‘Let us Prey’ is Overly Violent But Boasts Some Very Cool Looking Shots (Review)

Written by: Daniel Hadley

Directed by: Brian O’Malley

Cast:  Liam Cunningham, Pollyanna McIntosh, Bryan Larkin

How do I describe Let us Prey? Well it’s overly violent, has some very cool looking shots, Liam Cunningham plays a Bad Ass and to a lesser extent so does Pollyanna McIntosh… and it has a decent if a little over used premise. Now on the bad side it’s a little confusing, some scenes make little sense and a lot is left needlessly unexplained which left me feeling a little hollow after watching. But on the bright side I had just seen a man get his face eviscerated by an electric shoe polisher so there’s always that.

The plot is simple: A stranger strolls into a small Irish town and disturbs the natural order of things. After being arrested and placed in a holding cell which seems like every psycho in Ireland ends up in, the scenario culminates in a massacre which, while well executed in itself,  left me scratching my head a little. You see all of the aforementioned psychos either work or are regulars at the police station and it all just came across as a little farfetched. Mind you after seeing a child killer get a table leg rammed into his eye socket I felt as though I should be a little forgiving of the films shortcomings.

Now being a horror fan I like a blood bath just as much as the next man and the carnage that ensues in Let us Prey is nicely done and Liam Cunningham just breathes menace as the above mentioned stranger. I did enjoy my time with Let Us Prey even though I did feel it was a little shallow but that really is its only downside. It’s nicely acted and decently shot, it also has some very well done examples of senseless brutality which is always nice.

The fact that so much is left unexplained is enough to drag the rating down a notch though, as I feel a little more back story could have really fleshed out the characters and there would have been some real weight to the death scenes. Seeing a man in nothing but his underwear beat another similarly dressed man to death in a sexually suggestive manner is a disturbing sight, but kind of comes out of nowhere when said man has shown zero such tendencies up to that point.

So if you feel like watching a group of unhinged lunatics stab, beat, impale, slice and shoot each other then Let us Prey will sate that desire very well, but if you’re looking for a little more meat on your horror movie bones then Let Us Prey might leave you wanting something more.

Rating: 3/5