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

The Murder Pact [Movie Review]

SATURDAY MOVIESSUNDAY VIEWINGS

I just finished watching The Murder Pact on @LifetimeTV via DVR since the movie was Lifetime’s Saturday night movie (last night, 12 September 2015) and it’s Sunday. The movies are recorded for I enjoy watching them on a Sunday and last night’s movie was not exception. I absolutely enjoy this movie and these type of movies is the reason I watch and love movies on LifetimeTV.

THE PLOT

The Murder Pact centers around four college friends who partake (one does) and witness (the other three do) the death of classmate atop of a roof of a building.

The friends:
Will LaSalle (Beau Mirchoff, Awkward, I am Number Four, Scary Movie 4)
Camile (Alexa PenaVega, Spy Kids 1 and 2, The Middle, Nashville)
Annabel (Renee Olstead, The Insider, The Secret Life of the American Teenager )
Rick (Michael J. Willett, Faking It, United States of Tara)

The classmate:
Heidi (Madeleine Dauer, The Cobblestone Corridor)

THE PLOT THICKENS, THE CAMERA CLICKS

Will comes from money; a lot of money and he’s poised to take over his father’s business once he graduates from the prestigious college he and his friends attend. Camille is Will’s girlfriend but does not come from money. This information is important to know.

One particular night Heidi goes looking for Will. She finds him on top of a roof of a night club. When she finds Will, Rick and Annabel are there as well. Camille has yet to arrive, but does so shortly after Heidi arrives. Heidi tells Will she needs to speak to him alone, emphasizing “alone” to his friends but they don’t leave. Shortly thereafter, Heidi threaten to tell Camille that Will was stepping out on her.

Will, not wanting to lose Camille, pushed Heidi (in an attempt to keep her from leaving).  Will was not aware the railing was broken and Heidi’s death was an accident. But there’s a fifth witness. The fifth witness is Heidi’s friend and roommate, Lisa. Lisa was outside the building with her camera taking pictures of Heidi and Will and when Heidi fell. She got a picture of Camille as well who is now looking on to the pavement where Heidi is lying. It isn’t until a class that Will, Camille and Lisa are in that Will and Camille learn that Lisa was there.

The instructor of the class wanted the students speak about the feelings of what has taken place. A few people say a few words. When it's Lisa turn she begins hypothesizing on what could have happened. Her theory is so on point, only someone who was there could imagine such a possibility. Will and Camille feel they might be in trouble. After class Will pulls Lisa aside and asks her how much does she want for the pictures. She claims she doesn’t want any money and tells Will that he can’t buy himself out of everything and walks away. Camille tells Will that she can get Lisa to change her mind and she does for Lisa shows up at Will’s house and is asking for $4 million to be transferred to an account and that’s when everything goes down hill and fast.

I’m not going to give away the rest of the movie for I really hope this was enough for everyone to want to see it if you haven’t done so already. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing and the end..well the ending you will never see coming. I don’t mean the final ending, right before the credits, but the part where everything comes to a head.

LIFETIME TV MOVIES AREN'T THE BEST..UNTIL NOW

LifetimeTV does get a lot of flack for it’s movies, mainly for two things: bad acting and plot holes, and I agree at times. But I still find the movies enjoyable and I look forward to them every Saturday night and the days in between. However, LifetimeTV can put out really good ones, and as I said earlier, this one was really good. Not only did it have a good story line, nice twists, but it also had good actors and actresses.

It has been asked if this movie was based on real events and the answer is no. I can see why the question would be asked because it did play like a “based on a true story” type of movie due to the plot being so realistic.

Written by John Doolan and Directed by Colin Theys. Both Doolan and Theys worked together on Remains, Remains: Road to Reno, Dead Souls, and Banshee!!!. 
Download the soundtrack and movie from iTunes. Music by Matthew Llewellyn. Make sure to check out the song Deadly Romance below: