As a thriller, I'd rate this one a 2. But as a comedy it gets a 4! If you like razzing a movie, this is really a good target.

Alternate title, comedy: "101 Ways to Doom Yourself." (Not really)

Top 13 on the list:

1. Carry a gun with lions around; they seem to find it a capital offense to pack heat.

2. When lost, off-roading in an emergency, speed away from the road you came from, blindly through the trees, downhill.

3. And for God's sake, don't use the brakes.

4. When uncertain about the intentions of strangers, just split up -- especially if they are armed and have recently killed something.

5. When tracking man-eating lions, run wildly through the brush. The higher the brush, the better.

6. When maintaining morale in life-threatening situations, assert any authority you don't have to those around you.

7. When stranded, refrain from taking inventory; if you must do it, wait until at least three people have died.

8. When glass and metal aren't a strong enough blockades, use pillows.

9. Hot-wiring a car is unethical. Don't even think about it.

10. When driving through the desert, carry at most 1/8 of a bottle of water per person.

11. When running low on water in the desert, use only your hands to drink the rain. Never fill water bottles or other containers, unless the containers have a rustic feel that goes with the desert's aesthetic.

12. When traveling through vast, sparsely populated, potentially dangerous terrain, notify no one of your destination or whereabouts. In fact, don't even carry any long-range radio or satellite communications devices.

13. Oh, and scream a lot. It entertains the lions.

While working in a dam in Africa, the American hydraulic engineer Tom Newman (Peter Weller) brings his family to spend a couple of days in the Leopard's Rest Lodge. His fourteen year-old daughter Jessica (Carly Schroeder) is having friction with her stepmother Amy (Bridget Moynahan) since she does not accept the divorce of her parents. On the next morning, Amy, Jessica and her brother David (Connor Dowds) go in a game drive with a ranger while Tom goes to the dam. While driving off-road, David asks the ranger to stop the jeep to go to the "toilet", and unexpectedly they are attacked by a group of starving lions that kill and eat the ranger. Amy, Jessica and David are trapped in the jeep and stalked by the wild lions. When Tom returns to the hotel and finds that his family has not returned from the game, he asks for help to the experienced hunter and guide Crawford (Jamie Bartlett) and together they seek Tom's family.

Fortunately I had not even glanced the IMDb Rating and some reviews in IMDb and I had just followed the suggestion of a friend of mine when I decided to buy this DVD. The tense and underrated "Prey" was a great surprise, with a suspenseful and simple but well acted story. Carly Schroeder perfectly performs the annoying character of a typical American teenager; the gorgeous Bridget Moynahan has also a great performance in the lead role of a young stepmother that tries to resolve the relationship problems with Jessica. But the edition of the impressive sequences with the starving lions is very realistic and well-done. In my opinion, the greatest flaw of the story is the absence of a radio in the safari jeep to communicate with the base in emergency situations. Further, I expected more from the experienced Crawford and the two local hunters, and I liked the open conclusion. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Caçados" ("Hunted")

This film pretty much sums up the problem with modern B-movie making. If Prey were made in the seventies, you could bet your bottom dollar that it would have been a gritty exploitation classic; but here in 2007, it's merely a predictable horror yarn where you can pretty much guess everything that's going to happen. The plot concerns a woman and her husband's two kids that get trapped in the middle of the savannah when their safari car breaks down and their guide is killed by lions. From there, it pretty much stretches the climax of Cujo out over eighty odd minutes. There are a few subplots, which involve things such as a family struggle as the daughter doesn't like her father's new wife, and the father himself sets out to save his family 'at all costs'. The film lays all it's cards on the table right from the beginning as we are let into the secret that not a single one of the 'beautiful' central cast is going to come to any harm at all, and that's very annoying as all you actually want to see is them getting eaten alive!

It's annoying that this film is terrible as there's actually a basis for a decent film in the middle of all the sap. There aren't that many horror films about big game, and a seriously good film could be made out of the idea of a bunch of people being stuck in Africa's lion territory. Director Darrell Roodt, who has a lot of experience in making films that nobody sees, fails to make the audience believe that his central cast are in any danger throughout the film; and this is a major flaw as a movie with one selling point needs to make sure that it makes that selling point count! The film doesn't have any atmosphere; the locations look nice, but nothing is made of it and really, anyone with a video camera could have made this film. Peter Weller is the only 'draw' where the cast is concerned, and he's not a big enough draw to ensure that the movie doesn't fail. To be honest, I don't like him much anyway. It doesn't take long for the audience to guess how this film is going to end; and indeed, that is exactly how it does end. The ending made me cringe for all the wrong reasons. There's a fair bit of blood, but other than that; this film has nothing in the way of positive elements, and I don't recommend it!