''Deadly Prey'' (released in the Philippines as ''Born to Kill'') is a 1987

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

written and directed by David A. Prior. The film, a very loose adaptation of the short story "

The Most Dangerous Game "The Most Dangerous Game", also published as "The Hounds of Zaroff", is a short story by Richard Connell, first published in ''Collier's'' on January 19, 1924, with illustrations by Wilmot Emerton Heitland. The story features a big-game hunter ...

" by

Richard Connell Richard Edward Connell Jr. (October 17, 1893 – November 22, 1949) was an American author and journalist. He is best remembered for his short story "The Most Dangerous Game" (1924). Connell was one of the most popular American short story wr ...

, stars Ted Prior, David's brother, as a former soldier who is kidnapped for participation in a human safari.

Plot

Colonel Hogan leads a group of

mercenaries A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...

. His current client is businessman Don Michaelson. A deal is struck, and Hogan recruits new troops. For training, Hogan orders his troops to kidnap innocent people, take them to the forest and hunt them. One of the people they kidnap, Mike Danton, is ambushed while taking out the trash. Taken to the forest, he is stripped to his shorts, greased up and told to run. A team of mercenaries hunt Danton; however, Danton, a

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

veteran, picks off the troops one-by-one. The troops report this to Colonel Hogan, who sends a task force with his best man, Lieutenant Thornton. Part of the task force is Jack Cooper, a former comrade of Danton who saved his life in combat. Recognizing each other, Cooper defects from the mercenaries and allies with Danton. With Cooper alongside him, Danton continues to fight off the mercenaries to get back to his wife Jaimey. Hogan uses Danton's family against him, angering Danton. After storming the mercenaries' training camp, Danton destroys all traces of Hogan's mercenaries.

Cast

* Cameron Mitchell as Jamie's father *

Troy Donahue Troy Donahue (born Merle Johnson Jr., January 27, 1936 – September 2, 2001) was an American film and television actor and singer. He was a popular sex symbol in the 1950s and 1960s. Biography Early years Born in New York City, Donahue was ...

as Don Michaelson * Ted Prior as Michael "Mike" Danton * Fritz Matthews as Lieutenant Thornton * David Campbell as Colonel Hogan * Leo Weltman as Hillbilly Will

Production

After The Winters Group helped finance David A. Prior's previous film '' Aerobicide'', Prior formed

Action International Pictures Action International Pictures (AIP), also known as West Side Studios, is a film production and distribution company founded in 1986. AIP was founded by David Winters, David A. Prior and Peter Yuval. It also provided video distribution for many ...

with executive producers David Winters and Bruce Lewin, and producer Peter Yuval. Their first projects were ''

Mankillers ''Mankillers'', also known as ''12 Wild Women'', is a 1987 action film written and directed by David A. Prior. Filmed in 1986 in and around Riverside, California, United States, it was shot back to back with '' Deadly Prey'' as part of the newl ...

'' and ''Deadly Prey''. Both movies were shot back to back in and around

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

Release

''Deadly Prey'' was first screened at the

American Film Market The American Film Market (AFM) is a film industry event held each year in early November. Historically, more than 7,000 people attend the eight-day annual event to network and to sell, finance and acquire films. Participants come from more than ...

in November 1987. In the Philippines, the film was released by

Solar Films Solar Films Inc Oy is a Finnish film production company, which was founded in 1995. Solar Films is one of the country's leading production companies in feature films and TV productions. Solar Films' productions have won a total of 41 Jussi Awards, ...

as ''Born to Kill'' on February 4, 1988.

Home media

The film was officially released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

and Blu-ray in 2015.

Reception

The film review aggregation website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

lists only one review, on the

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

alternative newspaper

Mountain Xpress The ''Mountain Xpress'' is an alternative newspaper covering news, arts, local politics, and events in Asheville and western North Carolina, USA. Published each Wednesday in print and online, it has a print circulation of about 29,000. The Mountai ...

.Deadly Prey (R) review

, 2008-08-27 Reviewer Ken Hanke describes it as "yet another of the seemingly endless barrage of cinematic knockoffs of Richard Connell's short story, "

" also influenced by ''

First Blood ''First Blood'' (also known as ''Rambo: First Blood'') is a 1982 American action film directed by Ted Kotcheff, and co-written by Sylvester Stallone, who also stars as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. It co-stars Richard Crenna as Rambo's mentor ...

'' (1982), and concludes that it is "all quite ridiculous, but might be good for a laugh if you’re in the mood for ineptitude on an unbelievable scale".

Sequel

A sequel entitled ''The Deadliest Prey'' was released on November 1, 2013.The Deadliest Prey Official
/ref>

References

External links

* * {{The Most Dangerous Game 1987 films 1987 action films American action films American chase films Films shot in California Films directed by David A. Prior 1980s English-language films 1980s American films Films based on The Most Dangerous Game