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[REVIEW] Franck Khalfoun’s ‘Prey’ Attempts to Revitalize Survival Tropes

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Prey

Prey, a new survival horror film from Franck Khalfoun (Amityville: The Awakening), is set for release in select theaters and on VOD this week.

Produced by Blumhouse and Hyde Park productions, the film centers on Toby (Logan Miller, Escape Room), a young man who’s having a hard time dealing with life after the loss of a loved one. When his mother and counselor decide that he’ll benefit from a survival camp, he finds himself on the opposite side of the world on a deserted island left to fend for himself for three days.

Things take an interesting turn for Toby, however, when he discovers that the island is not quite as uninhabited as he thought. A young woman named Madeleine (Kristine Froseth) is also there with her mother (Jolene Anderson). In fact, they’ve been there for a very long time.

Unfortunately, Toby will soon find out why they’re on this island, and more importantly, why they’ve never left.

There’s a lot to enjoy about Prey, not the least of which is Miller’s performance. The actor has made a name for himself across genre lines in films like Love, Simon and Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, and he gives one hundred percent to his portrayal of Toby as he goes from emotionally to physically lost in the telling of the story.

Likewise, Froseth is a wonder to watch as Madeleine. The actress has a real knack for conveying a wide-eyed, childlike innocence even while confronting the dangers of an island that has been the only home she’s ever known. Her performance is secretive and controlled, adding mystery and depth to what could easily have been a caricature.

The two stars have an easy chemistry between them that helps sell the film as a whole.

And then there’s the island itself. Lush green forests filled with tropical wildlife give way to sandy beaches and rocky coastlines for a gorgeous setting which Khalfoun and his crew perfectly manipulate, coating them with a layer of dread and shadow that looms over Toby at every turn.

Khalfoun co-wrote the script for Prey with David Coggeshall (A Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia), and they seemed to really want to do something new and exciting with the survival horror tropes. Unfortunately, despite a rather interesting twist toward the end, the film follows the standard formula almost to the letter.

Does that make this a bad film? Nope, not at all.

In fact, those tropes ultimately work in Khalfoun’s favor, lulling the audience into a false sense of security while setting up the aforementioned twist. He doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but he certainly does his best to roll it down a different hill than we’re expecting.

Prey hits select theaters and video on demand on September 27, 2019. Check out the trailer below!

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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