SHERDOG MOVIE CLUB: Week 11 Discussion - Deadly Prey

[Guestx]

NOTE to NON-MEMBERS: Confused about what's going on in here? See the following thread:

http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/could-a-sherdog-movie-watching-club-work.3237221/


This week, thanks to @iThrillhouse, we delve into the depths of 80s B-movie madness with DEADLY PREY!

Director Bio

​

Deadly Prey is directed by DAVID A. PRIOR. He was a screenwriter, director and producer, and co-founder of the B-movie production company Action International Pictures. He has a surprisingly long list of direction credits, beginning in 1983 and ending with his death in 2015. He worked all the way up until the end, though for some reason he made only one film between 1994 and 2007.

Apparently in 1987, he released another movie called Aerobicide (aka Killer Workout). I think this cover says it all:

Spoiler

And in 2013 he made the long-awaited sequel to Deadly Prey . . . DEADLIEST PREY! He talks about the film here:

http://bzfilm.com/talks-interviews/director-david-a-prior-talks-deadliest-prey-exclusive/

And the trailer:

Our Star

​

Our hero in this little romp is none other than David Prior's brother, Ted Prior. I really expected to pull up IMDB to find that he made a few movies in the 80s and then disappeared. NOPE! Like his bro, he has stayed busy, working all the way up to the present. Though also like his bro, he had a down period, making only one film between 1998 and 2007. The only other title on his filmography that I personally recognized was 1987's Surf Nazis Must Die.

Here's an interview:

http://cinedelphia.com/interview-ted-prior-from-deadly-prey/

Oh, and I found his acting demo on YouTube (complete with agency contact info at the end):

Film Overview and YouTube Videos​

Premise: A group of sadistic mercenaries kidnap people off the streets and set them loose on the grounds of their secret camp, so the "students" at the camp can learn how to track down and kill their prey.

Budget: Not much
Box Office: LOL

Trivia
(courtesy of IMDB)

​

* Ted Prior ate real worms for the worm eating scene.

* The rats that Danton eats were purchased at a pet store.

* Troy Donahue rode a motorcycle to the set. (<-- Why is this in the trivia section?)

* The sequel Deadliest Prey was made because of a series of successful recent film screenings of Deadly Prey.

* Believe it or not, this is available on Blu-Ray:

Amazon product ASIN B013C6OSWO

​

Members: @shadow_priest_x @europe1 @Mondo Freaks @Cint @Luke Rockhard @TheRuthlessOne @EL CORINTHIAN @mb23100 @HUNTERMANIA @iThrillhouse @Zer @DaDamn @chickenluver @gorgonon @jeicex @INTERL0PER @FierceRedBelt @Cptn1NSAN0 @D Train @RayA @MusterX @Scott Parker 27 @BeardotheWeirdo @RoryFan @Caveat

 

[TheRuthlessOne]

I cant wait for the 5 page long @europe1 breakdown of this masterpiece

 

[BisexualMMA]

I actually checked this out during the week, after its reputation having preceded it with me for some time.

I have to say it is both:

a. Terrible

and

b. Better than I expected.

Usually with movies that become legendarily bad, they fail at storytelling. But this movie actually does succeed at getting its story across effectively. Sure, the story is terrible, and pretty much everything about it is bad...but it isn't confusing.

The shots actually convey the action. With no artistry or talent. But at the same time, the shots actually do go together to tell the story.

The music is cheap and bad. BUT they do use it appropriately. Tense music for tense scenes, action music for action scenes, slow piano thing for soft character building scenes. Often with movies like this, they can't even apply the right type of music to the right type of scene.

The acting is across the board TERRIBLE. Awful to legendary proportions. It's like Ronda Rousey's entire extended family presenting this story.

The sole exception is the guy who played "Jack Cooper" if I remember his name right. He was almost or barely passable. I guess the second best was Ted Prior, who could have been even worse, given how much of the movie he had to carry. Every woman was awful. Major Hogan was awful. Cameron Mitchell was awful.

Needless to say, they were inspired heavily by First Blood and Rambo II. Scenes are lifted almost shot for shot and word for word, and Ted Prior felt he had to scream every time he pulled the trigger just like Rambo.

How awesome was his random "Grrrrr!" at people before he kills them, and how awesome were the ever-present grenades sitting on Hogan's desk, right there to prove he's a real Army Guy, in classic Frank Dux fashion?

What a magnificent failure this movie is. Yet it is done so earnestly. And as bad as it is in all areas, it is just competent enough (in all areas except acting) that it isn't difficult to follow, and the intentions with every scene are clear. They're executed at precisely the minimum acceptable level to get the effect across. Never rising above it, never dipping below it.

 

[TheRuthlessOne]

I actually checked this out during the week, after its reputation having preceded it with me for some time.

I have to say it is both:

a. Terrible

and

b. Better than I expected.

Usually with movies that become legendarily bad, they fail at storytelling. But this movie actually does succeed at getting its story across effectively. Sure, the story is terrible, and pretty much everything about it is bad...but it isn't confusing.

The shots actually convey the action. With no artistry or talent. But at the same time, the shots actually do go together to tell the story.

The music is cheap and bad. BUT they do use it appropriately. Tense music for tense scenes, action music for action scenes, slow piano thing for soft character building scenes. Often with movies like this, they can't even apply the right type of music to the right type of scene.

The acting is across the board TERRIBLE. Awful to legendary proportions. It's like Ronda Rousey's entire extended family presenting this story.

The sole exception is the guy who played "Jack Cooper" if I remember his name right. He was almost or barely passable. I guess the second best was Ted Prior, who could have been even worse, given how much of the movie he had to carry. Every woman was awful. Major Hogan was awful. Cameron Mitchell was awful.

Needless to say, they were inspired heavily by First Blood and Rambo II. Scenes are lifted almost shot for shot and word for word, and Ted Prior felt he had to scream every time he pulled the trigger just like Rambo.

How awesome was his random "Grrrrr!" at people before he kills them, and how awesome were the ever-present grenades sitting on Hogan's desk, right there to prove he's a real Army Guy, in classic Frank Dux fashion?

What a magnificent failure this movie is. Yet is done so earnestly. And as bad as it is in all areas, it is just competent enough (in all areas except acting) that it isn't difficult to follow, and the intentions with every scene are clear. They're executed at precisely the minimum acceptable level to get the effect across. Never rising above it, never dipping below it.

I thought the music was amazing. One of my highlights actually

 

[BisexualMMA]

I thought the music was amazing. One of my highlights actually

It was like something out of the Cannon library, basic subscription package.

It was certainly the most high-end aspect of the movie.

That and the props. They had legit helicopters, tanks, squibs and (small smoky) explosions.

 

[DaDamn]

I wanted to go in to how Danton represents God and Mrs. Danton’s father represents Jesus, but I’ll leave that for others to discuss. I want to focus on the brutal rape scene.


The rape scene was terrifying and shocking. Yeah, you know what’s going down when Col. Hogan takes his shirt off but it still comes straight out of left field. He throws her down then jumps on top of her and then starts to pull her top off. I was sitting there not believing my eyes when the film cuts to another scene. I was like holy shit wtf just happen? I thought for sure we were gonna get to see that bitch’s rack. I’m still disturbed. And we didn’t get to see the other chic’s rack either. What kind of sick fucked up B rate movie is this?

 

[Scott Parker 27]

I loved this movie, it was such a fun watch! The over the top acting, to the main guy beating the "bad guy" with his own arm. Colonel Hogan was a fucking terrible (great) actor. Deadly Prey 2 please!

 

[BisexualMMA]

I loved this movie, it was such a fun watch! The over the top acting, to the main guy beating the "bad guy" with his own arm. Colonel Hogan was a fucking terrible (great) actor. Deadly Prey 2 please!

 

[Scott Parker 27]

YES!!!! Got a link to the movie by chance?

 

[BisexualMMA]

YES!!!! Got a link to the movie by chance?

I wish. Some things are simply too magnificent for the internet.

 

[europe1]

I cant wait for the 5 page long @europe1 breakdown of this masterpiece

I can't wait for...

Beardoftheweird to mention some real life hunting of human's by military types that he has read about.
Gorgonon say that he feels some deep humanistic connection to one of the characters
Cint to mention Nicolas Winding Refn for no apperent reason.
Shadow_Priest_X to talk about who was the good and the bad in a relationship
jeicex to finally post his thoughts three weeks after the discussion has ended and everyone moved one
BisexualMMA to keep feverently denying that he's a part of the cult yet still comments more than regular members.

EDIT: UFC is on so I'll probably won't get anything written until tomorrow night.

 

[BisexualMMA]

I can't wait for...

Beardoftheweird to mention some real life hunting of human's by military types that he has read about.
Ganon to say that he feels some deep humanistic connection to one of the characters
Cint to mention Nicolas Winding Refn for no apperent reason.
Shadow_Priest_X to talk about who was the good and the bad in a relationship
jeicex to finally post his thoughts three weeks after the discussion has ended and everyone moved one
BisexualMMA to keep feverently denying that he's a part of the cult yet still comments more than regular members.

I'm not just a member...

 

[TheRuthlessOne]

Its a shitty movie but its a hilarious shitty movie.


This movie had more quotable lines then Arnold had throughout his career.

"I'm here for the fun" "Your supposed to be the best...Do it better" " Wrong Answer" "Bad timing" Pretty much every other line is a golden nugget

The action is serviceable and the body count is high so much so that I'm 95% sure they reused some of the same actors over and over again.

The music is amazing just the total 80's cheese with the generic as fuck drum beats.

They even copy the Arnold/CarlWeathers handshake from predator lmfao. This movie has no shame

 

[iThrillhouse]

Trivia
(courtesy of IMDB)

​

* Ted Prior ate real worms for the worm eating scene.

* The rats that Danton eats were purchased at a pet store.

* Troy Donahue rode a motorcycle to the set. (<-- Why is this in the trivia section?)

* The sequel Deadliest Prey was made because of a series of successful recent film screenings of Deadly Prey.

* Believe it or not, this is available on Blu-Ray

​

This is the kind of trivia that like a neighbour or relative of Troy Donahue would submit to IMDb when they were bored​

 

[MusterX]

I'll have to check in later, watching the fights right now.

 

[europe1]

Ted Prior ate real worms for the worm eating scene.

You know... it was not like Ted had been out there a long time or anything. He got captured in the morning and the sun had not yet begin to set when he ate that worm. I know you got to keep your strenght up and all that but... dude! There where no storyline considerations for Ted to do something so drastic at that juncture!

So... David probably just really, really wanted to see his brother eat a worm!

Deadly Prey is directed by DAVID A. PRIOR.

I've only watched 4 David Prior films. Could have sworn that I've seen more. This, Felony, as well as Future Force and it's sequel Future Zone (both starring legend David Carradine). I probably like this and Future Zone the best, though all of them are quality B-flicks. He does actually have some filmmaking skills.

Speaking of employing your brother, David cast Ted as the time-traveling son of David Carradine in Future Zone who is also a bounty hunter. Now cool older brothers are one thing -- but getting David Carradine to play your dad? Now that's another level of big brother awesomeness right there!

I actually checked this out during the week, after its reputation having preceded it with me for some time.

Man I remember seeing a clip of the final fight on Badmovies.org in like the early 2000's. This movie goes waaaay back.

The shots actually convey the action. With no artistry or talent. But at the same time, the shots actually do go together to tell the story.

It's like you've been raised on nothing but Ed Wood movies!

I guess the second best was Ted Prior,

I think his enthusiasm and can-do attitude carried him pretty far. You can tell he was excited for this project. The worst thing an actor can do is to appear disintrested -- Ted never comitted that cardinal sin. Unlike, say, Cameron Mitchell (who I will slovenly venerate in a later post), who comes off as if he has said these words a billion times before (probably becuse he has) and just can't muster any animation anymore.

and Ted Prior felt he had to scream every time he pulled the trigger just like Rambo.

He's no Reb Brown that's for sure.

 

[BeardotheWeirdo]

I made a list of all the 80's action b-movie cliches on display in this fine movie. And tributes to other movies.

- the actor screaming "they're coming to get me" when no one is around and he's trying to get away (so he should be quiet)

- stopping to rest on a log while being chased

- unnecessarily climbing over a log, when he could've easily went around it. He wasn't even heading in that direction

- pants torn in the textbook "surviving on a lost island" way. Cut from the knee down right along the front of the pants... I've never seen anyone tear their pants like that.

- shirt all torn up yet still clean (I found a way to fit it into the conversation again)

- victim is in a dense forest yet he runs into an open clearing when they start shooting at him

- he gets shot in the leg and he keeps going without even limping.

- victim tries to hide, right in the open

- rock to the head trick

- knocks out bad guy, doesn't take his gun, gives away position by yelling at his hunters

- repeatedly saying "no", "please" and "don't kill me" instead of trying to reason with his assailants

- the music, gotta love those 80's tom drum rolls

- scantily clad army general woman

- The name Hogan

- Jack Cooper talks real slow and cool

-terrible acting

- terrible script

- feigned anger from the general, slapping his hand down on his desk

- wife is super-happy when she's trying to drag her husband (who's late for work) out of bed in the morning.

- the ticking timebomb. The colonels boss (named Michaelson) gives him an impossible task to complete within a month. Not that it matters

- the whole hunting human prey thing

- he's grabbing bad guys and they don't make a sound to alert the others

- Cheesy one-liners

- jumping out of a tree to kill bad guys

- she saw people kidnap her husband and she doesn't call the cops.

- The cop tells his daughter to lock the doors and windows but not leave. As if a lock will keep out the kidnappers. She's getting kidnapped later

- colonel making out with his hot scantily clad general in the middle of the day

- ridiculously unrealistic plot

- know him? I trained him.

- he looks like Tarzan / Fabio

- scenes out of order: the guy said they were all dead but the good guy is still fighting a bunch of them.

- they're staring at each other for a minute before they recognized each other

- I took a bullet for you

- the perfect set-ups, how did he know the guy would come to the water, and wouldn't he see him in the clear water from that close. And no one else hears this or notices.

- several scenes from Rambo

- the elite soldiers storming through the forest recklessly like amateurs. They have no plan

- bad guys so evil that they kill their own just for complaining

- bad guys catching the hero off guard then slowly trying to kill him by hand, when they shot all the other prey.

- the dislocated shoulder being popped back in place

- Danton won't leave because he "knows he's safe here" According to the colonel. Wtf? Ok, not a cliche, but seriously?

- bitter egotistical insane colonel

- knife fight

- they want him alive

- torture and holding out scene

- terrible insults and one liners

- the person who's been kidnapped threatening to kill his captors later... Smart.

- they were just following orders

- badly acted outrage

- honest, morality-driven good guy

- hero dad magically finds them

- one on one fight with a huge guy, choke slam pick up like Kareem vs. Bruce Lee. (70's reference)

-bad guy angrily yelling the good guys name "Dantonnnn!!"

- grenade in pants

- smouldering boot

- free guns lying around

- helicopter chase scene

- grenade down tank hatch

- helicopter explosion and no one notices

- grenade launching gun like in predator

- grenades landing nearby kills bad guys but not good guys

- killing two people with one bullet while his gun clearly isn't even aimed at those people

- popping out of the foxhole to mow everyone down and shaking like Rambo while he does it.

- saved by a sympathetic bad guy who he helped before. Jack Cooper

- kidnapping the wife (and her dad) as bait

- the most elite Colonel ever, has hostages sitting around that aren't tied up. And there are grenades on the table. There's guns and weapons lying around everywhere, often unguarded.

- rape scene

- The dad tries to strangle the colonel instead of using one of the grenades to fuck shit up

- Danton waits until his wife is kidnapped to go home lol, why? I thought he was safe there lol?

- Danton doesn't call the cops

- He kills the colonels girlfriend instead of using her for info or as bait. Good guys would never do that, lol.

- The locker full of weapons at home.

- Jack Cooper (a bad guy) redeeming himself and turning good, he's going to die saving them now for sure, he did.

- the close-up of the bro style hand-shake like in Predator

-guards telling each other to stay on alert, in case they forgot.

- the double knife throw kill

- hero exposing himself while climbing over a tank to sneak up on someone, which looks cooler, but is way more risky

- leaves his wife alone again and goes back to finish the job

- Rambo style traps, and they still just go rushing through the forest

- supposedly super elite forces that are actually totally incompetent

- a bunch of them die but the group stays the same size, or grows in some instances

- elite soldiers having clear shots and missing

- a missile launcher ( the coolest thing ever in the 80's)

- they captured his wife... again. Lol

- has clean shots and wastes them again

- people magically changing location: how did he get so far apart from jack cooper at the end

- angry bitter ex-colonel mad at the army

- traitor

I'm sure there were lots more that I missed.

Pretty much everything you would expect to see in a low-budget bad 80's action movie

 

[Guestx]

Okay . . . Deadly Prey. . .

You know, it's interesting, this movie just confirmed what I already knew: Those old Canon movies really were THAT good. Because say what you will about American Ninja, Missing in Action, Sho Kosugi's ninja trilogy, etc, the truth is that those films were GOOD examples of low-budget B-level action movies. They are essentially the pinnacle of the 80s low-budget action market and the kind of product you get when things are done RIGHT. Deadly Prey, on the other hand, is what happens when someone without the same level of skill attempts to enter that same market.

Did I enjoy this film? Yes, in the same way that anyone else would, in that so-bad-it's-good kind of way. There are some moments in it that are truly hilarious and the earnestness with which it's all carried out is kind of endearing. If the film had been winking at the audience the whole time then it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun.

And I have to say, the whole thing is quite nostalgic and reminds me of just how fun those 80s action movies were. No one makes movies like that anymore. Even today's DTV films don't have the same feel to them. Part of that may be the HD photography. It's just too crisp and polished.

The acting in this movie is of course quite bad, but I was entertained by Ted Prior's performance nonetheless. Despite what is almost a complete lack of ability, he still has a certain charisma and I have to say the dude is QUITE the physical specimen. Say what you will about his acting chops, but he had a body that could compete with all the other action guys of the time. That shit was on lockdown.

Apparently in the past few years Deadly Prey has gotten a variety of sold-out film screenings around the world. Now THAT is the environment you want to see this kind of movie in. I bet that shit is super-fun. Can you imagine being in a packed house with people laughing their asses off at this movie?

This was a good time and I might even like to see the movie again, but not in the form of a shitty low-quality stream that had a habit of fucking up on me. Give me a good deal on that Blu-Ray and I just might buy that shit, if only to show the movie to friends in the future when I just feel like being amused by ineptitude.

Normally this is the point where I would rate the movie, but how do I do that when the actual quality of the movie is not congruent with the level of entertainment it delivers? I really don't know.

 

[Guestx]

I thought the music was amazing. One of my highlights actually

I did too. On a few different occasions, I thought to myself, "The music actually seems like it's on par with other action B-movies of the time." It was probably the only element that didn't strike me as overtly amateurish.

 

[Guestx]

The rape scene was terrifying and shocking. Yeah, you know what’s going down when Col. Hogan takes his shirt off but it still comes straight out of left field. He throws her down then jumps on top of her and then starts to pull her top off. I was sitting there not believing my eyes when the film cuts to another scene. I was like holy shit wtf just happen? I thought for sure we were gonna get to that bitch’s rack. I’m still disturbed. And we didn’t get to see the other chic’s rack either. What kind of sick fucked up B rate movie is this?

Ha. I was actually at my university's library when I was watching this shit--Deadly Prey on one monitor, Sherdog on the other--and when the rape scene came up I was looking around and thinking like, "Do I need to minimize this? Is this bitch about to get her clothes ripped off?" And then it ended up being pretty tame. I'm pretty sure it's only one of like five 80s action movies that doesn't show some tits.