Let Us Prey

Finally a good well written British thriller/horror after many have tried and failed, brian o malley has created a superb British one. Based all in a police station the story of good vs evil takes place in a Scottish town where all is not what it seems with a well thought out cast this film is brilliant and a deserving of a Toronto after dark film festival award, liam cunningham is a perfect choice for the role of (six) where pollyanna mcintosh is one to watch for the future as she captures you from the get go and you will be rooting for her all the way through. A great story well told with a perfect surrounding plenty of scares and shocks this is one British thriller/horror you will want to watch

Sleepy police station turns into Hell's waiting room. Opening sequence is excellent - amazing shots of the sea and the crows. And Polyanna does look good in uniform. Problem with the dialogue straight away - weak wisecracks, procedural slips or just lack of common sense, so the feeling of implausibility is there from the beginning - it's not as if you have to research the police to know what an audience expects. Have the characters do it by the book, then figure out a way to mess it up for them and defeat expectations. In the end it does go full mental, with a bizarre Rambo moment, so you can forget about the finer points of story telling and just enjoy the moderate shoot-'em-up gore. I really like this lead actress, and the cast does pretty well. And it is a good concept. I guess British actors must get frustrated with lines and action that leave the audience scratching their heads.

The mood the movie is creating is strong, the characters on the other hand not that much. Still and even though this is as predictable a horror movie as they come and characters decide to or rather choose to do the worst thing possible, it still is able to build a certain kind of tension. The actors are doing their best to keep it going, even in the most ridiculous situations. For some it might be strange seeing Pollyanna in a "weak" role like this, especially if they have seen her breakout performance. But that would be unfair to the movie and her as an actress. She conveys her role better than her male counter part. But both characters are tough to relate to, not to mention remove themselves from likable during the course of the movie (decision making again) ... if you don't mind those things and can just get into the situation without judging, you'll far more entertained obviously

This movie felt like a extended episode of the TV series FEAR ITSELF, mainly reminded me of the episodes: EATER and FAMILY MAN, both of them episodes were pretty good, especially the latter but in comparison to those this one falls flat. Now unlike that series which all squeezed their stories into a 42 minute long episode, this one is stretch into 90 minutes long but what we got could easily been slimmed down to that length a time no problem, and maybe then it wouldn't have turned out to be as dull as this one often is. It's completely humor free it's just bad things happening to mostly bad people and frankly it's hard to find reasons to why you as a viewer should care what is going on. Not all negative though, the movie looks good visually, the gore and make up and effects are on point. The acting is not terrible, but yeah I found it really hard to get engaged by the plot, maybe if they had 1 or 2 likable people in it. But they didn't really, I guess one of the characters wasn't half bad but she didn't manage to make me care for her still. Forgettable.

An apparent victim of a hit and run, a mysterious stranger is held at a remote police station and starts to take over the emotional state of staff and inmates alike. It's not a new premise, something which is being held against Brian O'Malley's film like it's a crime, but the execution, the technical guile, and atmospheric touches brought to the piece, mark this out as a horror film of some merit. Boosted by having the great Liam Cunningham in the lead role, it's a film that shocks and awes with each passing chapter. It revels in the bloody aspects that unfold, positioning the vile nature that some human's are prone to right at the forefront, and with bloody impact. Piers McGrail's cinematography is superb, the bold and beautiful shine of the blues and golden browns mingle disconcertingly with the down and dirty feel of the police cells, the latter of which appropriately marry up with the characters on show. Steve Lynch's score is a treat, a real nerve bothering piece of work, gnawing away at the senses in the same way that Cunningham's character tugs away at the emotional conditions of his prey. It's a film of many pleasures for the so inclined, it does get away from itself a little at the end, asking a little too much of the viewer, but it doesn't kill the pic and this is very much a horror necklace worth wearing on a night out. 7/10

Sleepy police station turns into Hell's waiting room. Opening sequence is excellent - amazing shots of the sea and the crows. And Polyanna does look good in uniform. Problem with the dialogue straight away - weak wisecracks, procedural slips or just lack of common sense, so the feeling of implausibility is there from the beginning - it's not as if you have to research the police to know what an audience expects. Have the characters do it by the book, then figure out a way to mess it up for them and defeat expectations. In the end it does go full mental, with a bizarre Rambo moment, so you can forget about the finer points of story telling and just enjoy the moderate shoot-'em-up gore. I really like this lead actress, and the cast does pretty well. And it is a good concept. I guess British actors must get frustrated with lines and action that leave the audience scratching their heads.

Well this is a first , a horror film set in Scotland that is actually brilliant , I doubt Scotland will ever manage another so this is prob a first and last for them , ha. OK it's got that guy out of game of thrones as the bad guy , he's great , the other actors are all good as well, not seen them before. Film all centres around a police station , er someone may of taken some inspiration from precinct 13 here ! The title music was very carpenter as well. I'm impressed by this film and would recommend it , it was different and someone put the time into the script and story thank god .... It came of as a nice piece of horror , never can tell if something like this will do well , doubt it will big in the cinema , but if your a home viewer who likes horror this is a seriously good piece of work. Kept my solid attention all the way and I watch a lot of horror inc the crap American stuff , not often we get a good one in the UK , I gave it 8 , was gonna be 9 but I'm gonna stick with 8 cause that's just how I roll !!! Whoooop

The mood the movie is creating is strong, the characters on the other hand not that much. Still and even though this is as predictable a horror movie as they come and characters decide to or rather choose to do the worst thing possible, it still is able to build a certain kind of tension. The actors are doing their best to keep it going, even in the most ridiculous situations. For some it might be strange seeing Pollyanna in a "weak" role like this, especially if they have seen her breakout performance. But that would be unfair to the movie and her as an actress. She conveys her role better than her male counter part. But both characters are tough to relate to, not to mention remove themselves from likable during the course of the movie (decision making again) ... if you don't mind those things and can just get into the situation without judging, you'll far more entertained obviously

An apparent victim of a hit and run, a mysterious stranger is held at a remote police station and starts to take over the emotional state of staff and inmates alike. It's not a new premise, something which is being held against Brian O'Malley's film like it's a crime, but the execution, the technical guile, and atmospheric touches brought to the piece, mark this out as a horror film of some merit. Boosted by having the great Liam Cunningham in the lead role, it's a film that shocks and awes with each passing chapter. It revels in the bloody aspects that unfold, positioning the vile nature that some human's are prone to right at the forefront, and with bloody impact. Piers McGrail's cinematography is superb, the bold and beautiful shine of the blues and golden browns mingle disconcertingly with the down and dirty feel of the police cells, the latter of which appropriately marry up with the characters on show. Steve Lynch's score is a treat, a real nerve bothering piece of work, gnawing away at the senses in the same way that Cunningham's character tugs away at the emotional conditions of his prey. It's a film of many pleasures for the so inclined, it does get away from itself a little at the end, asking a little too much of the viewer, but it doesn't kill the pic and this is very much a horror necklace worth wearing on a night out. 7/10

"Let Us Prey" is a bad movie that takes itself way too seriously. It kills me to write that, as a.) this is a Scottish production, and b.) the opening music and cinematography is nothing short of entrancing. But then there's the rest of the movie. The way every scene is lit (too dark) makes me think of the lighting in "Snatch" and "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels"--but those movies had a sense of humour and fun about them. Thanks to the lighting, "Snatch's" characters become almost comic book characters. But there's no fun in "Let Us Prey." It's all about grit, corruption, and people making "tough guy" faces (grr, dude.) The characters are so drab, the dark lighting just saps whatever life was in them. But maybe I'm missing the point of a grander metaphor. Stylish crime movies like "Snatch" try to get on as if the gritty, intense lives their characters are electric: every day is a wild (or at least edgy) ride for them. "Let Us Prey," however, has a similar setting, and most of its characters are corrupt and immortal. In truth, evil is dull and boring. Maybe making "Let Us Prey" into such a dull and boring movie is a brilliant, metaphorical reflection of this truth.