Movie Reaction: Prey for the Devil

Formula: The Exorcist * Eli

I’ve been pretty spoiled on horror in the last couple months. The mix of Halloween and a lull in blockbusters on the release calendar left room for a lot of studios to try out relatively inexpensive horror movies for several weeks. The likes of Barbarian, Pearl, and Smile have snuck out. Even Halloween Ends, the rare blockbuster horror franchise, had its charms. One thing that’s been missing from the mix was some Catholicism fan fiction.

 

While, I say that as a joke, there’s some truth to it. The catholic church’s age and rituals lend it to some really fun horror ideas. The stuff the church is actually up to is pretty boring, so I’d much rather see a movie about a world where the church has to train elite demon-busters. That’s basically what Prey for the Devil is. Sister Ann (Jacqueline Byers) works as a nurse for a church facility that cares for people possessed by demons. A group of priests there get an education in exorcism. After an attack by a possessed person in the facility (in addition to her established interest in the topic) Ann gets permission to learn exorcism with the priests. She eventually ends up in the middle of a severe possession case with a little girl that is more involved than anyone realized.

 

The movie is silly in principle but takes itself very seriously. That’s the right move. It doesn’t make it less silly though. There are a lot of the familiar possession scares. It’s a movie that knows how to shoot priests reciting bible verses in cool ways. I wouldn’t say I was ever scared, but I was generally uneasy watching this and I was certainly entertained. Byers is pretty good in the lead role. It’s hard to make any nun these days feel particularly modern. Byers fits well enough though. Colin Salmon as the head exorcist gives the film a lot of gravitas. Posy Taylor is no Linda Hamilton, but she’s believable enough as the possessed girl. There is one major plot twist that made me roll my eyes. Otherwise, it’s the kind of single base-hit horror movie I expect most times I go into a theater.

 

Verdict: Weakly Recommend