Deadly Prey
Deadly Prey[1] is a 1987 film that was first screened in the United States in November 1987 at that year's American Film Market. After The Winters Group helped finance David A. Prior's previous film Aerobicide, Prior, along with executive producers David Winters and Bruce Lewin, and producer Peter Yuval formed Action International Pictures and their first projects were Mankillers and Deadly Prey. Both shot back to back in and around Riverside, California, Deadly Prey tells the story of a former soldier (played by Prior's brother Ted) who is kidnapped for participation in a human safari. This film, which has some resemblance to the action film First Blood (1982) starring Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo, was officially released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2015.
| Deadly Prey | |
|---|---|
 VHS cover | |
| Directed by | David A. Prior |
| Produced by | Peter Yuval |
| Screenplay by | David A. Prior |
| Story by | Richard Connell |
| Starring | Cameron Mitchell Troy Donahue Ted Prior |
| Music by | Tim Heintz Tim James Steven McClintock |
| Cinematography | Stephen Ashley Blake |
| Edited by | Brian Evans |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Action International Pictures |
Release date | November 2, 1987 |
Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Plot
Colonel Hogan rents his mercenaries out to anyone with the right price. This time it's businessman Michaelson. A deal is struck, and Hogan recruits new troops. For training, he orders his troops to kidnap innocent people, take them to the forest and hunt them. Unfortunately this time, they picked the wrong guy, Mike Danton. Danton, a Vietnam veteran, is ambushed while taking out the trash. Taken to the forest, he is stripped to his shorts, greased up and told to run. The mercenaries hunt Danton, but are meticulously picked off one by one. The troops report this to Colonel Hogan, who sends a task force with his best man, Lieutenant Thornton. One of this elite combat unit is Jack Cooper. Cooper and Danton realize who each other are while trying to kill each other. Cooper has not seen Danton since he took a bullet for him in 'Nam. With his new-found friend, Danton continues to punish the mercenaries, and get back to his wife Jaimey. Hogan uses Danton's family against him, but this angers Danton. After storming the military training camp Danton arms himself up and destroys all traces of Hogan's mercenaries.
Cast
- Cameron Mitchell as Jamie's father
- Troy Donahue as Don Michaelson
- Ted Prior as Michael "Mike" Danton
- Fritz Matthews as Lieutenant Thornton
- David Campbell as Colonel Hogan
- Leo Weltman as Hillbilly Will
Reception
The film review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes lists only one review, on the North Carolina alternative newspaper Mountain Xpress.[2] Reviewer Ken Hanke describes it as "yet another of the seemingly endless barrage of cinematic knockoffs of Richard Connell's short story, "The Most Dangerous Game" also influenced by First Blood (1982), and concludes that it is "all quite ridiculous, but might be good for a laugh if you’re in the mood for ineptitude on an unbelievable scale".
Sequel
A sequel entitled The Deadliest Prey was released on November 1, 2013.[3]
References
- "Deadly Prey (1987)". IMDb.com, Inc. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
- Deadly Prey (R) review, Mountain Xpress, 2008-08-27
- The Deadliest Prey Official