than the best looks a bit rusty. He’s distracted by a man asking for directions, and somebody walks up close enough to punch him square in the face. In an action comedy that is okay but in a wannabe Rambo: First Blood Part II not so much.

There are these hackers that are totally out of place and probably worse actors than many of the returning cast members. I don’t know if they’re meant to be humorous or they were just inserted in Deadliest Prey to stretch things out of touch. I don’t think they were added after the film was completed but I think their presence was added, after the initial script was completed. As characters they toss out buzzwords and lingo which to the unknowing even sounds wrong. Hogan wants the world to see his mighty vengeance so he has partnered with some shady tech bros to make that happen. That’s how the hackers become involved though I am not sure how that counts as hacking.

David Campbell as Colonel Hogan (and I can’t stop laughing at that name) is really giving the part his all. While he falls short with the slutty female hanger on Sophia (Tara Sanford Kleinpeter), Campbell is really good when he’s being evil with his subordinates or with Mike Danton. “I’ve killed more people than cancer” is a classic line in a not-so-classic movie.

The effects are what you get when a film with no budget is made. There is some green screen used in this for car rides and such. Danton shoots a helicopter out of the sky! It’s a fake (toy) helicopter. The thing is there’s no sound of a crash or flying debris. It looks really fake. Sometimes spending a little money for quality is worth it.

The attempts at gore are laughably cheesy. During the climax we see a man’s arm get severed like in the first film and the ultimate comeuppance of the main villain is him getting cut in half and I believe speared with a trap that the hero had just enough time to set up even though it’s complex he would say he shouldn’t have that level of time. I found it reminiscent of the disposition of Michael Myers in Halloween Ends because it was so thoroughly final with no possibility of return.

Deadliest Prey is as bad as the first one with some minor improvements. It only fixed the shortcomings of the first to make a better cult movie. It’s strangely enjoyable to me though I don’t think everyone will feel the same.