Prey For The Devil 2022 Wants You To Let the Evil In
Prey for the Devil” doesn’t exercise the nuance it so happily lectures in the film. Rather the narrative struggles under the weight of predictability, coincidence, and the choppy delivery of its main ideas and agenda. Movies with exorcisms and possessions can be extremely worthy of your time. Especially, if you’re looking for a scary movie to watch. Rather than find the whole exorcism experience comical, the thought of an other-worldly being taking control of someone considered to be weak in spirit can be terrifying. Possession is often thought of in the same vein as mental illness. Losing one’s faculties can be a truly scary thought. “
Where Prey for the Devil fails has much to do with its timing. The often effective limb contortion is almost akin to a party trick here. Instead of being outrightly a ploy intended to show how much damage can be done by the demon, it’s used haphazardly for no good reason. The title ties possession into being purely the responsibility of the person possessed. Should they suffer from guilt or shame, they invite the devil in.
While not immediately a negative thing, Prey for the Devil is quick to utilize unwed women who abort or give up children as the sticking point. Moreover, the film then sends the message that asking for forgiveness can almost instantaneously rid someone of possession if they let that shame or guilt go.
Movies About Exorcisms
The Conjuring franchise, The Taking of Deborah Logan, Deliver Us From Evil, Devil Inside, and of course, the original Exorcism movie are all excellent examples of combining the Catholic Church, possession, and horror. Prey for the Devil has taken notes from these excellent titles. Here though, the strong points of these films are dialed back. Drawings instead of the classic swearing are used as one example. Recounting the aftermath of those afflicted with committing to brutal self-harm instead of showing it and of course plenty of wall climbing and contortion tricks. None of these things are executed well enough to stand out from the pack.
The main gist of the Prey for the Devil movie (aka The Devil’s Light) is that Ann’s past gives her the upper hand when it comes to fighting evil. Her mother was possessed. She heads to Boston where there is an exorcism school led by Father Quinn. Father Quinn spends his days teaching male priests how to fight evil.
Set in a time when women were forbidden to learn the art of exorcism, Ann’s job is to nurse patients who have been sent to the school for observation. She is quickly shown to have some kind of tie to the Devil after being seen on camera being tormented by an older male patient. Because of her obviously hidden relationship with the Devil, they invite her to join the lessons.
“Demons Are Lucifers Foot Soldiers”
Quote from Prey for the Devil 2022
It’s at this point we get to see our first exorcism. Father Quinn and two other priests are no match for a small girl with plenty of climbing skills. When Ann steps in and relegates the human side of Natalie, there is a marked improvement. It’s also at this point Ann decides she knows better than centuries of Church rhetoric and goes rogue.
Prey for the Devil Review
Prey for the Devil suffers because it feels like propaganda. Whenever I watch a film that promotes its agenda in this way, I instantly lose my attraction to it. There are some momentary displays of spookiness and lots of pensive music to embrace the feeling that things might be a bit scary. But they simply aren’t. Reflections in window glass, whispers, and some CGI-generated effects were borderline okay.
Prey for the Devil is rated
3 “terminal stages of possession” out of 5
Where to Watch Prey for the Devil 2022
Prey for the Devil aka The Devil’s Light is streaming on:
- Directed by Daniel Stamm (13 Sins.)
The cast of Prey for the Devil includes Jacqueline Byers, Colin Salmon, Christian Navarro, Lisa Palfrey, Nicholas Ralph, Ben Cross, Virginia Madsen, Tom Forbes, Velizar Binev, Owen Davis, Debora Zhecheva, Cora Kirk, Posy Taylor, and Elizabeth Gibson. - Writers include Robert Zappia (5 Days to Midnight, Earl Richey Jones (Rio), and Todd R. Jones (Buddies.)
