It's always nice to revisit 80's film from small European countries. The budgets of the American b-movies of the days was not there. But this did lead to high creativity among the European directors.
This Dutch film makes for a very enjoyable film. Lots of typical 80s irresponsible things like cigarettes, Alcohol during work hours and unnecessary nude scenes, including with someone who had to play a teenager! From a moral point of view, this is reprehensible. Thankfully, with today's knowledge, let's not spoil the fun of watching an old movie.
I'm not sure if the movie was filmed too dark, or if the transfer from the master to my low budget Just Brigde DVD is bad. The fact is that the film is too often too dark so that many important details do not become clear. Sometimes it is so bad that you look at an almost black image for almost a full minute.
But otherwise a lot of good: It is a very exciting story of a girl who goes into a kind of identity crisis after her mother was hit by a car. The hit'n'runner doesn't give the poor kid real time for depression, because she has to fight for her life and fight for the truth. The story is also layered: on the one hand it is an adaptation of a British novel in the psychodrama genre. On the other hand, it is a Dutch interpretation of elements from the Italian 'Giallo' thriller, with some scenes being quite scary and shocking, especially for the zeitgeist.
Much bad has been written about this film, but I don't agree. This is a good film, made in a country with only a limited thriller culture and therefore limited thriller experience. It is not a Nederhorror, this film never intended to be a film like Amsterdamned. But De Prooi is exciting enough in my eyes. The ending is only slightly spoiled by the already mentioned bad lighting. Because revealing the culprit, meant as a serious plot twist, is literally lost in the darkness. But it could also just be my bad DVD transfer.
In short, a must see if you are a fan of the 1980s!
