PJ Soles stars as Cathy, the trusting wife of a real scoundrel, Joe(Kit Taylor), a fake, a fraud, who pretends to be starting a business using her insurance settlement(from the accidental death of her parents)to concoct further schemes which don't pay off to his liking. Soles discovers that who she thought was the perfect husband is a sexual predator, a serial killer, catching him slitting the throat of a floozy in the bathroom of a cheap hotel while peeping through a window. So she turns Joe into the authorities before he can assault her, planning to sell her farm/estate, hoping to leave her past behind. Yet, before she can move on with her life, Joe escapes from prison, Cathy's life in grave danger. Nice little suspense sequence has Cathy afraid in her home as Joe tries to get at her, the police(inept, as always)momentarily halting his desire to harm her.
Narrowly escaping his wrath, Cathy decides to go to stay with a friend in Australia, but, of course, Joe will follow suit. Cathy goes to live with Gwen(Susan Stenmark) in the mansion of an eccentric millionaire, Phillip(John Warnock), who spies on anyone in his home through security cameras, a room with television screens where he keeps himself occupied a lot(well, most) of the time.
There was a point in the movie where Cathy questioned Sheriff Virgil Baker(Martin Balsam) about whether or not she was a "habitual victim", and, if anything, she sure finds herself often in situations involving weirdos. Even when Cathy finds herself far from the United States, in a new country, a new home, she encounters lunatics. Keep the "habitual victim" in mind because the twist freeze frame reiterates what is, in actuality, a macabre punchline that stigmatizes poor Cathy: As they say, "She sure knows how to pick 'em." Phillip is not a social person, far preferring to spend his time in his "peep room", obsessing over Cathy, his new interest. Gwen comes up missing, and, once again, we realize that Cathy will have to contend with a nutjob. You see before Cathy, Phillip was fixated on Gwen, but when she started having sexual relations with someone else, her presence was no longer desired. Cathy starts dating a divorcée, Rick(Grigor Taylor), and, as expected, there are complications thanks to Phillip, who "doesn't like to share." Having cameras and sound in rooms all over a mansion you rent out can reveal to you things you might not want to hear. After ridding her of a problem that had been haunting her, Phillip tries to call her, offering to be of service only to overhear Cathy talking with Rick about how "she seems to attract the wackos". Wrong response about a man who just saved your ass, but, alas, Cathy contributes(even unbeknownst to her, because she doesn't have a clue he keeps tabs on her)to the further difficulties that burden her life. Phillip has an intolerance towards "loose women" and soon considers Cathy just another liberated slut needed for extermination.
Many might know director Colin Eggleston by his more familiar cult hit, THE LONG WEEKEND. Soles is cute, but John Warnock's Norman Bates type of creep, Phillip, is more interesting. Kit Taylor leaves an impression as the unhinged Joe who is almost forgotten once we are introduced to Phillip, and his fate is rather an afterthought despite the film's developing an importance for him(he is still alive and free so Cathy can still be in trouble)early on. Martin Balsam, whether he's in it 5 minutes or an hour, is always a welcome presence, even though he's in a glorified supporting role. INNOCENT PREY is another in a long line of psycho thrillers involving a woman and the freak who yearns to have her all to himself.
Narrowly escaping his wrath, Cathy decides to go to stay with a friend in Australia, but, of course, Joe will follow suit. Cathy goes to live with Gwen(Susan Stenmark) in the mansion of an eccentric millionaire, Phillip(John Warnock), who spies on anyone in his home through security cameras, a room with television screens where he keeps himself occupied a lot(well, most) of the time.
There was a point in the movie where Cathy questioned Sheriff Virgil Baker(Martin Balsam) about whether or not she was a "habitual victim", and, if anything, she sure finds herself often in situations involving weirdos. Even when Cathy finds herself far from the United States, in a new country, a new home, she encounters lunatics. Keep the "habitual victim" in mind because the twist freeze frame reiterates what is, in actuality, a macabre punchline that stigmatizes poor Cathy: As they say, "She sure knows how to pick 'em." Phillip is not a social person, far preferring to spend his time in his "peep room", obsessing over Cathy, his new interest. Gwen comes up missing, and, once again, we realize that Cathy will have to contend with a nutjob. You see before Cathy, Phillip was fixated on Gwen, but when she started having sexual relations with someone else, her presence was no longer desired. Cathy starts dating a divorcée, Rick(Grigor Taylor), and, as expected, there are complications thanks to Phillip, who "doesn't like to share." Having cameras and sound in rooms all over a mansion you rent out can reveal to you things you might not want to hear. After ridding her of a problem that had been haunting her, Phillip tries to call her, offering to be of service only to overhear Cathy talking with Rick about how "she seems to attract the wackos". Wrong response about a man who just saved your ass, but, alas, Cathy contributes(even unbeknownst to her, because she doesn't have a clue he keeps tabs on her)to the further difficulties that burden her life. Phillip has an intolerance towards "loose women" and soon considers Cathy just another liberated slut needed for extermination.
Many might know director Colin Eggleston by his more familiar cult hit, THE LONG WEEKEND. Soles is cute, but John Warnock's Norman Bates type of creep, Phillip, is more interesting. Kit Taylor leaves an impression as the unhinged Joe who is almost forgotten once we are introduced to Phillip, and his fate is rather an afterthought despite the film's developing an importance for him(he is still alive and free so Cathy can still be in trouble)early on. Martin Balsam, whether he's in it 5 minutes or an hour, is always a welcome presence, even though he's in a glorified supporting role. INNOCENT PREY is another in a long line of psycho thrillers involving a woman and the freak who yearns to have her all to himself.