Exclusive: HUNTER PREY Sneak Peek!
Hey Gang! So, yesterday I got an e-mail from director Sandy Collora (Batman: Dead End) inviting me to come down to his studio and watch his new and first feature length sci-fi film, Hunter Prey.
Ever since I saw the first images from this film, found out who was involved in making it, what the story was going to be, and watched the trailer, I couldn’t wait to get to see what the complete experience of this film would be like. As you know, we’ve been bringing you as much of this movie as we can, and the feedback we’ve received from what we’ve posted has been very positive. So I know many of you are looking forward to seeing it as well.
Well, I have seen it, and I’m here to tell you that it does not disappoint! Hunter Prey delivers the goods, and I had a great time watching it. I couldn't help but have a smile on my face while watching it. Why? Because it's been a long ass time since we've seen a movie like this, a fun old school sci-fi adventure that speaks to the geek in all of us.
If you’ve seen the stuff we’ve posted on it, then you know how good this movie looks. The whole film is shot beautifully and the cinematography is top notch greatness. The desert setting for the film is incredible, it's really unlike any desert you’ve ever seen before, it truly looks like another planet. The whole setting of the film was actually on these already extraordinary locations, none of it was dressed for the film.
Now that you already know the movie LOOKS great, I want to talk about the meat of the film-- including; the story, the characters, and how I felt while watching it. I’m a movie geek, I love movies, I grew up watching all kinds of movies from different film eras, and in my opinion the 1970’s was a high point in Hollywood filmmaking. It’s where today's great directors got their start. I love the films of the 70’s because they relied more on the story, acting, and characters than they did on special effects and over the top action. Watching Hunter Prey was like watching a great sci-fi film from of the 70’s.
The story is solid, engaging and fun. The film follows a crew of special forces commandos who must recapture an alien prisoner that has escaped after the military transport ship carrying it crashes on a desolate and hostile planet. The Alien, which is the last of its kind, is needed so it can be interrogated. Although the movie only focues on a few characters, there is somthing much bigger going on around them, like an interplanetary war which affects the two main characters. They are now separated from this war, and the film shows how they relate and react to their situation and each other as a result of it.
Here is the official synopsis for the film:
The Prometheus has dropped out of orbit. Communications and life support systems are down. Situation Critical: Status of Crew and Prisoner unknown. With orders to catch their Alien Prisoner alive the surviving crew of the spaceship Prometheus pursue a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with their escaped prisoner on a deserted and barren planet. But, who is the hunter and who is its prey? 
The movie is first and foremost a character study, that revolves around two characters who are trying to outsmart and out hunt each other on this unforgiving planet. You spend most of the film with these characters, and you get to know them pretty well. These characters were my favorite part of the movie because of the personalities that were created in them. The actors portraying them, Damion Poitier who played Centauri 7, and Clark Bartram who takes on the role of Jericho, did a great job in their roles. The chemistry between these two guys was great. All of the characters were fun and interesting.
I want to point out the make-up and character design, because it looked great! It wasn’t cheap or silly looking at all, these aliens looked bad ass. I enjoyed watching these aliens on screen, I loved the look that they had. There were so many little gritty details in this movie which adds to its charm. I love it when movies and filmmakers get into the gritty details of everything. The special effects were also done incredibly well. This film doesn’t look or feel like a low budget movie, that's for sure.
It’s not easy to create a whole new universe with original creatures. James Cameron did it with $230 million. Sandy Collora did it on a micro-budget. Hunter Prey is a breath of fresh air in a time where Hollywood is hard at work shoveling out remakes and sequels, most of them in 3D. We don’t see many original movies being released these days, one of the last original sci-fi films that's been released recently was District 9. But I can see a lot of film lovers falling for Hunter Prey.
The people involved with it worked their ass of to get it made. You can read more about the background of how this film came to be Right Here. But these guys pulled it off, they made a great little sci-fi film that is fun, interesting, new and different.
The film has yet to find a distributor, it will screen this week for the American Film Market. I don’t think it will have a problem finding a distributor, but this is a film that begs to be seen on the big screen and I hope it gets a theatrical release even if it’s limited. I can’t wait for you to get to see this movie.
Hunter Prey is a movie for people who love movies. It’s a sci-fi geek film, made by geeks for geeks, with a geeks seal of approval. I really had a blast watching this movie, and if you liked what you’ve seen from Hunter Prey so far, then chances are you’re going to like the movie as well.