chrisazu50
I love the confrontation of the female detective with the male detectives formerly on the case but got no clue.They tried to discourage her but she was determined to succeed. I love her style. she decided to take the bull by the horn when there was no help forth coming from detectives who were earlier on the case. From what may be considered by the ordinary eye as an insignificant piece of evidence in one of the last crime scene,she was able to make an in road into a case that was for other detectives an impenetrable virgin forest.A piece of doll became the master key that opened that blind alley that other detectives could not see.Who says persistence does not pay.It is interesting to note that the moment she had that close shave with the suspect, her sharp instincts told her that was her man. She maintained her cool and showed no excitement. The female dick for me was the star in the movie.The criminal thought he was a perfect criminal but he met a perfect Detective whose eyes were sharper than an eagle's. Sumary: A good crime series movie,that succeeded in exposing some of the very bad lukewarm attitude of the police in times when they should rise up to the challenges of duty calls.It is also informative in the sense that people should try and look beyond what they see and people they want to tag along with.The female folk should heed this warning as they are more vulnerable.
Cali
For those that think "Perfect Prey" was better cinema than "Witness" this movie is the "perfect fare" for them. Well acted, the grizzled Kelly McGillis does take her role seriously, and for that we thank her. D.W. Moffett gives a splendid performance, but the true star of the show is David Keith. Never have I seen an actor take such demented delight in smearing red lipstick all over his characters sick, depraved lips. The storyline is decent, with an ending that borrows liberally from "Silence of the Lambs." Great cinema for that Saturday evening when Mom has to wait up for the teen that is out for the night with the family car. "Perfect Prey" is intriguing enough to keep the mind off worry, yet mindless enough that a viewer doesn't have to think as the clock nears one in the morning. For those that love a good storyline that offers a little more bang for the buck, try "Witness." Definitely Kelly McGillis at her finest, if only for the classic scene with a younger and sturdier Harrison Ford where they dance alone in an Amish country barn, a scene where McGillis truly sizzles and smolders with implied sexuality and Amish girl heat.
Robert J. Maxwell
This one, David Keith, is an antiques vendor and schlepper who for some reason is killing 30-ish successful women by plastic-bagging them, then dressing them, grooming them, and posing them in the position of antique dolls. Kelly McGillis is an ex-medical student, a graduate in fact, who was Keith's first victim but managed to escape his clutches before being turned into a dead doll. She has an MD from Texas but, after spending some time recovering from her trauma, she is now an ordinary homicide cop in Houston. (Sure.) The plot. Well, you already pretty much know it by now, I presume. A number of women turn up dead in peculiar ways. The police have to figure out if there is a link between the killings. There is. Then they have to figure out the particular theme this serial killer is using. Usually phrased as, "What do these women have in common?" In other movies of this genre -- and it IS a genre unto itself -- the killings are based on puzzles from Alice in Wonderland, or replications of previous high-profile serial murderers, or a drawing of a pentagram on a map, or -- I think there's one based on a game of tic tac toe. Or was it hopscotch? One forgets after viewing a dozen or so examples.McGillis does alright by her role, although she hasn't much in the way of range. (It's hard to imagine her getting stoned and enjoying herself.) And she has one of those cases of asthma or whatever it is that disable her at critical moments, a momento of her earlier abuse. She is intense enough, though, and that's about all that's required of her. Moffet, or whoever plays her partner Detective Cirillo, seems to have only one key on his instrument. It would have been a more interesting movie if he'd been the heavy. David Keith has the juiciest part, an outwardly charming, inwardly explosive, sadistic madman. What a scuzzball he is, trying to spoon feed pecan pie to one of his victims before offing her. He gets a bit of exercise because he's required to change personae from time to time. Bruce Dern, gone gray and losing his hair under his cowboy hat, has played numerous psychotic heavies and if he'd been a few years younger would have done fine as the heavy in this movie as well. He's hardly on screen, though.There's nothing original in this flick. I'm beginning to yawn when the finale begins with the lone female investigator breaking into the murderer's darkened house and creeping around with a flashlight whose beam reveals spooky objects and ominously closed doors. It worked okay for a while but has now become redundant, after "Silence of the Lambs" and any number of other examples. Other boilerplate scenes include the fight between the investigator and the maniac. The investigator is armed but has the gun knocked out of his or her hand. A shot of the pistol skidding along the floor. A shot of somebody's hand grasping for the weapon just out of reach. To my knowledge, this sequence was first used in a motion picture in the year 1798.You know something, though? It's bad enough that these plots always involve the murders of young women, but this film has a drawn-out and especially execrable scene in which the murderer, Keith, teases one of his tied-up, terrified victims. The victim knows she's going to die and so do we, but we must sit there and watch David Keith try to pamper her and then throw a fit of pique when she refuses to eat his goddamn home-made pie and then plastic bag her while she screams and wiggles. At whom is this scene aimed? What I mean is, who will enjoy seeing something so brutal and disgusting? It's not necessary to our understanding of either the plot or the character. Casting decisions must have been given about 5 seconds of thought. The first killer we see, being sentenced in a Texas court, is a big, hulking, ugly, sneering brute who spits at Inspector Kelly McGillis. How much more interesting if he'd been a little mouse. David Keith, the killer-in-chief, has always been cast as a weak, perennial loser. The uncooperative sexist detective on the Houston PD is a fat guy with a mustache and no neck who could have won the blue ribbon as prize hog at the Texas State Fair. Well, looking at the donut instead of the hole, the formula wouldn't have been reused so often if there weren't something workable about it. And there IS one well-written, if overacted, scene at an outdoor flea market in which Keith almost, but not quite, lures a beautiful blond customer into his web. If it's late at night and you find you can't sleep, you might give this a try. Either it will act as a distraction from your distress or as a soporific. Both ways, you win something.
blue hermit
Described as a TV movie, I don't know whether "Perfect Prey" was planned as a TV pilot. Far worse have been deemed suitable for series production. I don't think this watchable piece of work got the exposure it deserved when it first appeared. This is a better than average serial killer thriller. The main characters are certainly well cast.Kelly McGillis is a natural as the troubled but intelligent and determined investigator, Audrey Maclean. David Keith's performance as the handsome, persuasive killer is chilling. Watching him, you can truly believe that evil is abroad and relishing the suffering of its victims. Bruce Dern does well with the part of Captain Swaggert, with murders on his hands he knows are beyond the abilities of his team to solve without the fresh eye of outside help. Interested viewers will, I'm sure, enjoy the contrast in characterization between Dern's lawman in this movie and his marvellously venal sheriff in "Last man Standing". Last but by no means least, D W Moffett shows real style with his Detective Jimmy Cerullo.There's a pleasing professionalism about the rest of the cast, who aren't well known. Their work helps to ensure an enjoyable movie. Particularly worth a mention is the young actress given the thankless role of the murder victim in the pink dress. With her body propped up against a nodding donkey, her frozen eyes allow a peek into hell for the imaginative movie watcher. The feeling of brooding sadness in the scene surfaces at various times during the duration of the film, and adds considerable atmosphere.The movie is effectively directed by Howard McCain and nicely scripted by Robert McDonnell. There's some neat editing by Hanneh Rudkilde. The rest of the crew weren't asleep on the job either. What really damages "Perfect Prey" is the marked resemblance of the plot to that of "The Silence of the Lambs", which many of its potential audience will have seen. In my opinion Kelly McGillis is a more believable investigator than the otherwise admirable Jodie Foster, but that, as they say, is neither here nor there.It's worth a look, seek it out next time you intend making the sofa look untidy for a couple of hours.
