Prey (2022 film)

Category: sci-fi action/horror

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You may remember in my Texas Chainsaw Massacre review that I opined "sometimes you just have to leave well-enough alone". Well, movie studios will do movie studio things, such as try to squeeze more dollars out of an established IP. So with that in mind, we get another entry in the Predator movie franchise - the 2022 movie Prey, directed by Dan Trachtenberg (who also did 10 Cloverfield Lane, which I think is a great movie in its own right)

Given that the most recent movies in the Predator franchise have been Predators and The Predator, let's see if a female-led Predator entry that highlights Native American culture can do any better.

The plot:

The story takes place in the Northern Great Plains (which is generally taken to be anywhere between Arkansas and Canada) and is set in the year 1719, thus acting as a prequel (of sorts) to the rest of the Predator franchise.

Naru (Amber Midthunder) is a female Comanche skilled in herbal medicine and tracking, but also wants to prove herself at hunting just like her brother Taabe (Dakota Beavers). With her dog Sarii in tow, she spends a lot of time out in the forest honing her skills.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022 film)

Category: Splatter horror/remake of existing IP

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Sometimes you just need to leave well-enough alone.

Did the world really need ANOTHER entry in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre series? Well, someone, somewhere decided we did, and this is the end result.

Now, given I haven't seen the original (though very familiar with it on a cultural level) I really have nothing to compare this to, so I suppose this 2022 remake-but-not-a-reboot-and-definitely-not-a-sequel is as good as anywhere to start.

The plot:

Dante, Ruth, Lila and Melody (Jacob Latimore, Nell Hudson, Elsie Fisher & Sarah Yarkin) travel to the (fictional) town of Harlow, Texas, in order to facilitate a bank auction of the properties there. The place is essentially a ghost town, far away from everything and has been left to fall into a state of disrepair, with Dante and Melody being propery speculators looking to gentrify the area for a profit.