Review: The Prey: The Legend of Karnoctus

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2022
Images from the Internet

The Prey: The Legend of Karnoctus (aka The Prey)
Directed by Cire Hensman and Matthew Hensman (aka The Hensman Brothers)
Lennexe Films; Mano a Mano Films; Chu Media; Chinematicrex Productions
93 minutes, 2022
www.facebook.com/ThePrey
www.thepreymovie.com/

First of all, just about any film in which Danny Trejo appears is worth seeking out, no matter what the story. The man is a legend. And that he’s playing an action hero – and making it work – into his 70s is even more stunning. He deserves a star on the Walk of Fame (more than some others that had a single hit show such as a certain morally bankrupt politician).

The story, which takes place during the war in Afghanistan (though filmed near Santa Clarita, California, without Drew Barrymore), focuses on three groups…well, maybe two-and-a-half. First, there the Afghans (i.e., the enemy), who we do not get to see much other than as an attacking force, mostly out of camera sight (hence the “half”). Then there is a platoon of American soldiers, and third, a group of seemly near-elderly mercenaries (Haliburton?), which includes Vega (Trejo), Reid (Kevin Grevioux), sniper Gunnar (Adrian Paul, in a role originally offered to Bruce Campbell), and led by Tagger (Nick Chinlund). Tagger and Reid, the two main mercenaries in the story as Trejo and Paul are mostly used as cameos (even though Trejo gets the ”And…” in the title credits), are essentially Hannibal (right down to the cigars) and Baracas (bulk and attitude) from “The A-Team” (1983-87), respectively.

Nick Chinlund, Danny Trejo

The latter group pulls a Three Kings (1999) and steals a bunch of gold from the Afghans, and hides it in a cave. Meanwhile, the platoon is under fire and retreats to same cave, where Afghan artillery seals them all in with – and we learn this early in the prologue – the titular four-eyed, flesh-eating, and wooly bully “demon,” the Karnoctus.

Of course, the two groups of Americans are antagonistic to each other at first (“What are you doing in my cave?” Tagger annoyingly asks), but even during that, it is not hard to figure out that they will eventually work (and some will die) together. Like in The Descent (2005), they are trapped in the cave with a killer creature of unknown origin. One could also throw in Predator (1987) as mercenaries (and soldiers) fight something that is hunting them.

Right off the bat, though, I have a question. Have any of the crew ever been in a cave before? If you seal the entrance way, it is going to be dark. Not just dark, but daaaaark. Pitch black. Sure, they have helmet flashlights to start, but pretty soon, even without going anywhere, there is plenty of light without their headgear most of the time. But even with the LED lights, rocks absorb light so it always seems darker, and the area covered by the light is more limited. Where is the illumination coming from? It’s one of those weird, quirky film things, like the car never being able to start or no cell service. But then again, we are dealing with a possible demonic creature, so I guess I should just smile and mosey on. It actually is the right thing to do. Besides, making it darker makes it easier for things to pop out of nowhere (e.g., jump scares), even if it is not as easy to see for the viewer.

The creature is reminiscent of Bigfoot (though being that hairy in a heat-based locale like Afghanistan – even if in a darkened cave – seems a bit extraordinary, beyond it possibly being a demon (as it is called by an Afghan in the prologue), albeit with four eyes that glow in the dark.

The first half of the film is pretty slow moving (especially the introduction conversation with the platoon which is at least twice as long as necessary), but even with a few kills thrown in, it starts to pick up after the crew starts hallucinating (leading to a T&A moment) thanks to some gas, while the beastie starts to pick them off mano a mano. The gore level also starts to increase, which is interesting for a few reasons.

For example, this is not some cheapie, quickie flick that people go to see specifically for the guts and gore; this film has a reported budget of over $3 million so they have the intentions of this having a wider audience. We gorehounds thrill at this kind of stuff, but with rare exceptions like the recent The Sadness (2022), most mainstream audiences are not usually attracted to this kind of fare, and this level of viscera may turn off more than not. I am not saying this in a negative tone, because as I say, I enjoy this kind of fare and it a positive for me more than not (i.e., makes up for the talkie, slower parts).

Kevin Grevioux

With the possible exception of Lake (Masika Kalysha), the lone woman soldier, and Lt. Menzies (John David Gregory), none of the main cast are all that likeable. As they start to “dance” with the creature, that makes cheering on the Karnoctus all the easier and the kills become additionally smile-worthy.

There is definitely a comic book feel to this, and it is certainly quite planned that way. In fact, some of the action towards the end and the beginning are in comic book form. They know their intended audience and play up to that. Cool.

While this film is just being released this year (2022), it has been in pre-production long enough that one of the roles was originally assigned to Michael Clark Duncan, who passed away in 2012. That’s 10 years in pre-production hell. I’m glad they finally got the chance to get this out. While the idea of Duncan starring with Trejo seems like dream casting, real-life microbiologist Kevin Grevioux and his deep voice fills the void to a “T”.

From the “To Be Continued” at the end, it looks like this is going to be a franchise. I would be okay with that.

IMBD Listing HERE