the prey

THE PREY: Jimmy Henderson’s Explosive Survival Thriller Opens In The U.S. This August

Jimmy Henderson and Jean-Paul Ly have remained the dynamic duo of late since breaking ground with martial arts comedy Jailbreak, ahead of its impeding and star-studded sequel to come. One other bookmark pertains to The Prey, starring Bloody Destiny actor Gu Shangwei opposite Vithaya Pansringarm in the story of a deadly game of survival with an undercover cop forced to run and fight for his life. Dark Star Pictures acquired the film last summer for a U.S. release, and now, the distributor has officially slated a virtual cinema release beginning August 21, followed by a release through VOD starting August 25. From the filmmakers who brought you JAILBREAK Undercover Chinese cop Xin (newcomer Gu Shangwei), is on a secret international mission when a surprise raid puts him in a remote Cambodian jungle prison that plays by its own rules. Ruthless warden (Vithaya Pansringarm) sells prisoners as human prey for rich […]

Fantasia Review: Jimmy Henderson’s THE PREY Is A Decent Throwback To 90’s Action Fare

Jacques Karavasilis

After the last credits rolled and the lights were turned back on, I turned to my friends Sébastien and Debby. They both looked pleased with their latest, respective movie experience, so I ventured: “An honest, decent throwback to 90’s action fare?” The responses were unanimous. Now, don’t get me wrong! The Prey is nothing to write home about (even though I admit to taking pleasure in sharing this review with you), but it is still a decently crafted action yarn; yes, the kind that used to make their way to our Cineplex’s or VCR’s in the early 90s. For instance, picture an independent director/producer attempting to create their own version of something akin to First Blood, but with very little money. You get the idea? The premise behind Jimmy Henderson’s (Jailbreak) The Prey is far from original: An undercover cop in a remote jungle prison is forced to become human […]

THE PREY: Dark Star Acquires Latest From ‘Jailbreak’ Director

Lee B. Golden III

Survival thriller The Prey is making a killing at Fantasia Festival this month before its systemic commercial releases in Cambodia and other territories. The film is especially the latest work of director Jimmy Henderson who left a massive impression in 2017 with Jailbreak, adding it to the pantheon of martial arts action favorites. Bloody Destiny star Gu Shang Wei leads the cast in what would ultimately be his first of two projects with the Hanuman helmer before moving onto their current endeavors with The Guardian which also has Andy On, Charlie Ruedpoknanon and Jailbreak star Jean-Paul Ly. Gu and Henderson have since toured quite a bit with The Prey on the festival circuit and will now pave the way for an October theatrical and VOD release from Dark Star Pictures. Gu stars as an undercover cop swept into a rich man’s hunting game hosted by a maniacal prison warden when […]

Jimmy Henderson’s THE PREY Finds Hunting Ground In The UK

Lee B. Golden III

One of the most thrilling features coming our way comes from the creative auspices of director Jimmy Henderson (Jailbreak) following last year’s festival outing, The Prey, Cambodia’s first $1 million dollar-budgeted action feature. The film premiered at Busan and at BFI in London and is currently in the market for buyers by way of internatonal sales agent, Raven Banner. Among the lot via Deadline, we now have fledgling distro banner Lightbulb Film Distribution stepping up to the plate and picking up for its UK-bound release with a date now pending as of last week at EFM in Berlin. Actor and martial artist Gu Shang Wei, stars in the film as an undercover cop swept away amidst a botched raid, forcibly incarcerated and left to fight for his survival among prisoners hunted for sport in a maniacal warden’s deadly game for rich, affluent huntsmen. Also starring are Vithaya Pansringarm and actress […]

Jimmy Henderson’s THE PREY Rumbles In The Jungle, Lives To Tell The Tale

Lee B. Golden III

There’s no question that last year’s Netflix release, Jailbreak, was a soaring hit that put director Jimmy Henderson on the map for a lot of martial arts fans, especially for folks who never got to see his 2014 directorial debut, Hanuman, but were nonetheless intrigued at the thought of acquainting themselves with another talented filmmaker who knows how to direct action. Bearing this in mind, his 2016 horror fantasy, The Forest Whisperers, was also well-received among viewers – a clear indication that Henderson is much more than just a monolith for action fanboys, which is all well and good. I haven’t seen any film footage from that one save for its trailer, although it looks worth considering as we go forward into covering his latest thriller, The Prey, which definitely seems to carry over some of those more dark, brooding characteristics. The pacing is a bit more slower and concentrated […]

THE PREY Makes A Stand In New Key Sales Art From Raven Banner

Lee B. Golden III

Director Jimmy Henderson’s new actioner, The Prey, is now on par for the course as we enter a new year of festivals and market updates. As such, the production has paired up with Toronto-based Raven Banner for international sales ahead of EFM which launches on February 7 in Berlin. Actor and martial artist Gu Shang Wei makes his return to the screen since handing out a pretty fair performance in the 2016 action drama, Bloody Destiny. Undoubtedly and as of the film’s premieres at BFI in the UK and at Busan in South Korea late last year, this ought to be an ample segue for him onto the world stage. My review will be up this week first thing. In the meantime, Raven Banner’s acquisition as of last week, as reported by Screen Daily, now signals new poster art to help make its case. Check it out below! RAVEN BANNER […]

FIVE-A-DAY COUNTDOWN: Nightshooters, 14 Fists, The Prey, The Man From Kathmandu, and Made In Chinatown

Lee B. Golden III

Booyah! We’ve reached the halfway point of this journey at long last as we count out 100 movies to look out for in 2019. Bringing the total to 50, here are five more: Nightshooters: Marc Price’s Jean-Paul Ly headliner became a Fall film festival favorite, centered on a group of indie filmmakers trapped in a condemned tower block and forced to fight for their lives against murderous gangsters. This one is set to release in the U.K. on Boxing Day as pre-ordering is now underway. 14 Fists: The aforementioned title also brings us what lies ahead for this, one of several projects that Ly has his hands on. Plot details are still a mystery as January production nears and with all the time in the world next year to see what producer and debut feature director Bart Ruspoli has in store. In the meantime, Ly was recently allowed to share […]

Jimmy Henderson’s THE PREY Gets Killer New Artwork For Its Busan World Premiere

Lee B. Golden III

This 23rd installment of the Busan International Film Festival is just weeks away with some of its most rousing choice entries, specifically speaking: Jimmy Henderson’s latest action thriller outing, The Prey. Enter actor Gu Shang-Wai (Bloody Destiny) for his second starring role with a production inclusive for Henderson’s explicit intent to, among other things, bring him to the world stage – and with a badass gangster-lookin’ new poster to help achieve just that. Henderson penned The Prey with Michael Hodgson and Kai Miller which sees Gu in the role of Xin, an undercop who lands in a remote jungle prison following a botched raid. For this, we further our cast a little more with actor Vithaya Pansringarm of The Last Executioner fame, now staking his claim as the corrupt prison warden host to a decades-old jungle game for hunters in which his own inmates are the targets themselves. The ante […]

BFI Film Fest Crowd To Feast On Jimmy Henderson’s THE PREY In October

Lee B. Golden III

Jimmy Henderson’s THE PREY will premiere at the 62nd BFI Film Festival with tickets on sale beginning September 13!

BREAKING OUT, AND FURTHER IN: An Interview With Actor Jean-Paul Ly

Lee B. Golden III

Nick Gibbons 2013 was definitely a freshman year going into this site, but it became a surprising endeavor to get to meet people almost instantaneously, which is funny because I live in New York City and I was sooner meeting people from other countries. I still am, too… I guess this town is like that. At any rate, the list of people I hope to meet nonetheless continues to grow, and having also added Chinese/Cambodian UK film star Jean-Paul Ly among others. It was five years ago that he messaged me as he had made his way to London at the time without any knowledge of where to plant himself, until he found one at Identity School of Acting. His applied craft to date has provided a mixture of credits in both acting, as well as stunts considering his martial arts background, training in Shotokan Karate from the age of […]

THE PREY: The Hunt Begins In The First Teaser For ‘Jailbreak’ Director’s New Survival Action Thriller!

Lee B. Golden III

Cambodian action cinema got the ball rolling significantly with the near-infinite success of director Jimmy Henderson’s martial arts comedy thriller, Jailbreak. Not to be out done with one major hit film for the country’s reviving action film industry, the auteur has returned once again to go two-for-two with Chinese import, Bloody Destiny star, actor and martial artist Gu Sheng Wei for survival thriller, The Prey. Much of the Jailbreak DNA is comprised of the crew here in addition to select cast; Henderson is joined by scribes Kai Miller and Jailbreak co-writer Michael Hodgson in penning The Prey, telling of an Chinese cop singled out by a maniacal prison warden after being raided, cast away to a remote jungle and forced into a deadly game of survival for a raft of blood thirsty thrill-seekers. Taking a backseat behind the lens is Jailbreak star and fight choreographer Jean-Paul Ly shepherding the explosive […]

THE PREY: ‘Jailbreak’ Director Teases A Bigger, Haunting Battlefield In The First Teaser Poster

Lee B. Golden III

Fresh from a festive rollout for martial arts comedy hit, Jailbreak, the first official poster for Jimmy Henderson’s newer, darker venture with The Prey has just erected its first teaser poster. The obscure Bloody Destiny nonetheless proliferates local Chinese actor and martial artist Gu Sheng Wei, juxtaposing the rising star with good company with Henderson directing and Jailbreak producer Loy Te also serving in a producer capacity next to Altered Vision Films. After years of tracking down international criminals, a trip to a remote jungle prison will force Chinese cop Xin to become human prey to fight for his freedom — and to save his own life. Undercover Chinese cop Xin is on a secret international mission when a surprise raid puts him in a remote jungle prison that plays by its own rules. Here, the visitors are wealthy thrill seekers. The guards are hostile puppet masters. And the prisoners […]

A TIME TO ‘PREY’: Jimmy Henderson Talks THE PREY, JAILBREAK, Sequel Prospects And More

Lee B. Golden III

At some point in the last several years, Cambodia became next in line for contributing to today’s fandom in martial arts action films. Leave it to Jimmy Henderson to pull the necessary weight in recent memory for the release of albeit obscure 2015 vigilante thriller, Hanuman, signaling the arrival of martial artist and debut actor, Dara Our, and his expertise in the centuries’ old fighting style of Bokator. “I can’t make a film without Dara. We started together with nothing. We didnt even have a proper gym to train choreography while prepping for Hanuman.” says Henderson who is now onto their latest and most ambitious project, The Prey, which is currently in production. “He’s always up for challenges. And even though he plays a supporting role have in this film, the fight sequences he will have to do are insane.” The Prey was announced back in January following the local […]

The Team Behind ‘Jailbreak’ Announces THE PREY From Altered Vision And Kongchak Pictures

Lee B. Golden III

Kongchak 2017 was something of a banner year for the good folks at Kongchak Pictures. The festival run for martial arts action comedy, Jailbreak, spawned a huge calling from fans much to the favor of producer Loy Te and director, Jimmy Henderson whose regional action feature debut, Hanuman, essentially illuminated some of the best Cambodia offers nowadays in screenfighting talent. For this, it should be of no suprise, but just sheer delight that they are back at it again with the new action thriller, The Prey, written by Henderson, Jailbreak scribe Michael Hogdson and newcomer Kai Miller. Andrew Mack’s report at ScreenAnarchy cites a press announcement enlisting five-time Chinese national boxing, dual arms champion Gu Sheng Wei (Bloody Destiny) as Xin, a do-gooder undercover cop who finds himself fighting for his life when a surprise raid lands him in a remote jungle prison host to a game for affluent hunters […]