Prey (1977) (Blu-ray/DVD Review)

Prey (1977) (Blu-ray/DVD Review)
Directed By: Norman J. Warren
Starring: Barry Stokes, Sally Faulkner, Glory Annen
Rated: UR/Region O/1:66/1080p/Number of Discs 2
Available from Vinegar Syndrome

An alien craft carrying a being with fox-like features has landed in the middle of rural England. After brutally murdering a young couple, the being animates himself into the body of the man he killed, adopting the name Anders. Upon being discovered by a reclusive lesbian couple, who mistake him for an injured drifter, they invite him to recover in their isolated home, unaware of his innate bloodlust…

In Prey, a lesbian couple finds some tough times ahead once one of them befriend a strange man who is actually an alien from another planet sent to scout ahead and see just what earth is like. As he is taken in we soon find that our female couple has some secrets and those secrets turn out to be pretty darn big. Then as we move along on this slow burn we see such things as the couple along with their alien “friend” go fox hunting and drink wine. Odd enough, the alien likes wine. Along the way we do get to see the alien kill more than once and in what might be entertaining in the for better or worse kind of way, he turns into what looks like a half-cat (I know the plot outline says Fox but it looks like a cat to me) when he does these things. It all leads up to what might be considered one of the more chilling finales I’ve seen in a movie from 1977 but that only makes this one all the more strange and watchable.

I don’t know if everyone out there reading this will enjoy a film like Prey, but I think you will at least be amused by it due to one reason or another. The story would probably be interesting enough with just the girls having their secrets between one another with a guy tossed in the mix, but when that guy is a cat-like alien creature that kills that only makes it all the more amusing. The transfer here looks good and we get a number of extras I’ll list below, but for my money, we have a strange film that is every bit worth giving a watch to for anyone who digs strange and bizarre cinema from the 70’s. This was a favorite for the VHS collectors out there for a while, but now you can own it and have it actually look good here in HD.

Extras

– Region free Blu-ray/DVD combo pack
– Special Limited Edition Slipcover release (1,500 units)
– Newly scanned and restored in 2k from 35mm negative
– Commentary track with: Norman J. Warren (director) and Sally Faulkner (actress)
– “Directing the Prey” – interview with Norman J. Warren
– “Becoming the Prey” – interview with Sally Faulkner
– “Producing the Prey” – interview with Terry Marcel (producer)
– Original theatrical trailer
– Reversible cover artwork
– English SDH subtitles

Quality of Transfer: 94%