64
Metascore
12 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 91The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe Naked Prey has the brute force of great pulp; there's little dialogue, and even much of that is untranslated African dialect. Yet much as Wilde strives to express man's animal nature, he isn't crude or culturally insensitive, so much as sharply attuned to the hideous offenses that put his character in such a bind.
- 80Time OutTime OutThe Naked Prey inverts many of the conventions of Hollywood films about "the Dark Continent." The warriors are given more character depth than Wilde's protagonist, and the film seems seriously engaged in a debate over whether man is driven by Darwinian brutality or rises above it.
- 75Slant MagazineSlant MagazineA purified chase film, Naked Prey nevertheless is at its most affecting in the childlike scenes between the main character and a young native girl (played by Bella Randles) he befriends along the way.
- 75TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineAn early cinema staple, the chase film, is resurrected, pure and simple, by star-producer-director Cornel Wilde.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleSan Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleIt's a film of tension and spectacle, with a singular point of view behind it. It grabs the viewer thoroughly, even as it invites audiences to watch it with a cold, careful eye.
- 50Chicago ReaderDave KehrChicago ReaderDave KehrModerately pretentious, though very well filmed, this was the sort of thing teenage boys throve on in the dark ages Before Spielberg.
- 50Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe film itself remains pure fantasy. Sure, it's nice to think you could outrun half a dozen hand-picked African warriors simply because you'd been to college and read Thoreau, but the truth is they'd nail you before you got across the river and into the trees.
- A poor and tasteless motion-picture entertainment, redeemed somewhat by its authentic African setting and its effective use of tribal drums and native music as the accompaniment for a primitive jungle chase.