Review of The Naked Prey (1965) by Richard S — 21 Jan 2008

Despite the touches of colonialism, this is a daring, excellently executed low budget film. Wilde's ability to make the story compelling with out extraneous background information and most importantly, banal dialogue sets it apart from most genre films. Modern filmmakers-- especially the heavily influenced Mel Gibson-- have a lot to learn. One of the other crucial techniques is Wilde's ability to stage action from a distance in relatively long takes. It's a far cry from much of the boring, quickly cut closeups that pervade modern "action" cinema. In Wilde's film you rarely, if ever lose track of where the characters are in relation to one another.

It's such a contradictory film. It's very much of the genre, but there's this sense that he likes the Africans better than himself. I'm sure if he'd been able to do just as he pleased he'd have cut out a few of the more obvious ploys for studio approval.

The music is also excellent. It and the South African landscapes are as much characters as Wilde and Gampu.