The Naked Prey (1965)

The setup for this film is probably one of the most basic that you are likely to come across; A group of men are on safari and are hunting elephants for their ivory. Along the way, they encounter a tribe and one of the group offends the natives by refusing to give a gift or 'trinket' to them and arrogantly presses on. The tribe of natives don't take this matter lying down and surround the safari hunters and start to kill them off one by one; they do, however, allow one man known simply as 'The Man' (portrayed by Cornel Wilde) to survive and give him a head start and begin hunting him.This is minimalist film making and it's all the more enjoyable for it. The plot is simple and the film moves at a brisk pace and never really loses momentum. After the first 15 minutes or so, there is very little dialogue, but it doesn't really matter that much as the tension and suspense in The Naked Prey more than compensates for the lack of dialogue. There also isn't much in the way of character development, but again this doesn't harm the film as the audience will automatically empathise with and connect to 'The Man' due to the plight that he finds himself in.Cornel Wilde (the protagonist) also directed this feature and I felt that his direction was pretty good; there were some lovely shots of the beautiful scenery. There were also some lovely shots of the various wildlife which inhabited the area (Wilde showed most of these scenes as 'cut scenes', the point of which still eludes me, but the photography was beautiful so it's not really a complaint).In summary, this is minimalist entertainment which makes the most of its relatively low budget by providing the viewer with a consistently engaging and tense thriller. The film really comes into its own when it's just 'The Man' against the group of tribal nativities and it turns into a classic 'cat and mouse' thriller which becomes a case of 'hunt or be hunted' for our protagonist. Whilst, I wouldn't go as far as saying that it was an 'edge of your seat thriller' it was still a decent film. If you are a fan of 'cat and mouse thrillers' then you won't be disappointed.

A common theme among my reviews is the fact that the movie going public after the release of The African Queen and King Solomon's Mines was not satisfied with studio jungle sets, they wanted the real Africa. Well no one ever gave them the real Africa quite like Cornel Wilde did in The Naked Prey.That it was shot in Africa is a given, in fact it was shot in the former Union of South Africa, Bechuanaland, and Southern Rhodesia, two out of the three final gasps of white colonialism on the continent. And the cinematography is spectacular in color and quite graphic about the beauty and brutality of the jungle.The story as it is is set in Africa of the 1850s before the European had penetrated much beyond the coastal areas. Wilde plays a safari guide and tries to talk a thickheaded and obstinate man heading the safari to part with a few trade goods. What this nitwit does is insult the chief. Such an act of lese majeste is not tolerated and the tribe swoops down on the safari with a vengeance and kills all of them in some truly terrifying ways. Wilde however is given a break, a small head start as he's sent out buck naked into the jungle and pursued by the tribe.Wilde who has the experience in the jungle proves to be quite capable and ingenious at foiling the warriors after him. In many ways The Naked Prey is the ultimate survival film. For those curious Wilde does not stay naked, he finds some animal skins to protect the privates.With minimal and I mean minimal dialog Wilde turns in a great performance, in many ways similar to Spencer Tracy in The Old Man And The Sea, but with a lot more action.The Naked Prey is one of the best African location films ever done and it's a timeless classic.

What an amazing film , the use of the cinematography and the landscapes, the acting and a commendable plot make this a must see .I also admired the way the director used animal hunter and prey film alongside what is happening to the protagonist of the piece.Oddest thing is that my mum remembered the 'baking' scene and it has stayed with her all this time she saw it on British T.V 38 years ago !! I too thought this to be quite grueling for the films vintage and the fact it was released from one of the major mainstream distributors makes it surprising too.The new DVD release has done this complete justice but would one expect anything less from the 'Rolls Royce' of DVD distributors. I read on here a comment about the exorbitant price tag but would comment that it deserves it.So much care has been taken using the best print and the most complete version possible. There is also a fascinating commentary to listen too if you have the time and other worthwhile extras.This I feel has 'forgotten classic' invisibly etched on every frame.A must see and must have.

I'll acknowledge that in 1966 it was pretty daring to offer this movie to audiences used to watching Doris Day movies. But it doesn't pass the sniff test and ends up being just another ooga-booga African demonization flick pretty much like those made in the previous decades. The narrative is loaded with offenses, faults, and cop-outs as putrid as anything the thirties offered. They should have hired an ethnographer because this is still awfully silly.We only get savages or noble savages in African movies, never anything more complex, never anything in the middle. Here we get "savages" in a thinly veiled 'study' of the white mans fear of the brutality of black culture. Cooking a human mudman? Chasing a human chicken? The snake face bite? How many times has this tribe needed these tricks that they have such an assortment of bizarre tactics to deploy at a moments notice? The hunt. The natives are surprised when the they find the first warrior dead? Well what happened the previous times they ran a live quarry against a slowly released team of hunters? Killing the first guy is the only option the prey has.This is an absurd movie. Want to watch a great wordless movie, just rent Koyaanisqatsi.