Innocent Prey

Innocent Prey
VHS artwork
Directed byColin Eggleston
Screenplay byRon McLean
Story byColin Eggleston
Produced byColin Eggleston
Starring
CinematographyVincent Monton
Edited byPippa Anderson
Music byBrian May
Production
companies
  • Crystal Film Corporation
  • Premiere Pictures Corporation
Distributed byIntermedia Video
Release date
  • 9 August 1991 (1991-08-09)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

Innocent Prey is a 1984[1] Australian slasher film directed by Colin Eggleston and starring P. J. Soles, Kit Taylor, and Grigor Taylor. It follows a woman in Dallas who is stalked by her former husband, a serial killer, after his escape from a psychiatric hospital. Though made in 1984, the film went unreleased until 1991.[2]

Plot

Cathy Willis, a Dallas businesswoman, welcomes her Australian friend, Gwen, who is on a brief flight layover while en route to Sydney. That night, while Cathy and Gwen have dinner together, Cathy's husband Joe is threatened by his investors over a fraudulent business deal. Cathy drives Gwen back to the airport. Meanwhile, Joe visits a local bar where he propositions a prostitute for sex. Cathy tracks Joe to a nearby motel where, through a window, she witnesses him murder the prostitute with a straight razor. Cathy reports the crime to the police and Joe is committed to a psychiatric hospital.

Cathy puts her house up for sale with plans to relocate to Australia. One night, she learns that Joe has escaped from the psychiatric hospital; Joe arrives at the house and attacks her, but flees when police arrive. A police officer, Casey, is appointed to protect Cathy until Joe is apprehended, but Joe returns to the house that night and kills the officer, decapitating her. Cathy is saved by Sheriff Virgil Baker, but Joe manages to evade police.

Desperate for her safety, Cathy flies from Dallas to Sydney. She moves into Gwen's home, a spacious Victorian property owned by the wealthy Phillip, who resides in a nearby guesthouse. Unbeknownst to the Gwen and Cathy, Phillip is a voyeur who spies on the daily goings-on in the residence via a network of covert security cameras. Phillip takes a liking to Cathy, and is jealous when Cathy begins dating Rick, a friend of Gwen's.

Back in the United States, a crazed Joe makes his way to San Francisco where he fakes his death and assumes a new identity before flying to Sydney, intending to kill Cathy. Meanwhile, Gwen apparently goes on a two-week trip away; Rick and Cathy are told by Phillip that he drove Gwen to the airport. Shortly after, Cathy learns she is pregnant with Joe's baby.

Later that night, while Cathy and Rick go out for dinner, Phillip witnesses Joe enter the house via the security cameras. When Cathy returns home, she is shocked to find Joe's corpse. After police remove the body, Phillip watches jealously from the cameras as Cathy and Phillip spend the night together. The next day, Cathy invites Phillip to join her and Rick for dinner. Before the dinner, Phillip lures Rick inside his surveillance room and locks him inside, affixing a high electric charge to the metal door, preventing Rick from leaving. On a video tape, Rick watches a snuff film Phillip made in which he electrocuted Gwen to death in the swimming pool.

Rick views the live cameras in the house, and witnesses Phillip telling Cathy that Rick is running late. Phillip and Cathy proceed to have dinner in Rick's absence, during which Phillip reveals his psychotic tendencies and obsession with Cathy, before admitting to having murdered Joe. Meanwhile, Rick manages to escape from the surveillance room, but is significantly injured by the electric shock of the door. Phillip corners Cathy, but Rick saves her by pushing him over a balcony to his death.

Later, Cathy goes to retrieve Rick from the hospital after his recovery. As they prepare to leave, Rick is seen brandishing a straight razor, which he places in his bag.

Cast

Production

The film was shot in 1984 in Sydney, Australia and Dallas, Texas, under the title of Voyeur.[3] Some filming took place at the Dallas Communications Center in Las Colinas, Texas.[4]

It was the last credit for prolific Australian writer Ron McLean.[5]

Release

Innocent Prey was not released until 9 August 1991[6] when it was given a VHS release in the United States by Intermedia Video.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Innocent Prey (1984)". TV Guide. Archived from the original on 13 July 2025.
  2. ^ Stratton 1990, p. 290.
  3. ^ Murray 1996, p. 87.
  4. ^ Shelley 2012, p. 80.
  5. ^ Vagg, Stephen (5 December 2021). "Forgotten Australian TV Writers: Ron McLean". Filmink.
  6. ^ "New Videos". Messenger-Inquirer. 2 August 1991. p. 5D – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Shelley 2012, p. 83.

Sources

  • Murray, Scott, ed. (1996). Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-195-53949-3.
  • Shelley, Peter (2012). Australian Horror Films, 1973-2010. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-786-46167-7.
  • Stratton, David (1990). The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry. Sydney, Australia: Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-732-90250-6.
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