Let Us Prey (2014) User Reviews

Flawed but entertaining British metaphysical horror...

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 12 May 2023]

...from director Brian O'Malley. It's Rachel's (Pollyanna McIntosh) first night as a policewoman in a new town, and when a mysterious stranger (Liam Cunnigham) is brought into the police station, all Hell breaks loose, and the sins of the prisoners and the police officers come back to haunt them.

There's a lot of style on display, from the music to the moody widescreen cinematography. The performances from the leads Liam Cunningham and Pollyanna McIntosh are very good, and raise the material up a few points. The violence depicted is very graphic, almost to a comical degree at times, and the script could have used a little more polishing, as the mid-section, with frequent time-jumps and location changes, is disorienting. Still, this was better than many of the horror films of recent years, and I enjoyed the ending. Filmed in Scotland and Ireland.

Fun Scottish/Irish horror co-production

[Red-Barracuda · 6/10 · 20 June 2014]

A mysterious man hands himself into a police station in small town one night. It soon appears that he seems to know about the inner demons of everyone there, the cops and prisoners alike. All of these individuals have dark secrets it seems and the mystery man is the catalyst that brings them to the fore and drives them to further depravity and violence.

Let Us Prey is one of a small group of horror films set in Scotland. As it happens, two of its stars featured prominently in a couple of the other most notable Scottish set horrors of the last few years, namely Liam Cunningham who appeared in Dog Soldiers and Hanna Stanbridge so impressive as one of the main characters in The Outcast. In this one Cunningham has the central role of the mysterious demonic stranger, while Stanbridge gets to sink her teeth into a role of a female cop with a penchant for violence. She is not the only strong female character here though; Pollyanna McIntosh plays the other policewoman and is in fact the lead character to all intents and purposes. It is refreshing to have a genre picture give women more central roles; I have no idea why it doesn't happen more often. As it is McIntosh's cop is on her first night at this remote police station, the very night when things go horribly wrong. In this respect, the influence of John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 is pretty obvious. In addition, the electronic soundtrack used here sounds very Carpenteresque too, which was also nice.

It's a pretty modest production but it makes the most of what it has. The cast all acquit themselves very well and make the most of their characters. The direction is pacey and nicely stylised in places. I particularly liked the opening credit sequence with images of giant waves and sinister ravens. It maybe could be argued that the film doesn't perhaps ultimately go into as interesting places as it promises it might and it does get a little generic towards the end. But it is still different enough to ensure it is interesting. It also has the distinction of having a central demonic villain who is not one dimensionally evil; he's just a guy with a job to do.

You will meet a tall, bearded raincoat-stranger...

[Coventry · 7/10 · 18 April 2014]

The plot of "Let Us Prey" might very well be derivative and predictable (I can already list at least 5 similar titles without even thinking too hard), but debuting writer/director Brian O'Malley nevertheless managed to deliver a compelling, brutal and sinisterly atmospheric horror/thriller. Straight from the eerie opening sequences – with a particular fascination for black birds, by the way – you'll immediately notice that O'Malley must be a tremendous genre lover and definitely knows the classics. The script borrows all kind of ideas and elements from different horror sub genres, from raw 70's grindhouse features to grotesquely silly 80's slashers, but somehow everything neatly and coherently interweaves into a tense and gruesome little film. Liam Cunningham, the extremely charismatic and marvelous actor who previously starred in "Dog Soldiers" and Dario Argento's "The Card Player", is well-cast as the mysterious stranger (complete with beard and clichéd long raincoat) who comes wandering into the police precinct of a quiet and remote Irish community. He seems to know an awful lot about the darkest secrets of everyone that is there – cops as well as petty criminals – and clearly intents to penalize them and mess up their minds beyond repair. It's up to Constable Rachel Heggie, on her very first night at a new location, to deal with the overload of maniacal tendencies that suddenly come to the surface. The Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Films promoted "Let Us Prey" as a – and I quote – demonic version of John Carpenter's "Assault on Precinct 13". That is actually a rather apt description, and I can also add the film is properly produced and brings forward impressive special effects, make-up art and a handful of cool stunts. The primarily stern plot makes a couple of absurd loops near the end, including the most derailed serial killer in recent cinema history, and admirers of harsh violence and explicit slaughter certainly won't be disappointed. Cunningham receives good and solid support from the rest of the cast, including powerful females Pollyanna McIntosh (watch "The Woman" if you dare) and Hanna Stanbridge, whom I already admired in the obscure "Outcast" and whose accent makes Irish sound like the sexiest language on earth.

Wicked Fun

[stencilman · 7/10 · 26 March 2015]

Let Us Prey features a police station in a ghost town. Literally. You cannot find any people in this town making you wonder what these idiots are policing. Regardless, a stranger played by Liam Cunningham (Ser Davos from Game of Thrones) appears in the police station and sets off a chain of events which results in everyone in the station confronting/unleashing (mostly the latter) their inner demons.

And boy are those demons nasty or what! The film is not that scary but it is quite fun and has a good sense of humor. It also has good performances from Cunningham and Pollyanna McIntosh as a likable rookie named Rachel. Also in the mix are a gallery of interesting, if not likable characters such as a really creepy sergeant, his two vengeful subordinates alongside Rachel, a (not so) slightly unstable doctor, a grammar Nazi wife-beater and a drunk-driving teen.

Overall, the movie is quite fun with a delightfully nutty climax. The 5.9 rating is a bit too low. Do give it a look!

The number of the beast?

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 4 December 2015]

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

Weird Low-Budget Movie

[claudio_carvalho · 4/10 · 19 April 2019]

"Let Us Prey" is a weird low-budget movie, with a very strange and gore story. The town, for example, seems to have no dwellers. The location is basically the same, inside a precinct. Things happen and there is no outsider in the story. Liam Cunningham and Pollyanna McIntosh have good performances, but the conclusion does not make much sense. The reason why Rachel Heggie is in Six´s list is not clear. The black humor is the good part of this watchable film. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Aprisionados" ("Imprisoned")

now having thought about it a bit ...

[chexmix · 7/10 · 14 June 2015]

... I've decided this was quite good. I'm hovering between a 7 and 8.

At first my main thought was "Meh. So Judaeo-Christian-specific that this atheist cannot find a thing scary about it." However, even if it is within that tradition, it does some surprisingly daring and fresh things inside of it. This is a movie with ambitions, and it is stylish enough and solidly-acted enough to pull most of them off.

I particularly liked the performances by the two leads. Both roles could have easily led to lots and lots of scenery-chewing, but neither Cunningham nor McIntosh go this easy and tired route: they are both subtle, varied and positively aces, as is Douglas Russell as the feral Sgt. MacReady (his role does call for some scenery chewing, and he does it well).

I absolutely adored the ending. Kudos.

Last Shift

[jtbenson-56329 · 2/10 · 11 July 2021]

...Is the superior creepy police station movie from 2014, and the only one worth watching.

This movie saunters around with pseudo-religiosity and beats you over the head with not-so-subtle clues as to who it's mystery character might be. Also features the dumbest kiss I've seen in film or television.

Surprisingly good Indie Horror

[Calenture · 6/10 · 25 August 2015]

I was surprised. This Indie film is great! I'm a very critical viewer and the IMDb rating of 5.6 didn't offer much encouragement. The odd thing is, a number of those reviewers admitted to liking it (so much for the rating system).

The plot of this comes straight out of those Amicus movies (From Beyond the Grave, etc.) as a mysterious stranger arrives at a small-town nick where pretty soon all Hell breaks lose. The acting is fine, the effects effective, script and direction good, and there's a nice nod to John Carpenter with the soundtrack. If you like the better Carpenter movies, you'll probably like this one. Oh, and something a few IMDb reviewers agreed on: they loved the end. So did I.

Bit of a head scratcher

[begob · 5/10 · 30 March 2015]

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.

Nice Surprise Hit of the Festival

[gregsrants · 8/10 · 27 October 2014]

When director Brian O'Malley introduced his new film, Let Us Prey, via a prerecording in front of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival he informed us that his intention was to make a timeless horror classic. To accomplish this, he set on out to deliver a film that could not be dated (watching Let Us Prey ten years from now and there is nothing in the fashion, look or feel of the film that would immediately reference 2014) and that had a synthesizer styled score reminiscent of the great John Carpenter films of the 1970's and 80's. Check and check.

Let Us Prey stars Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones) as Six, a mysterious drifter who is hit by a vehicle driven by Caesar (Brian Vernel) on a quiet town road. Casear is immediately taken into custody by first-day-on-the-job Constable Rachel Heggie (Pollyanna McIntosh), but Cunningham's Six character cryptically disappears. It is while at the police station we are introduced to the remainder of the cast which includes a Sargent, two Constables that are lustfully engaged, a wife beating prisoner and a doctor who is called to assist when Six suddenly appears at the front door of the station.

The veteran Constables and Sargent do not immediately warm up to the by-the-book newbie in Rachel, but their personal feelings towards her routine are quickly swept to the side once Six begins to instigate mayhem in the prison taking over the minds and souls of all those with a dark past to hide. And this is when the fun really starts.

Each character shows a history of violence in their backstories from the simple (hit and run) to the extreme (mass murderer) and when a prior transgression is revealed, Six is there to ensure their life pays for their wrongdoing.

With a backdrop of a fantastic musical score (as promised) there are fights, shootings, beatings, murders and attempted murders as things at the station escalate quickly and deadly for all those involved.

Cunningham is a standout and plays the mysterious Six with devilish glee. The film hinges on Cunningham's character and the well-trained thespian delivers the goods with a Clint Eastwood cool. Pollyanna McIntosh is equal to the task as the freshman fish-out-of-water new Constable. She is equally beautiful and tough and McIntosh walks this line with the ease of a veteran.

The story goes a bit off the rails towards the end as some of the character's revealed background stories and subsequent actions are a bit 'out there'. But it is a means to an end to heighten the violence and give the audience the good time expected from the action/horror intention.

Let Us Prey was a surprise delight and the perfect way to begin winding down the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. It was violent and fun and the ending opened the door to a multitude of possibilities and, hopefully, sequels.

www.killerreviews.com

Surprised

[unclet-30169 · 6/10 · 3 September 2020]

One of my great pleasures is to see a movie I know nothing about, and have it totally surprise me. The first 1/3 of this movie is odd, I had no idea what was happening, but it sorts it self out and turns into quite a good bloody little quasi-horror. Decent performances, script, direction etc. Check it out, like me you might be pleasantly surprised.🤔👍

Cringe worthy lines from start to finish

[jamespurcell-17815 · 4/10 · 10 November 2017]

Incredibly bad. I haven't looked at the other reviews yet, although I'm sure there are paid reviews from friends of the cast and crew sprinkled among them, as seems to be a common thing on IMDb. I watched this movie based on a recommendation included in another review for "Last Shift" (one of the best horrors I've seen lately). Let Us Prey is so bad that I immediately went back to this review and clicked on the author's name because I figured they had to be a fake account. It turns out there's no substitute for good taste.

Why is this movie bad? From beginning to end, everything is just lacking in effort. Everything is overacted, everything is ridiculous, none of the character's actions make any sense, the one bit of cgi looks like something from "sliders" (the 90's TV show). It's just consistently awful, always, in every seen. Constant cringe worthy lines. I was tricked by a review.

From now on when I receive advice on what constitutes a good movie, I'm going to click on the author's name and see what other movies they consider "good." There is no substitute for good taste. This movie was terrible and cringe worthy, from start to finish.

a great thriller/horror from the uk!!!

[wycherleyp-960-470658 · 6/10 · 14 April 2015]

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

Check It Out

[Foutainoflife · 7/10 · 30 June 2018]

Found this and read a few reviews and decided to check it out. Decent enough to be worth the watch.

I understand that lots of people love ambiguity in horror and, in fact, I do to an extent. My only problem with this was that I never could figure out just who the stranger was. Mystic man from the sea, Lucifer, Reaper, I just couldn't really place him enough to understand the significance of how the film ended. I didn't quite catch it in his final monologue either. That took away from how awesome most of the movie had been. I wanted the reveal. Aside from that, I thought the film was well shot. The actors were solid in their performances and the creepy, horrific nature of the film was there without going overboard. It is a bit of a slow burn though.

Check it out.

Not worth your time in any way

[PsychoAndroid · 2/10 · 3 April 2015]

I watched this movie with low expectations, and it still managed to completely disappoint me. Usually I like "bad" movies or low-budget productions just for some laughs and gory scenes. But this one is just too random for any sober person to enjoy. At no point in this movie you can relate to any of uninteresting characters with their unexplainable erratic behavior. It seems like the film makers just stitched together a couple of mediocre murder scenes and filled it up with a lot of pseudo-religious end-time bogus to make it into a 90min "movie". I doubt many people will make it through the full movie before being bored to death. There are many horror flicks with a 5-ish IMDb rating that are still very enjoyable, this one doesn't deserve such a high rating.

Solid

[cbak223 · 7/10 · 2 June 2015]

Let us prey, searching for a new film to rent I came across this film. From start to finish this film takes you on a psychological roller coaster ride. Directed beautifully by Brian O'Malley this takes the story of a stranger in town, but I think this to be certainly Pollyanna Mcintosh's film. Her character was strong but as an actress she has really good screen presence, I will definitely have to check out more of her work's from the U.K. Liam Cunningham also acted great, the stranger but so much more. Liam's character from what I can gather is a fallen angel, an outcast but with powers we cannot conceive. On her first night in a new precinct you see the other players in this coming together one by one. Liam's character is there to collect the souls of the wicked knowing of the atrocities they have all committed, except for Rachel, She is a survivor of unspeakable horror, and now she will join with Cunningham's character to fight sinners. This film has a mix of religion, which is good. Douglas Russel's character is lights out, being the Sgt. Of the precinct but having committed brutal act himself it sets off the end for the film, great job Douglas. The story which was written, great. The acting was superb. Directing was also on point. This is definitely recommended,enjoy.

Good visuals, decent acting, predictable and frankly boring plot

[Seth_Rogue_One · 4/10 · 8 April 2015]

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.

It had me till the end

[BoogaBaby · 7/10 · 28 March 2015]

It was a pretty good flick but the ending left much to be desired. I didn't get the ending. I don't understand exactly what he was asking , why she agreed and am confused with the last words she says. I thought the stranger was Jean Reno , lol! It's not its stannis's man from GOT. The movie was alright, it was different. I dunno about all this assault on precinct 13 as it was a supernatural kinda flick , but I don't remember assault on precinct 13 so , so there is that. I which more of an explanation was given. I was fine that they were playing around with the strangers identity , but what was meant at the ending who was the rookie cop suppose to be . Is this 10 sentences yet?

The kiss was so unnecessary

[elenaarms · 5/10 · 9 July 2022]

Who doesn't like a good vengeance movie? I actually liked it all the way to the end. The kiss was so unnecessary and disgusting. It contradicts everything he stands for. It just makes him look like a pedophile just like all his sinners.

THE THINGS I SEE WOULD MAKE ANGELS WEEP

[nogodnomasters · 9/10 · 21 November 2018]

The movie opens with a great soundtrack and visuals involving a man coming from the ocean accompanied by ominous ominous crows. Rachel Haggie (Pollyanna McIntosh) is a police constable on loan working the night shift. She wakes up from a bad dream of her past and a puzzling crow's feather under her pillow. The film had me hooked at this point. She goes to the station and people slowly get arrested. Our mysterious stranger shows up, a man of little words, but one "who knows." The creep factor heightens as strange things happen. He gives us a few lines that I liked. One was:

When he is told "Go to hell." He replies, Why? "All the devils are here."

The film mostly takes place in the police station. It is similar to"The Traveler" with Val Kilmer. It is not hard to figure out the stranger. The fun is watching it unfold.

Guide: F-bomb. Sex. Near nudity.

Decent little flick. Never boring, entertaining.

[Finfrosk86 · 7/10 · 14 July 2017]

Ugh, I'm SO annoyed by some of the ratings on here. I watch a lot of low budget-ish horror. Often in the 4-5-6 rating- range. Although, I mostly skip those with a rating of under 5, because they are rarely any good.

However. This one currently has a rating of 5.7. That's not that low, but it is too low. It should be in the 6-range somewhere. Why? Because it looks good. It's never boring. Has a interesting story. And has some pretty cool characters - Liam Cunningham being one of them. He's not like unforgettable or anything, but he has a strong presence to him. And I think the fact that he is in it, is some of the reason for this movie having a lower score than it deserves. That's gonna attract people that normally wouldn't watch this type of horror movie, and so, they expect something else than what they get. Expectations play a HUGE role in how you like a movie, unfortunately.

If you go into this expecting a entertaining, relatively small, horror-thriller, I think you'll enjoy it. I've seen so many movies with scores in the 5's, and most of them suck. This doesn't. So yeah, you can't always trust IMDb-ratings. Too many people give bad ratings to be shocking, or to seem interesting. And that is, to quote the President, SAD.

Creative Scotland empties its classist spleen

[devinwatson-66383 · 2/10 · 9 July 2022]

The opening was really cool.

Taxpayer funded "creativity" (Creative Scotland, a bunch of leaches, a jobs program for connected kids) that is basically a confession of the classist assumptions of the crappy writers themselves; another small town full of evil charicature people who all have this or that evil secret (Of course they do! After all, they're from a small town! One slip away from giving away their deep evil and Not One of them is redeemable - remember, the main character is from Out of town of course) and its up to our urbane magic man to straighten them out. What could appeal more to a certain type...

Bile from above and they didn't even pay for it all themselves.

Predictable yet still somewhat effective

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 16 December 2014]

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

Flawed

[ds-928-430929 · 6/10 · 2 February 2019]

The soundtrack is great and Liam Cunningham locks in a strong performance but the film is nowhere near as strong as the slightly similar themed Last Shift mainly due to its cliched characters, foreseeable scares and plot as well as some rather cheap set design.