Directed By Daniel Stamm

Starring – Jacqueline Byers, Virginia Madsen, Colin Salmon

The Plot – Sister Ann (Jacqueline Byers) believes she is answering a calling to be the first female exorcist, but who, or what, called her? In response to a global rise in demonic possessions, Ann seeks out a place at an exorcism school reopened by the Catholic Church. Until now these schools have only trained priests in the Rite of Exorcism – but a professor (Colin Salmon) recognizes Sister Ann’s gifts and agrees to train her. Thrust onto the spiritual frontline with fellow student Father Dante (Christian Navarro), Sister Ann finds herself in a battle for the soul of a young girl, who Sister Ann believes is possessed by the same demon that tormented her own mother years ago. Determined to root out the evil, Ann soon realizes the Devil has her right where he wants her.

Rated PG-13 for violent and disturbing content, terror, thematic elements and brief adult language.

Prey for the Devil (2022 Movie) Official Trailer – Christian Navarro, Jacqueline Byers – YouTube

POSITIVES

What’s most appreciative about “Prey for the Devil” is that it’s not another by-the-numbers possession film, and instead takes some unique measures in its storytelling that attacks the ages old formula with a fresh degree of originality for its cause. For starters, the first female trained exorcist at the Vatican is a refreshing angle and coinciding framing device that thoroughly exemplifies the benefits of having a woman’s presence, without being preachy or heavy-handed with an agenda. Ann’s ability to look past the demon overtaking its prey, and into the soul of the person held captive inscribes an underlining element of empathy for the character that sees her opposition as a person and not a conflict, and with Ann’s own unraveling in the narrative for a dark and devastating past in backstory, gives her an unforeseen experience that gives her a leg up on her peers, making her a resilient weapon against the fight that the church quickly realizes is their greatest asset in touching into the vulnerabilities of its many tortured souls. In addition to this, as obviously expected with the aforementioned direction of the story, the film is also one that focuses on its exorcists, for a change, rather than those possessed. In one aspect, this does underwrite the victims to being one-dimensional shadows with their lack of exploration, but on the other conveys meaning in magnitude for the internal struggle inside of the catholic church, with an echoing of outdated ideals being a grave adversity in its fight against evil, but one that transcribes more intrigue and investment to the story’s protagonist, for the uphill climb she continuously faces long before she squares off against visceral evil. Besides the story, the film is surprisingly benefited by a blessing of production value that at least immediately sets the mood in atmospheric dread in visual capacity. The Vatican setting, with glass cells conveying an intentioned tug of war between a hospital room and prison cell, grants a bountifully modern design to the rest of the otherwise vintage surroundings, and the computer-generated special effects unnerve us with the kind of bodily horror that should’ve taken up a majority of the movie’s thrills, instead of the jump scare fiesta we were left burdened by.

NEGATIVES

Since I’ve recently alluded to them, let’s start with the manic dependency of cheaply unearned jump scares that feel easily telegraphed by the twenty-minute mark of the movie. During these aspects, the sound designs nearly mute, and the framing of a character takes up a dominating abundance of the depiction, leading to jolts of shock where we easily interpret something or something lurking to pop out from around them. None of these are remotely effective, nor are they justifiable when held in tow with the same boisterously echoing sound designs, making the touch of a child’s hand feel like a Sherman tank blasting through a nitroglycerine plant. Beyond this, the performances are mostly wooden and unfortunately very one-dimensional from our dominated protagonists. Most tragic here is Byers, whose ability as the protagonist lends her the opportunity to possibly make this vehicle her own, but one that she underwhelms with in a flatly ineffective emotional delivery. Her charismatic moments of levity feel forced, and her inspirational fight against the darkness lacks commitment, leading to a blandness in protagonist that practically mimics the base of her uninspiring surroundings. In establishing such, “Prey for the Devil” has the kind of script practically designed for forgetfulness five minutes after its conclusion, with mounting contrivances, laughably bad dialogue, and boring direction that can’t even visually strike temporary appeal in the film’s monotonously floundering presentation. Each of these are truly compromising to the film’s integrity, but pale in comparison to the predictability that not only wipes away what momentary stakes attained in the physical conflicts, but also leads to a bumbling climax without a shred of urgency to its unraveling. And because this is a film that doesn’t know it’s audience, we are of course left with the most desperate form of sequel-baiting for a second installment we undoubtedly will never see, with a final shot that feels practically lifted from a superhero narrative without a shred of similarity to the film that was being constructed before us. Finally, while the film is only 86 minutes from start to finish, and keeps the story consistently moving at all times, it often feels rushed in the way it directly undercuts character development and the natural essence of storytelling motions along the way. Motions are altered from one scene to the very next, characters initially focused on heavily in the depictions of the camera go virtually unnoticed throughout, and the abrupt arrival of various subplots gives the consistency of timing a disjointed appeal that makes the whole thing feel like the worst kind of dream that none of us can awake from, as well as one that we know will fade away by the next time we attempt to describe it.

OVERALL
Stamm’s latest, “Prey for the Devil”, might be a clever play on words, but it’s one that is simultaneously misspelled, as this film was in desperate need of a prayer to rid it of the uninspiring elements that build as some unshakeable supernatural presence. Though the framing devices are unique aplenty, the execution of the storytelling flounders its appeal, proving the film to be just another in the growing list of B-grade possession films that don’t even deserve to be compared to “The Exorcist” or “The Exorcism of Emily Rose”.

My Grade: 4/10 or D-