Director: Sandy Collora
Producers: James Atherton et al.
Screenplay: Nick Damon & Sandy Collora
Cinematography: Edward A. Gutentag
Music: Christopher Hoag
Editor: Toby Divine
Running Time: 90 minutes
Cast: Clark Bartram (Orin Jericho / Croyer), Damion
Poitier (Centauri 7 / Landing Party Guard #2), Isaac C. Singleton Jr.
(Commander Karza), Sandy Collora (Slyak), Erin Gray (Clea - voice), Simon
Potter (Logan), Alec Gillis (Landing Party Commander), Patrick Magee (Landing
Party Guard #1), Mary Divine (Omicron - voice), Toby Divine (Alpha Base)
After the Prometheus drops out of orbit and crash-lands on a barren planet, its surviving crew members must track down their cargo, an escaped alien Prisoner they were transporting back to their home planet. The orders from above are that the Prisoner must be taken alive at all costs, but their quarry has other plans.
Any film with a title like Hunter Prey sounds like low-budget sci-fi, and this one is no exception. The pleasant surprise, however, is that it's actually pretty good. Credit a snappy script by director Sandy Collora and Nick Damon for starters. Realizing their monetary restrictions, Collora and Damon keep the action on solid ground, charting the pursuit of the alien across the isolated planet's desert landscape, making the story more about conflict and character rather than overblown effects. Props must also go to cinematographer Edward A. Gutentag, shooting on a RED One Digital Cinema Camera that captures the rich desert tones against icy blue skies.
Hunter Prey wisely reveals its "big twist" early (and anyone weaned on old episodes of the Twilight Zone can see it coming), then narrows its focus to a battle of wits between the fleeing Prisoner (Simon Potter) and the last survivor of the team sent to dispatch it, a gruff and clever soldier known as Centauri 7 (Damon Poitier). With supplies and weapons in short supply, Centauri 7 will stop at nothing to track, coerce, reason with, and even manipulate his prey.
Director Sandy Collora, a Hollywood special effects man, made a name for himself in fanboy circles in 2003 when he and some friends made the short fan film Batman: Dead End, in which the Dark Knight pursues the Joker and finds himself dealing with an Alien and Predator as well. Hunter Prey is Collora's first feature-length effort, and his sense of story and pacing elevate this film well about the usual stuff found in the $5 VHS bins. Instead of being hamstrung by its budget, Hunter Prey embraces its limitations and delivers a tight, compelling battle of wits along the lines of Hell In the Pacific.
Not much more to say about this one except ... check it out.
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