PREY FOR THE DEVIL

PREY FOR THE DEVIL is a supernatural horror movie about a young nun being harassed by the Devil who tries to help a young girl in Boston who’s undergoing exorcism rituals by the priests running an exorcism school and two of the top students. PREY FOR THE DEVIL is well made, with few obscenities and no lewd content, but it has lots of scary, intense violence involving demonic forces, and its strong Christian worldview is marred by some false theology and secular feminism.

The movie opens with a scene of Sister Ann’s demon-possessed mother harassing her as a young child. The demon inside her mother tells little Annie he’s really after her, not her mother, because Ann is going to serve God in a mighty way.

Cut to Boston, where Sister Ann is a nurse attending a Catholic school and hospital for training priests to be exorcists and for treating patients who may or may not be demon-possessed. A female psychologist helps the priests decide whether the patients are suffering from physical or mental issues instead of demonic harassment. The Vatican doesn’t allow nuns to be exorcists, but the black English cleric in charge of training the priests, Father Quinn, realizes Sister Ann has a unique empathy for the patients. So, he allows her to sit in on exorcist training classes.

Sister Ann develops a special bond with a young patient named Natalie. Eventually, she discovers that the demon inside Natalie is the same one who harassed her mother years ago. Also, the demon still wants Sister Ann to let him inside her, to claim her soul and stop her from serving the Church anymore.

A spiritual battle royale ensues.

PREY FOR THE DEVIL is a regrettable title because of its double entendre nature. However, the movie is well done, and the actors do a good job of drawing viewers into the scary story. Also, the movie has only two obscenities and no lewd behavior.

Despite that, the movie’s strong Christian worldview is marred by lots of scary, intense violence involving demonic forces. PREY FOR THE DEVIL also has some false, aberrant theology and humanist feminism. For example, like other exorcism movies, the demons are too powerful. In addition, the movie has some aberrant references to the Virgin Mary. For example, one scene shows a statue of Mary standing in front of a cross, implying that she assists Jesus or even replaces Him. Another scene shows that Sister Mary has an image of the Virgin Mary on the rosary she carries, not just a Crucifix. In still another scene, the female psychologist encourages Sister Ann to keep challenging the status quo in the Catholic Church that “limits” the role of women. Her argument, however, isn’t based on any specific biblical principle, but on the typical, false, politically correct, secular humanist feminism of the secular, godless forces trying to achieve absolute power in today’s world. Later, Sister Ann dons a priest’s collar and frock to lead a secret exorcism ritual with a young priest friend.

Finally, PREY FOR THE DEVIL ends in a victory for those who serve God through Jesus Christ, but an epilogue shows that the demonic forces are still out to get Sister Ann. The epilogue clearly sets up horror fans for a possible sequel.

MOVIEGUIDE® believes the false theology in PREY FOR THE DEVIL pushes the movie into excessive, unacceptable territory. It’s a bit borderline, however. The movie should be commended for showing that victory is possible through Christian faith. The filmmakers could have made this even stronger, though.