Prey for the Devil
Prey for the Devil
Starring Jacqueline Byers, Posy Taylor, Colin Salmon, Virginia Madsen
Directed by Daniel Stamm
Starring Jacqueline Byers, Posy Taylor, Colin Salmon, Virginia Madsen
Directed by Daniel Stamm
The idea of exorcism has existed for centuries, dating back to the Biblical times when Jesus walked the earth and cast demons out of innocent people practically on the daily, and clergy has been exercising demons out of victims ever since. While the idea of exorcism is as old as Biblical times, the execution of them has changed throughout the centuries. Back in the long, long ago, people had "demons" cast out of them when in reality they suffered from mental disorders or just issues that went against the general populous (such as homosexuality, promiscuous behaviors, etc.), but for some reason it seems that in recent times the claims of demon possessed people has only escalated. The church now works in tandem with the scientific community, taking each case under supervision and clinical study before they go in Bibles blazing, and still the cases continue to skyrocket. While the rest of the civilized world has opened their ideas to allowing women in the workplace, the Catholic Church still denies females the right to perform exorcisms, and "Prey for the Devil" tries to rectify that by showing what would happen if a woman could do it, but their message gets lost in the humdrum translation.
Sister Ann (Jacqueline Byers) wanted to become a nun so she can eventually perform exorcisms, because she feels that a demon has been chasing her ever since she was young through the possession of her mother, whom everyone else thought suffered from schizophrenia. At a Boston school for exorcists, she's denied study because it's only for the men, and she's relegated to being a nurse for the patients in the school who are under study to see if they're indeed possessed or suffering from mental disorders.
One such patient is Natalie (Posy Taylor), a young girl that Sister Ann takes a liking to, and worries for her safety. After she's attacked by a demonic presence, Father Quinn (Colin Salmon) allows Sister Ann to sit in on his exorcism lectures to protect herself and others, and she learns that Natalie has been taken to the basement for the students to perform an exorcism on. It fails, but Sister Ann seems to reach Natalie regardless, making her think there might be a different way to approach exorcisms. Taking this into account, she sets out to free Natalie from the demon inside her, and finding out that the demon wants something more - it's been waiting for Sister Ann since she was a child, and it won't stop until it gets what it wants.
"Prey for the Devil" attempts to do something different in that it includes a female performing an exorcism, but the delivery, the performances, and the story overall has the "been there done that" feeling - something we've seen a dozen times before. It's not necessarily a bad movie, but it's not really good either - there's nothing to differentiate it from others, despite its unique premise, because it gets dolled down to a generic exorcism movie.
The heart of the film lies in Sister Ann, played by Jacqueline Byers, and while she has a tough-as-nails exterior, that's really all you get out of her. She doesn't have the acting chops to perform to the level of a horror movie, because she never seems phased by anything. A girl she cares for is climbing the walls and forming eyes out of her hands? Eh. Another woman's empty stomach starts rising like a baby is inside? Seen it before. Ceiling fan blades fly off and almost kill her? That's happened before. Nothing seems to shake her, except the thought that the "voice" inside her mother is coming for her - but even then that's why she joined the convent, in hopes of eventually finding and destroying it, or at least I think that's what she was planning. It's not really explicitly stated what her main objective is, but you already know the outcome, and Byers fails to light the proverbial fire under our feet to really care with expediency about the events happening.
Said events are painfully executed with cheap CGI effects and utilizing the setting's dark exterior to try to convey some sort of dread, but fails on every level to incite even the smallest amount of fear in the audience. It's painfully dull to get through, and you'll spend your time wondering what you'll be doing after it ends, and thinking of the plethora of other, more substantial, things you could've been doing instead - like clipping your toenails, clipping someone else's toenails, or watching paint dry. All these things would be exponentially more exciting than "Prey for the Devil," where the only praying that'll be done is you praying for it to end.
The Score: D
Sister Ann (Jacqueline Byers) wanted to become a nun so she can eventually perform exorcisms, because she feels that a demon has been chasing her ever since she was young through the possession of her mother, whom everyone else thought suffered from schizophrenia. At a Boston school for exorcists, she's denied study because it's only for the men, and she's relegated to being a nurse for the patients in the school who are under study to see if they're indeed possessed or suffering from mental disorders.
One such patient is Natalie (Posy Taylor), a young girl that Sister Ann takes a liking to, and worries for her safety. After she's attacked by a demonic presence, Father Quinn (Colin Salmon) allows Sister Ann to sit in on his exorcism lectures to protect herself and others, and she learns that Natalie has been taken to the basement for the students to perform an exorcism on. It fails, but Sister Ann seems to reach Natalie regardless, making her think there might be a different way to approach exorcisms. Taking this into account, she sets out to free Natalie from the demon inside her, and finding out that the demon wants something more - it's been waiting for Sister Ann since she was a child, and it won't stop until it gets what it wants.
"Prey for the Devil" attempts to do something different in that it includes a female performing an exorcism, but the delivery, the performances, and the story overall has the "been there done that" feeling - something we've seen a dozen times before. It's not necessarily a bad movie, but it's not really good either - there's nothing to differentiate it from others, despite its unique premise, because it gets dolled down to a generic exorcism movie.
The heart of the film lies in Sister Ann, played by Jacqueline Byers, and while she has a tough-as-nails exterior, that's really all you get out of her. She doesn't have the acting chops to perform to the level of a horror movie, because she never seems phased by anything. A girl she cares for is climbing the walls and forming eyes out of her hands? Eh. Another woman's empty stomach starts rising like a baby is inside? Seen it before. Ceiling fan blades fly off and almost kill her? That's happened before. Nothing seems to shake her, except the thought that the "voice" inside her mother is coming for her - but even then that's why she joined the convent, in hopes of eventually finding and destroying it, or at least I think that's what she was planning. It's not really explicitly stated what her main objective is, but you already know the outcome, and Byers fails to light the proverbial fire under our feet to really care with expediency about the events happening.
Said events are painfully executed with cheap CGI effects and utilizing the setting's dark exterior to try to convey some sort of dread, but fails on every level to incite even the smallest amount of fear in the audience. It's painfully dull to get through, and you'll spend your time wondering what you'll be doing after it ends, and thinking of the plethora of other, more substantial, things you could've been doing instead - like clipping your toenails, clipping someone else's toenails, or watching paint dry. All these things would be exponentially more exciting than "Prey for the Devil," where the only praying that'll be done is you praying for it to end.
The Score: D
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