I watched the latest Predator action movie “Prey” on Hulu recently. The Predator franchise is at it’s core a SciFi-alien-slasher series. While slasher films are not my first choice of entertainment, I do enjoy a good SciFi story. The story takes place in 1719 North American Comanche country. The exact geography is not revealed. The cast is predominantly Native American and there is considerable spoken Comanche. French trappers make an appearance in the story and speak in French.

In the beginning the Predator is dropped off a space ship, by friends I assume, and left to have a grand ole time slaughtering the local wildlife. No camping gear or supplies, just weapons that are strapped on and nasty looking jaws.

A common flaw with stories set in the past or the future is anachronistic language. Vocabulary or contemporary cultural references slipping in from a different time can interfere with the disbelief that you’re trying hard to set aside. For example, the current SciFi series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, while entertaining, serves as a terrible example of lazy and shameless anachronisms. In Prey I didn’t notice much in the way of this. But, my knowledge of Comanche history and culture is vanishingly small.

If you want more background and details on the movie, I’d recommend the review in Vulture or IMDB. Or, just watch it. Earlier I said that Prey is a slasher film. Yes, there is plenty of slashing in a way that only the Predator can manage. There are white hats and black hats in the story and well as an appealing protagonist. Plenty of conflict to go around. One nasty bear has a particularly bad day. And the trappers? Well you’ll just have to watch it.