Prey for the Devil Parent Guide

With the rate of demonic possessions across the world steadily rising, the Catholic Church has re-opened its schools to train priests in the art of exorcism. Since Sister Ann (Jacqueline Byers) is female, she is prohibited from enrolling in the exorcism classes, despite her interest in the subject. Instead, she serves as a nurse for speculative cases of possession along with the other nuns.

When Sister Ann meets Natalie (Posie Taylor), a ten-year-old patient, she feels an immediate bond – one that thrusts her into an extremely dangerous situation when Natalie is confirmed to be possessed. Whatever has occupied Natalie has a particular interest in Sister Ann…an interest which might have something to do with Ann’s own mother’s struggles with possession.

Obviously, you can’t talk about exorcism movies without that cultural juggernaut The Exorcist. And you definitely can’t talk about this movie without talking about the 1973 classic because this movie cribbed a lot of notes. Aside from a number of familiar plot elements, attentive viewers will note shots and visual elements that have been boosted like an unattended catalytic converter in a rough part of town. I mean, I suppose if you’re going to steal, you should steal from the best. On the other hand, it’s not always a good idea to remind people what a really good movie looks like while you’re presenting them with a thoroughly mediocre one. The cleverest thing about this film is the title – consider that a warning.

Perhaps the kindest thing to be said about Prey for the Devil is that the short runtime keeps you from dwelling overlong on the thousand little irritants which plague the movie. That may not sound terribly kind, but I really do mean it as a compliment. Nearly every movie has issues: this one just has the good sense to run through them as quickly as possible. Given the topic, parents are going to have a few issues of their own, although less than you might suppose. (Religious parents will probably have even more objections.) Setting aside the film’s presumption of the theological correctness of the Catholic Church, which might grate with, well, anyone who isn’t a Catholic, there are some fairly disturbing and violent images. Corpses are visible, characters are flung into walls, a few scenes depict child abuse, and a number of supernatural events involve creatures trying to crawl out of characters’ distended bodies. It’s a little icky, and I don’t recommend this as an after-dinner movie.

Thankfully, in pursuit of a PG-13 rating, Director Daniel Stamm made sure that there are few other content concerns. There’s hardly any profanity to speak of, one brief scene of adult drinking, and sine non-graphic references to sexual assault and teen pregnancy. So, while it’s not exactly a winner in the genre and has some legitimately objectionable content, it might just be the stupid scare your teen horror fan is looking for this Halloween.