Rent Prey for the Devil (2022)

Unoriginal, but enjoyable horror ... - Prey for the Devil review by NP

There have been many exorcism films produced in the fifty years since 1973’s ‘The Exorcist’. So how come none have come close to the original? It might seem unfair to compare possession films, but William Friedkin’s take on William Peter Blatty’s screenplay was so wholly dark and horrifying, and cast such a huge shadow, it’s perhaps not astonishing nothing since has come close.

Here we have a fairly formulaic exorcism film, featuring impressive production values and often very strong acting. The story goes through the usual paces and produces a few moments that might chill the viewer. If this is the first such film you ever saw, you might be impressed, if a little bored.

Daniel Stamm’s direction makes good use of the locations and goes through the motions of CGI which works some of the time and looks ludicrous at others. Performances from Posy Taylor as Natalie, Jacqueline Byers as Sestra Ann, Colin Salmon as Ojciec Quinn and a frail-looking Ben Cross as Kardynal Matthews (he died ten days after completion) are notable in a sea of good performances.

Yet ‘Prey for the Devil’ buckles beneath the shadow that falls across it, and remains a box-ticking exercise in emulating scenes from other such productions. My score is 5 out of 10.

Dull Possession Horror - Prey for the Devil review by GI

There seems to be a plethora of demonic possession films around all of which have the same visual tropes that include gloomy rooms, spine cracking contortions, gruff voices and nuns! This one offers nothing new although it's all presented very well but it simply lacks any excitement or scares and follows a routine storyline that is fairly predictable. A nun (Jacqueline Byers) feels the pull to train as an exorcist despite it being a men only club. She persists and is allowed after her apparent connection to a suspected to be possessed child. It all appears that the 'demon' in question has an issue with the nun going way back so it's a battle of wits between them. Some of the special effects are well done but as I say they are nothing new so the film simply plays out its story and runtime with little to recommend it.