Deadly Prey (1987)

****

"In Vietnam, he was the best... He still is!"

Let me start by saying nobody in the world can prepare your eyes for the visual raping that they are about to receive when you slip this sexy little number on. I for one, will certainly never recover, nor would I want to.

Colonel Hogan (David Campbell) is a power hungry former military officer who is currently training a large group of ex-soldiers as mercenaries by having them hunt down willing applicants from the streets of L.A. The money behind this operation is being provided by Don Michaelson (Troy Donahue), but he threatens to pull the plug on the whole operation unless the training is completed soon. Unfortunately for Hogan and his men they kidnap an unwilling participate, and bat-shit crazy ex-marine Mike Danton (Ted Prior). Having no weapons or indeed clothes does not faze this brick wall of a man. As soon as he is released from his shackles and into the woods with a pair of skimpy jean shorts, the man sets about killing each and every one of Hogan's men, and of course in the best deaths imaginable.
As Hogan quickly realises that his mini army is depleting in numbers, he assigns the also bat-shit crazy Lieutenant Thornton (Fritz Matthews) to kidnap Danton's wife Jaimy (Suzanne Tara) in an effort to bring Danton into the open, and then attempt to take him down. Danton meanwhile finds a very unlikely partner in the woods in the shape of another ex-marine buddy called Cooper (William Zipp).

From the moment those credits start rolling you just know what kind of a movie you're in for. It starts with 5 minutes of the group loading their guns, I felt a little left out. Then it shows you a chubby man running through the woods and being hunted down by Hogan's crew. His clothes look are supposed to appear worn and weathered as if he had been running all night, sadly they looked like Edward Scissorhands had tried to repair a small hole but in turn shredded his entire ensemble for the day.

There are so many great scenes in this film that it would take me an entire day to talk about so instead i;m just going to touch on a few that had me rolling around the floor and then in the next breath, punching the air with pride.
I absolutely adored the 'number plate' scene with Jaimy and her ex-policeman father. Can you remember anything? "I can remember part of the number plate, it was 2...4...7" This is very important. Are you sure? "No. It was 4...2....7" 427? Jaimy are you positive? 427?
Then you have the scene with Danton hiding out in a tree about three inches above the head of the team, he must have been wearing some super smart skin coloured camouflage gear because he was pretty visible to me. It also displays a scene where he kills a man with the smallest tree branch that I have ever seen, right through the heart of a guy even bigger than he is.
I'd say most people will enjoy the last half an hour of this movie the most, it's when Danton returns to the woods in search of his kidnapped wife seeking revenge on the bastards that took her. He is in full army gear and war paint (boots sold separately), and even lays out a few traps for the crew to stumble across along the way.
My favourite scene is one that I don't want to spoil too much, seeing is believing. I'll just say that involves Danton beating a man to death with his own arm that he has just hacked off with a machete, before following it up with a good ole fashioned scalping.

"Take off your shirt before I take you out from under it." What an ending!!!!


I am currently embarking on the amazing back catalogue of work by David A.Prior. This all stems from my complete love and admiration for the film Aerobicide (aka Killer Workout). This one was my second film of his and I can honestly say right now, I will watch any film that this man puts out. Not only are those two films fantastic but that man can pick a tune. His choice of music for Aerobicide blew my spandex off and the synth in this beast is almost breathtaking at times. Seriously, you have to check this film out. You will have the greatest time with it.

If I were to add my own tagline to this movie, it would be; "Mike Danton is a real bastard to wake up. But an even bigger bastard to knock out."

It's like Punishment Park meets The Running Man meets Rambo meets Predator, all rolled into one.