PREY FOR THE DEVIL has a fantastic title, and comes from a filmmaker experienced in making good exorcism movies.
As you might hope, the story has some of the building blocks for a great horror movie: possessions, exorcism, and apprentice exorcists. Just like you don’t really want a beginner surgeon performing your big operation, maybe a new exorcist isn’t exactly who you want to handle a case of demonic possession. PREY FOR THE DEVIL drives that point home.
Here’s the latest trailer for PREY FOR THE DEVIL, and everything we know about the movie to lure you into this big Halloween release.
When Does Prey For The Devil Come Out?
PREY FOR THE DEVIL is one of this year's big Halloween movies. It opens exclusively in movie theatres on October 28. You can't see it on streaming yet, so the movie theater is going to be your Halloween home for this movie.
(PREY FOR THE DEVIL was originally titled THE DEVIL'S LIGHT, with early release dates set for January 2021 and then February 2022. We're happy to finally get to see the movie!)
Watch The New Prey For The Devil Trailer
What a pleasantly freaky trailer! We have a few comments. First, the young Sister Ann seems… a little bit flirty, as nuns go. It's fun that she checks into exorcism school with something that looks like a law enforcement ID card, and we love the briefcases full of meticulously-arranged and cleaned exorcism implements.
And then there are the actual moments of possession, which look appropriately nasty. That bit with the hair, especially.
The Story In Prey For The Devil
Women can't be exorcists, or so says Catholic tradition. But Sister Ann hears the call to act as an exorcist, driven in part by her own experience with something that might have been abuse, or might have been demonic possession. While observing a class of priests apprenticing in the art of exorcism, Sister Ann falls under the eye of a professor willing to train her.
But what happens after Sister Ann gets the chance to follow through on her unusual career aspirations? It's not likely to end well as the young woman faces demons from the present and her past.
The Cast of Prey For The Devil
Jacqueline Byers, from the TV series "Salvation," stars as Sister Ann, and Colin Salmon, a veteran of the James Bond and RESIDENT EVIL movies, plays the professor who takes Ann under his wing. Christian Navarro appears as another student exorcist while newcomer Posy Taylor plays Natalie, the possessed girl who becomes Sister Ann's focus.
"Posy has this remarkable ability to switch on a dime," says Jacqueline Byers, "into the most terrifying child you’ve ever experienced on film. She has this shift in her eye that’s, like, she knows something you don’t."
And then the great Virginia Madsen plays Dr. Peters, whose position at the exorcism school sets her up as a "complex figure who straddles the two widely different worlds of science and religion." Madsen, who anchored the original CANDYMAN in addition to playing many other great roles, says Peters "has to have a toe on both sides: science and religion. She is open, at least, to the religious aspects of a potential possession and the value of exorcism."
The Final Performance By Ben Cross
Actor Ben Cross plays a key supporting role in PREY FOR THE DEVIL, which was filmed in the summer of 2020. Just after the movie wrapped, Cross passed away. The actor was best known for originating the role of Billy Flynn in the stage musical "Chigaco," and for his leading role in the 1981 movie CHARIOTS OF FIRE, which won the Best Picture Oscar.
Cross also appeared in two other exorcism movies, 1988's THE UNHOLY and EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING, from 2004.
The Filmmakers Behind Prey For The Devil
Daniel Stamm, who directed episodes of "Fear the Walking Dead" and "Scream" in addition to the feature film THE LAST EXORCISM, directs PREY FOR THE DEVIL. He worked from a script by Robert Zappia, which Zappia based on a story he wrote with Earl Richey Jones and Todd R. Jones.
PREY FOR THE DEVIL opens on October 28.
All images courtesy of Lionsgate.