Prédateur

I've been waiting for this one to come to the States for a while. Originally released in 2016 and originally entitled ProoI a.k.a Prey. This Dutch creature feature has finally hit us and has been retitled Uncaged. It's a fairly generic title but its promise of satisfactory killer cat thrills is quite successful. The setup is simple as a killer lion attacks Amsterdam with a cast of quirky characters to try and help. The film is fun and gory but not overdone in any way. It's best watched with subtitles because the dubbing is a bit wonky. Although it never strives to be more than what it is, its definitely fun.

3.75/5

The story isn't that bad and killer lion are rarely uses in horror movies. The opening does a good job setting up the arrival of the lion and there's a couple of suspenseful scenes when the lion appeared. But the story is mostly weak because its pretty predictable and it mostly the characters trying to figured out how to stop it. Most of the plans are done by the side characters and most of the time it doesn't work at all. I also found the twist revealed near the end to be predictable and pretty obvious.

One thing I enjoyed in the movie is chase scenes where the characters are either running away or is hunting after it. I found those scenes to be enjoyable and suspenseful.

I admire Dick Maas: he doesn't let a stupid concept stop him from realising his vision. Killer elevators (Der Lift, Down), a murderous scuba-diver in the Dutch canal system (Amsterdamned), an evil Sinterklaas (Sint): all fairly preposterous, but executed with plenty of enthusiasm and fun. Now add 'man-eating lion with ninja-like stealth' to the list.

Prey's 'mane attraction' is a 7ft big cat with a taste for human flesh, on the hunt in Holland's capital city. How it got there is left a little fuzzy. As is its ability to prowl the streets and parks of Amsterdam unseen or sneak on board a tram without so much as a 'hey, you gotta buy a ticket to ride, Aslan!'. No-one seems to notice the lion until it's too late. Not good for the citizens of Amsterdam, but good news for fans of trashy, gory horror - people get eaten left, right and centre, the lion leaving mangled body parts strewn all over.

The acting is atrocious - or at least the English dubbing is - but the film's characters are enjoyably daft, with special mention going to Mark Frost as the English big-game hunter Jack, who is called in to try and track and kill the lion: he's only got one leg and travels around in a motorised wheelchair, but that doesn't stop him from going face to face with the ferocious big cat, even sacrificing his remaining leg to help lure it into a trap!

It's probably a stretch to call Prey a 'roaring' success - the CGI used to realise the lion could have been better and the pacing is a little uneven - but Maas should take 'pride' in the fact that his film is still worth hunting down.

6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

Uncaged is a nice re-make of everybody's favorite man eating shark movie. If you liked the one with the fish wait 'til you see the one with the cat. Thumb's up!

A veterinarian (Sophie Van Widen) finds the tracks left by an animal that kills people result to be of a huge lion . As an enormous lion carries out a criminal spree in Netherlands . Then a wheelchair bound disabled man (Mark Frost) is asked for hunting it . He is a world-class hunter , competing several times in African hunts, however , long time ago , a lion injured him. Later on , a merciless wild hunt takes place . The beautiful veterinarian , her boyfriend (Looman) and the crippled hunter get caught in a dangerous adventure while the lion terrifying the Dutch capital of Amsterdam. As the giant lion roaming and lurking victims for a tasty meal . As three protagonists leading the city-wide hunt and confronting themselves one of nature's most fearsome predators which savagely attacking its preys , innocen humans .

Creepy and eerie film with chills , thrills , scary attacks and lots of blood and gore. Furthermore , adding some brief touches of black comedy .The enormous lion delivers the goods with hair-raising chills, full of scares when the huge creature shows up and suddenly attacks .The lion images are made by a mix of digital special effects , C.G. and was also built animatronic for the close-up frames, creating a well-made manually operated lion. While the scenes appearing running and attacking in full were made by computer generator such as the pursuit set piece through Amsterdam when the monstrous lion chases the delivery boy on the scooter by the river .

It contains colorful and brilliant cinematography . As well as atmospheric musical score by Dick Maas himself , as he regularly scores his own films , because not hiring an external composer allows him to save money for additional days of shooting . This grisly motion picture was professionally directed by Dick Maas . However , being his lowest grossing film as if 2016, though in China it got a big boxoffice . As Maas made a name for himself in far flung China as he sold his rights to a Chinese distributor , making in an over night hit in mainland China. Maas is considered to be one of the best Dutch filmmakers . His movies have high production values for Netherlands standards , usually including spectacular pursuits , blow up , known stars and uneven other Dutch directors his pictures are aimed at the international market. His first great success was the claustrophobic and tense The Lift , following Amsterdammned , Do not disturb , Quiz , Down , Saint , among others . And other successes in Flodder comedies as The Flodder in America , Flodder 3 and Flodder TV series . Rating 6/10 , acceptable passable and entertaining .