Prey for the Devil (2022)

Slow paced with a couple jump scares, probably a few shy from being too many but most still genuinely startled me. I think that was due to the movie maintaining a constant eerie aura, it doesn’t lighten up at any point. The somewhat novel story was decent, as well as the acting, but not entirely spectacular. Thought Smile was the best horror this year because it was an actual horror instead of just throwing some gore into psychological thriller; Smile was more of a fun horror to jump out of your seat with your friend and this was more of a scare you to death horror. I constantly had a chill in my tummy and had forgot what that felt like. Maybe this scares me more than Smile did because that was more reminiscent of other horrors like the Ring.Over recent years I stopped watching horrors because new ones didn’t scare me anymore and I thought oh maybe I’m just older; but now that I’ve found something one that’s actually scared me to my core I don’t know why I missed this. I think exorcist horrors are spine-chilling because demons are actually real to you especially if you grew up around church, unlike let’s say vampire, psychological or zombie slasher.Didn’t give it a 10/10 mainly because plot progresses pretty generically, even the twist felt lazy writing, but the fact that this is scary is really all you could ever ask a horror movie for. It could have been more graphic too, doesn’t have a lot of images that stick with you and maybe the pg13 rating was limiting. A few unanswered questions i.e. Why Sister Ann was chosen. The story also lacked depth, not that it needed much though; I love that the runtime is relatively short and it uses the little it has effectively. Loved that the movie leaves an impression, not just to scare you while watching it but for you to think about it later before you sleep.Also, hopefully not a spoiler but that scene in the ambulance with the rosary was so bad ass, the demon knew he was bossing it with that pose waiting for the door to open. Favorite scene even though it’s another were we whisked past the gore.I’m so happy this lived up to my expectations because it was the first time I was excited for a horror in years and it delivered so check it out. Reminded me why I used to enjoy horrors as a kid.