Prey for the Devil

Directed by Daniel Stamm, Prey for the Devil follows nun-with-a-tragic past Sister Ann (Jacqueline Byers) as she’s thrust into the world of exorcisms after experiencing several creepy encounters. Filmmaker Stamm, working from Robert Zappia’s screenplay, delivers a generic and mostly tedious endeavor that squanders an admittedly effective opening, as the movie is, beyond that point, saddled with an often brutally deliberate pace that’s compounded by a lack of compelling sequences or set-pieces – with the bulk of the midsection detailing Sister Ann’s efforts at overcoming a past trauma and her investigation into a little girl’s possession. It’s fairly tedious stuff that ensures the movie’s midsection feels just about endless, and there’s little doubt, as well, that the exorcism sequences, presumably meant to be a highlight, have been hard-wired with a hopelessly routine feel that’s indicative of the picture’s been-there-done-that sensibilities. The end result is a misfire that squanders Stamm’s technically-proficient direction and an admittedly strong performance by star Byers, and it does seem likely, in the final analysis, that Prey for the Devil could only have worked at a much shorter running time and within the context of a horror-movie anthology.

** out of ****