Sunday, March 26, 2017

Stalker's Prey


Courtesy of John Doolan

FROM THE MURDER PACK TO STALKER'S PREY

As someone who enjoys LifetimeTV movies and have become a fan of both Colin Theys and John Doolan (both involved in The Murder Pact), I was excited to learn of their new collaboration Stalker's Prey. Stalker's Pray aka Hunter's Cove centers on a high school student who loses her boyfriend to a shark attack. Shortly afterwards, she is stalked by the man who saved her from being attacked by the same shark.

THE SET UP

Laura (Saxon Sharbino - Touch [TV series]) sneaks out of house to meet a friend of hers and they drive down to the docks where her boyfriend, Nick, is supposed to meet her. Laura soon learns that her boyfriend has a surprise for her. A boat ride into the ocean.

While swimming Laura and her boyfriend feel something on their leg. Each blame the other for the antics. It isn't until Laura sees the shark's fin and then the shark, does she realize that they are imminent danger. It's too late for Nick who gets attacked by the shark, but not for Laura who is rescued by a stranger.

We learn that the stranger is Bruce Kane (Mason Dye - Flowers In The Attic), the son of a politician in their town.

LET THE STALKING BEGIN

While in the hospital Bruce visits Laura three times. Two she's aware of, and one she's not. Bruce visits her in the middle of the night while she's sleeping. When he visits her at night, we learn that he's had his eye on her for a long, long while.
While at home Bruce visits her again and asks her to a dinner party his parents are hosting. They do end up sleeping together.

Laura is at the beach when she gets a phone call from Bruce who is there as well. She tells him she needs some space and she didn't mean for last night to happen. He complies with her wishes and head to his car. This is where we see him lose it.

At school Laura learn her substitute English teacher is Bruce Cane. We did learn earlier in the movie that Bruce not only volunteers at the hospitals pediatric unit visiting the kids, but he's a substitute English teacher.

There's another little thing we learn about Bruce. He used to date someone named Allison, who he refers to as Allie.

It's not long before Bruce begins showing up wherever Laura is and physically hurts Laura's friends Parker Lowe (Camerus Johnson Luke Cage, OA) and Bre Hendricks (Gillian Rose - in her first role).

Bruce will go to any length to be with Laura and mean any length.

THEYS AND DOOLAN DO IT AGAIN

I'm not sure what history Theys and Doolan have but Theys does a great job of directing Doolan's scripts. And if it wasn't for Doolan's great writing, Theys wouldn't be able to bring it to life.  My first introduction to this team was The Murder Pact (2015). I don't think I have ever enjoyed a LifttimeTV movie as much as I did with The Murder Pack. 

You know a movie is good when two hours go by and it didn't feel like two hours. Stalker's Prey holds your interest from the time Bruce shows up until the very end.

Mason Dye (Bruce Kane) is an excellent actor. I remember watching him in Flowers In The Attic and automatically thought of Ricky Schroeder. Not only his is looks but his acting as well.

As for Saxon Sharbino (Laura), I hope to see her in more dramatic movies. I wasn't too sure about her when the movie first started, but once she got to show her acting chops against Bruce, I knew she would be someone I want to keep an eye on in future roles.

WHAT'S NEXT?

I hope we don't have to wait two years for another collaboration from @ColinTheys and @Johnny_Doolan. These two bring out the best in each other.

I highly recommend checking out The Murder Pack after you have viewed Stalker's Prey. It's currently on LifetimeTV.

Stalker's Prey - Synthetic Cinema International