#debbie thureson

[likeafantasy]

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN 1980's edition — (12/31) ↳ The Prey (1983)

[pierppasolini]

The Prey (1984) // dir. Edwin Brown

[classichorrorblog]

The Prey
Directed by Edwin Brown (1983)

[loveboatinsanity]

[ladamarossa]

The Prey (1983)

[cinemasentries]

Lori Lethin and Debbie Thureson in The Prey (1983)

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Prey (1983)

Re-evaluating 1983's The Prey, I've realized I was far too generous when I gave 1 out of 5 stars in 2012. Throw this movie in the trash, then dump your used cat litter on it. It could only improve the aroma that emanates from this horror film when you hit "play".

Three couples go into the wilderness for a weekend of swimming, camping, rock climbing, and frolicking. Too bad there’s a killer after them! Joel (Steve Bond), Nancy (Debbie Thureson), Bobbie (Lori Lethin), Skip (Robert Wald), Greg (Philip Wenckus), Gail (Gayle Gannes), and forest ranger Mark (Jackson Bostwick) are in for a weekend they’ll never forget… if they make it out alive at all!

The acting is ok, at best. When we actually see blood spilled, the effects are alright - I suppose. The monster looks pretty good. That’s all I can credit the fil for. I would praise the cinematography for its nice expanses of wilderness, but it's all clearly stock footage. The idea must've been to show how cutthroat nature can be by showing animals preying on each other - what fate awaits these people then? - but it isn't successful at all. Instead, you’ll only be distracted, trying to guess how many documentaries this film pulled images from. I counted footage of 20 different animals! You’d rather watch those animals than a long scene in which Ranger Mark plays his banjo though, I don’t know what that was about.

Even going in with low expectations won't save you from disappointment. The film's characters are just so dumb. Either that or the tagline of this film should be “In the forest, no one can hear you scream”. When they’re not wandering around wondering where their friends have disappeared to in the middle of the night, these half-wits are tripping over themselves sitting paralyzed on the ground while the killer (who they try and sell as some kind of forest monster/yeti creature but is obviously isn't) walks up to them.

Look at that cover. What do you see? “It’s not human, and it’s got an axe!” above a nice monochromatic illustration of a hatchet embedded into a… tree? It doesn't matter, as the whole thing is a lie. See, the film's killer IS human, and saying that it “has an axe” is basically a lie too, since it only uses an axe twice, both times off-screen, and as a weapon of opportunity!

You can’t even enjoy The Prey ironically. While, it gets a little sleazy in that fun horror movie way with a bit of nudity and a couple of dead people killed in somewhat humorous ways (one person gets their head twisted all the way around) but all that enjoyment is soured at the end. We have mystery slasher films (Friday the 13th, Sleepaway Camp). We have supernatural slasher films (Nightmare on Elm Street, It Follows). This falls into another sub-genre, the “Mountain Man” slasher films. Not quite the "Backwoods Killer Hillbilly" story, these always end with the male monster saving the final girl so they can breed and continue its unholy lineage. If you want to employ the fear of sexual assault, that’s ok, but don’t toss it in willy nilly!

All this to say The Prey is a waste of time. I don’t recommend it. I’d even say I hate it. Even more for the fact that I’ve now seen it twice and spent that much more effort giving it a proper review. The characters are just so stupid, the movie so cheap, the imagination so blatantly absent, and the ending is an insult. It's the equivalent of a prankster that sneaks into your room and leaves piles of soiled underwear for your mom to find on laundry day. It deserves a grudge be held against it. (On VHS, November 21, 2015)

[brokehorrorfan]

The Prey will be released on Blu-ray on September 17 via Arrow Video. It features a double-sided sleeve with art by Justin Osbourn (pictured below) on the reverse side.

Limited to 3,000 units, the two-disc edition features three versions of the film: the original US theatrical cut, the international cut, and a composite cut featuring footage from both.

The obscure slasher film was produced in 1980 but not released until it was picked up by New World Pictures in 1984. It’s directed by Edwin Brown and stars Debbie Thureson, Steve Bond, Lori Lethin, and Jackie Coogan.

The Prey has been newly restored in 2K from the original camera negative with the original, uncompressed mono audio. It also includes a booklet featuring new writing on the film by Arrow Films’ Ewan Cant. Read on for the extras.

Disc 1:

Filmmaker-approved US theatrical cut of the film

Audio commentary with producer Summer Brown (new)

Audio commentary with film historians Amanda Reyes and Ewan Cant (new)

Audio interview with director Edwin Scott Brown

Interview with actress Debbie Thureson (new)

Interview with actress Lori Lethin (new)

Interview with actor Carel Struycken (new)

Interview with actor Jackson Bostwick (new)

In Search of The Prey - Ewan Cant and actress Debbie Thureson revisit the original shooting locations in Idyllwild, California

Texas Frightmare Weekend 2019 panel with actors Lori Lethin, Carel Struycken, and Jackson Bostwick

Texas Frightmare Weekend 2019 audience reaction track

VHS trailer

TV spot

Original script (BD-ROM content)

Disc 2:

International cut of the film, featuring the infamous “gyspy flashback“ footage added by the producers with the original filmmakers’ consent

Composite cut of the film, combining footage from the US and international versions

45 minutes of of never-before-seen outtakes

Three young couples set off into the mountains for a weekend of climbing, drinking and lovemaking. But little do they know that they are stumbling into the terrain of a fearsome predator – a wild man, horrifically burned as a child many years ago in a fire which engulfed his gypsy camp and left only him alive. Now he roams the woods in search of his next human prey.

[thomwade]

Hunting Opener (The Prey, 1983)

Hunting Opener (The Prey, 1983)

Opening with a middle aged couple camping in the wood being being murdered after finishing their dinner, the credits play over a forest fire. The film  never makes it fully clear what this has to do with things.

This one is probably even more forgotten than the Burning, though they share a premise of a severely burned man stalking and killing people.  The film credits him as the Monster and the…

[cultfaction]

Preview- The Prey (Bluray)

Preview- The Prey (Bluray)

It s not human, and it s got an axe! One of the most underrated efforts to hail from the slice-and-dice boom, The Prey at last emerges from the VHS wilderness in a brand new 2K restoration from the recently unearthed original camera negative.

Three young couples set off into the mountains for a weekend of climbing, drinking and lovemaking. But little do they know that they are stumbling into the…

[moviesandmania]

The Prey (1980) is being released as an Arrow Video 2-disc Blu-ray

Arrow Video has announced that a brand new, extras-laden 2-disc Blu-ray restoration of the film (from the original, long-lost camera negative – including both the original US theatrical cut, and the much-celebrated extended “Gypsy Cut” – will be released later in 2019.

Details will be announced at this year’s Texas Frightmare Weekend, where stars Lori Lethin, Carel Struycken and Jackson Bostwick…

[gbhbl]

Horror Movie Review: The Prey (1983)

There is some imagination here but overall, there is nothing to get excited about.

If you like excessive shots of wildlife and being bored out of your mind, then The Prey is the perfect film for you. A 1983 slasher directed by Edwin Brown, and starring Debbie Thureson, Steve Bond, Lori Lethin, and Jackie Coogan. Opening with a devastating wildfire that spreads through a forest in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. A community of gypsies who were living in a cave are devastated by…

[cinemasentries]

Lori Lethin and Debbie Thureson in The Prey (1983)

[ladamarossa]

THE PREY (1984)