A prison transport ship carrying a dangerous, alien convict has dropped out of orbit and crash lands on a barren, desert world. During the crash, the alien deftly escapes, leaving only the four surviving members of the crew to recapture it alive... One by one, the soldiers are picked off by the mysterious creature, until a lone warrior remains, with only his AI counterpart, to face off, one on one, against this deadly renegade alien.
Anyone familiar with Sandy Collora's impressive commercial work or his internet sensation; 'Batman Dead End', which gave the world the first glimpse of a dark, realistic looking Batman, should know he has a unique visual style and can accomplish a lot with a little, so it stands to reason that his first feature film is a stunning visual feast that defies its modest budget to look like a film far beyond its SyFy channel cousins. It's always impressive when a film-maker actually has talent and a knowledge of the craft that enables him or her to rise above the cinematic sludge usually accomplished at this budget level. 'Hunter Prey' manages to make the most of practical spaceship models, prosthetic make-ups, and pristine locations, to produce a solid little movie for a fraction of what the studios spend on craft service for these types of genre films.
Collora's stylistic choice here to return to the gritty, spartan look of 70's cinema, whether an artistic choice or one of a plethora of decisions made because of the lack of budget, is brilliant. Unlike Robert Rodriguez, who adds some scratches and grain to his already over the top, intentionally campy tone in a lame attempt to achieve this effect, Collora aims for the gritty core and realism of the films he admires, achieved through his extensive knowledge of practical FX and hands on approach, to create a film that hearkens back to 'Star Wars', 'Planet of the Apes' and 'Enemy Mine'. The tid-bits of the often referred to world of 'Hunter Prey' that are actually shown on screen, are incredibly realized by very detailed and sufficiently aged costumes, props and some very well done, understated, CG that's used to enhance and expand the already existing landscapes.
However visually stunning, 'Hunter Prey' falls quite short in the story department. It lags in a lot of places, with the characters simply wandering around the desert, seemingly with nothing to do. I get the sense that there was so little actually there in the pages of the script, that Collora shot a lot of these scenes as padding, to help take up time until there was some action or dialogue. When there is, it's shallow, corny and trite, not measuring up in any way to the visual depth of the film. It almost feels like a short film or TV pilot that was stretched to fit into a 90 minute feature. Even Clark Bartram, (the batman in Collora's Dead End) who turns in a good performance, does the best he can with what's there, but in the end it's all just simplistic, generic, falderal. Damion Poitier, who plays the alien faced Centauri 7, has a bit of a tougher time however, with every single one of his lines landing with a resonating, hollow thud, that is so unnatural and clunky, it's hard to watch in certain scenes. Had this film not been so visually and artistically accomplished, it would be difficult to sit through, especially for non-geek audience member.
Another element of the film that left me confused, was the music. It's good, but is also very derivative, and doesn't fit the desolate and solitary nature of the film at all. It sounds like the score to a bigger, more grandiose film, that was used to make 'Hunter Prey' seem bigger and more epic than it really is. The visuals carry that quotient of the film quite well, so I don't understand the creative choice here regarding the score. Again, it's well done and doesn't hurt the film, but something more subtle and moody would have worked better with the material.
I got what this film is trying to do, and it really does accomplish what it sets out to, on many levels. The lack of budget, more experienced actors, and a good script, certainly hinder it a bit, but do not kill it, nor detract from the undeniable talents on display here. All in all, even given its flaws, 'Hunter Prey' is a good low budget movie and a very impressive first feature effort for Collora. One from which I'm sure there are bigger and better things to come.
Anyone familiar with Sandy Collora's impressive commercial work or his internet sensation; 'Batman Dead End', which gave the world the first glimpse of a dark, realistic looking Batman, should know he has a unique visual style and can accomplish a lot with a little, so it stands to reason that his first feature film is a stunning visual feast that defies its modest budget to look like a film far beyond its SyFy channel cousins. It's always impressive when a film-maker actually has talent and a knowledge of the craft that enables him or her to rise above the cinematic sludge usually accomplished at this budget level. 'Hunter Prey' manages to make the most of practical spaceship models, prosthetic make-ups, and pristine locations, to produce a solid little movie for a fraction of what the studios spend on craft service for these types of genre films.
Collora's stylistic choice here to return to the gritty, spartan look of 70's cinema, whether an artistic choice or one of a plethora of decisions made because of the lack of budget, is brilliant. Unlike Robert Rodriguez, who adds some scratches and grain to his already over the top, intentionally campy tone in a lame attempt to achieve this effect, Collora aims for the gritty core and realism of the films he admires, achieved through his extensive knowledge of practical FX and hands on approach, to create a film that hearkens back to 'Star Wars', 'Planet of the Apes' and 'Enemy Mine'. The tid-bits of the often referred to world of 'Hunter Prey' that are actually shown on screen, are incredibly realized by very detailed and sufficiently aged costumes, props and some very well done, understated, CG that's used to enhance and expand the already existing landscapes.
However visually stunning, 'Hunter Prey' falls quite short in the story department. It lags in a lot of places, with the characters simply wandering around the desert, seemingly with nothing to do. I get the sense that there was so little actually there in the pages of the script, that Collora shot a lot of these scenes as padding, to help take up time until there was some action or dialogue. When there is, it's shallow, corny and trite, not measuring up in any way to the visual depth of the film. It almost feels like a short film or TV pilot that was stretched to fit into a 90 minute feature. Even Clark Bartram, (the batman in Collora's Dead End) who turns in a good performance, does the best he can with what's there, but in the end it's all just simplistic, generic, falderal. Damion Poitier, who plays the alien faced Centauri 7, has a bit of a tougher time however, with every single one of his lines landing with a resonating, hollow thud, that is so unnatural and clunky, it's hard to watch in certain scenes. Had this film not been so visually and artistically accomplished, it would be difficult to sit through, especially for non-geek audience member.
Another element of the film that left me confused, was the music. It's good, but is also very derivative, and doesn't fit the desolate and solitary nature of the film at all. It sounds like the score to a bigger, more grandiose film, that was used to make 'Hunter Prey' seem bigger and more epic than it really is. The visuals carry that quotient of the film quite well, so I don't understand the creative choice here regarding the score. Again, it's well done and doesn't hurt the film, but something more subtle and moody would have worked better with the material.
I got what this film is trying to do, and it really does accomplish what it sets out to, on many levels. The lack of budget, more experienced actors, and a good script, certainly hinder it a bit, but do not kill it, nor detract from the undeniable talents on display here. All in all, even given its flaws, 'Hunter Prey' is a good low budget movie and a very impressive first feature effort for Collora. One from which I'm sure there are bigger and better things to come.