Prey

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.

PREY (2016, original title Prooi) is the latest from Dutch director Dick Maas, whom you may remember from the 1980s and such films as THE LIFT and AMSTERDAMNED. Sadly his budgets have dwindled in the years since and inevitably there's been a drop in quality in his films, but his heart is still there and PREY is a story with a simple yet classic premise: a man-eating lion is let loose in the streets of Amsterdam and proceeds to go on a rampage of destruction.

As a fan of nature-runs-amok type films this was an irresistable premise for me, and yet the film itself is only so-so. It doesn't help that the version showing on Prime is saddled with an appalling English dub track which makes the whole thing feel like a quirky comedy. The characters are ridiculous, particularly the greate white hunter with his state-of-the-art wheelchair complete with motorised tracks. However, there is a lot of killing and a good amount of gore, which at least counts in this film's favour. The lion is pure CGI but I've seen worse.

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

Writer-Director Dick Maas's UNCAGED (aka: PREY) gets some crucial things right about this sort of movie:

#1- Less is definitely more. If your creature is fairly fake-looking -especially if it's CGI- it's best to show it as little as possible. Good gore effects help, showing the aftermath, without necessarily showing what did it.

#2- If you simply must show the beast, show it fleetingly, and mostly at night, in poor lighting.

#3- Be sure to include some interesting human characters. They can't all be food, and should have at least a modicum of a story.

Mr. Maas has all of this covered, and also injects some humorous moments that work. The part with the pair of idiot "lion hunters" is priceless, followed closely by the SWAT team fiasco!

Sophie van Winden is great as Lizzy, the animal expert, as is Mark Frost as Jack, a most unconventional lion hunter.

One aspect of this movie that stands out is that kids aren't sacred. So, if you're squeamish about the idea of youngsters becoming snacks for Panthera Leo, you might want to watch something else...

Also how the lion gets inside a moving tram is beyond my understanding. The film has moments of tension, lots of kills, one pretty disturbing scene regarding a small kid n cool effects.

In my opinion i feel the director Dick Maas (i have enjoyed his The Lift) is very underrated.