THE PROPHECY (1995)
The shortest epic I've ever seen
Some of my favorite movies didn't make much of an impression on me at all when I first saw them. Such was the case with The Prophecy, which I saw on opening night - everyone I went with came out of it feeling largely indifferent about it. And then, about two weeks later, we found each other praising it relentlessly, most of us even inspired to read Paradise Lost to supplement our newfound enjoyment of the film. What exactly changed in our perception of it, I don't know. But even the guys in the crowd who weren't big on horror (that is, the girls) came to love this movie.
Written and directed by Gregory Widen, this movie manages to create an epic feeling on a low budget and in 95 short minutes, thanks mostly to the dialogue, which is sometimes so larger-than-life that it'd be hilarious if it weren't delivered with such superhuman might. There's a seamless mix of humor and hard-bitten grit here, with a number of laughs and not one of them feeling like something so simple as mere comic relief (well, maybe the wacky coroner with the happy face on his scale).
Elias Koteas stars as a New York cop who joined the force after quitting the priesthood just as he was attaining it. He got an agonizing vision of dying angels, and was so traumatized by it that it actually shook his faith (he notes how ironic it is to lose faith because God shows you too much). Appropriately, he?s named Thomas. Anyway, he investigates the violent death of a hermaphrodite with no eyes, which brings to his attention a second-century Bible that has an extra chapter in Revelation, prophecising a second war between the angels. This takes him to the southwestern deserts where he becomes a player in this war, giving us a new rebellion led by arch-angel Gabriel (Christopher Walken).
Wow, a horror movie held up by acting and dialogue! You don't see many of those. Koteas is fine - as is Virginia Madsen as the schoolteacher caught up in this - but this is the angels" show. Gabriel is Walken's ultimate villain role - and he's played a lot of villains. Once you get past the helmet-like hairdo and the pasty makeup job, he's charismatic, authoritative, creepy, and certainly not without humor. Eric Stoltz turns in his best performance as Simon, an angel on "our" side. Usually, he underplays to near-invisibility - here, he commands our attention, delivering a number of scenes which are hard to forget (particularly a somewhat disturbing scene where he gives a "gift" to a little girl, cleverly set up to look like an attempt at pedophiliacal seduction).
Viggo Mortensen also appears near the end of the film, as a source of aid to humanity that you probably didn't expect to be on our side. He smartly never seems benevolent, and is given some really chilling statements on what to expect in an afterlife. Sure, he may be lying, but it's sure to make your skin crawl when you think about it.
The dialogue in this movie is memorable; often very darkly funny, loaded with great little quotes that are hard not to repeat to your friends days later. Sure, it almost all comes from the angels; the human characters could have used some fleshing out, but I'm just glad to have those angels.
My problems with this film are few, and don't bother me nearly as much as they would in a movie that wasn't so otherwise convincing. The introduction of a second war between the angels (and indeed, this ficticious 23rd chapter of Revelation) makes the movie almost feel like a sequel. The crossing of theologies (Catholicism and some Native American) isn't very convincing, and for that matter, humans have almost nothing to do with the outcome of the movie anyway - this becomes all angel vs. angel, with the humans playing spectator. Madsen gets a pointless, REALLY irritating moment where she points out the obvious about just who it is Mortensen is playing.
The limited budget also shows painfully sometimes, most particularly in one scene where we're just not convinced when a painting is used to show the bloody consequences of the angel war. Given the strong, confident nature of the rest of the movie, you'd think that Widen would have had the good sense to pare this down, leave more to the viewers' imaginations, and make the film appear more consistently well-crafted. Still, this is just a small problem.
Despite those monetary constraints, Widen manages to slip in some quietly stunning visuals, like Stoltz standing over an angel skeleton in the desert sands, and a flight of angels across a lightning-wracked sky. Mortensen's exit is one you won't soon forget, either.
I'm not sure what Skid Row's "Breakin' Down" is doing over the end credits, though; as much as I love that song, it hardly seems appropriate to anything, certainly not the lovely choral music leading up to it.
I remember the poster for this in the theaters being quite different from the lackluster art on the video box; it depicted a mushroom cloud composed of screaming souls rising from New York City. (this was possibly changed because it implied a nuclear threat, of which there is none in the film) I definitely like that poster better.
Spawned an undeniably interesting sequel which gave me much the same initial impression that this did, although it didn't creep up on me two weeks later. I guess it's time to give it another look. As it is, The Prophecy is my favorite angel movie (Wim Wenders, bite my bum), and one of the most thought-provoking horror films I've ever seen; on the natures of good and evil, faith and doubt, love and jealousy.
Also known (in Europe, apparently) as God's Army.