Deadly Prey

Director - David A. Prior (Killer Workout)
Starring - David Campbell (Speak of the Devil), Fritz Matthews (Hell on the Battleground), and Ted Prior (Sledgehammer)
Release Date - 1987
Genre - Action
Tagline - "In Vietnam he was the best...he still is"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Well, it looks like I'm coming up on my last day of my no horror July Challenge.  This month was pretty fucking fun.  I can't lie about that.  I normally watch a horror movie or two a day but this month I was lucky enough to check out a slew of other genres.  I watched several comedies, blaxploitation, sexploitation, a drama, and then I moved on to some action.  The first action flick of the month, MoniKa, was a big ass let down.  I needed something that would redeem the action genre so I moved to something a little different.  A few months back Olive Films sent me their blu release of the Slasher//Video film Deadly Prey.  This was one Rambo clone that I always wanted to check out so the second I had a chance to see it I jumped at it.  Thanks Olive Films for sending the blu this way!

     The film follows a group of mercenaries who practice their drills and combat on live prey that they kidnap from the local community.  After killing their game they kidnap another young man who was taking out the trash.  They take him back to base and force him to run.  He heads into the woods and things turn dark for the mercenaries.  The man they kidnapped is Mike Danton (Prior) who was known for being lethal in Vietnam.  Now he has turned his skills that he learned in combat onto those that kidnapped him where he quickly learns that the leader of the mercenaries is Colonel Hogan (Campbell), the man who is responsible for his training in Vietnam.  Now the two must battle to see who is the best killing machine.

      I've seen a few dozen First Blood rip offs from the 80s and to be completely honest most of them was pretty fucking good.  Not First Blood good but good non-the-less.  Most lacked story while dialing up the action.  That is the exact opposite of the Rambo films.  They have a solid story and a decent amount action but they refuse to let story take the back seat.  That is why the Rambo films excel and why the clones tend to be entertaining.  They don't win awards but they still hit the mark.  Deadly Prey is another fine example of that.  The film lacks story but is full of action.  The acting in this one is pretty shit.  No way to really sugar coat that, unfortunately.  The cast has no idea what they are doing for the most part and the rest they are spitting out dialogue with no coherency.  I don't want to bash the cast too much but I do feel they went into this one without direction.  Especially the extras.  The story for this one is a generic 80s action story.  We got a group of trained mercenaries stalking and killing a man in the woods.  Nothing really original there but it is the complete opposite of what we get in the First Blood sequels that follows Rambo stalking and killing others in the jungle.  It may not be that original but it is still fun.  Finally, those of you looking for on screen kills will find them here.  We have gun shots, knife, and even a spear.  A wide variety of deaths but mostly those consistent with warfare.  Sadly, the special effects are minimal which takes away from the kills.  Overall, Deadly Prey is one of the better First Blood clones.  It is full of mindless action and tons of kills.  I recommend this one for any action fan so check it out.