An alternate cut of The Prey which runs approximately 97 minutes (as opposed to the 80-minute theatrical cut) was released on home video in international markets. This version of the film eliminates much of the nature footage and several other connective transitional scenes, and features an extensive backstory chronicling the origins of the killer and the arson burning of his familial gypsy village. In interviews from the 2019 Arrow Video Blu-ray release of the film, director Edwin Brown and producer Summer Brown state that they had no involvement in writing or shooting the footage, and that an executive at Essex Productions was responsible for it, as he felt the film needed more nudity. The Arrow Blu-ray features both the original 80-minute cut and the 97-minute cut, as well as a fan-made composite of the two.
When the film was purchased for distribution by New World Pictures 15 minutes of footage was edited for the release. New World rarely released films that were longer than 80 minutes fearing that audiences would lose interest the longer the film ran. Among the scenes cut from The Prey was an opening sequence showing the gypsy village being destroyed by the forest fire.
The Prey was shot in late 1979, but was not released theatrically until the fall of 1983.
Star Jackson Bostwick ad-libbed his dialog during the scene where he's telling the wide-mouth-frog joke to the deer.