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Prophecy
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by Paramount Home Video
Sales Rank: 33406
Price: $19.95
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John Frankenheimer updates the mutant-monster films of the 1950s with a modern environmental twist in this well-meaning but cliché-ridden late-'70s horror film. Robert Foxworth is so earnest it hurts as a rabble-rousing ghetto doctor who packs up his pregnant wife (Talia Shire) and heads out to the Maine woods to investigate claims of environmental pollution. That's the least of his concerns when a gooey mutant grizzly goes on the rampage and he joins forces with Native American activist Armand Assante (wearing his humorless resolve like war paint) to get out of the woods. Frankenheimer is a good director saddled with a bad, blunt script, and like a pro he delivers the requisite gore and even racks up the tension in a terrific opening chase. But even he can't overcome the clumsiest collection of deformed woodland creatures to claw their way through a monster movie. <I>--Sean Axmaker</I>
Viewer Reviews
Critics weren't too crazy about Prophecy. I think part of this is because it was directed by John Frankenheimer, a fairly respected director. Hell, he's the guy who made The Manchurian Candidate! Odd choice for a "Nature Gone Amok" type deal, but what the hey. Frankenheimer used this movie to get a message across about the environment(most of these kinds of films do to some degree). If you ask me, a director trying to make a point about something shouldn't use the B monster movie format to do it. What ever the point is plays second fiddle to the corniness onscreen, and in this case a giant mutant rubber bear. But hey, Frankenheimer would do it to us years later with his remake of The Island Of Dr. Moreau.
Robert Foxworth is an EPA official who travels to Maine with his pregnant(though he doesn't know) wife played by Talia Shire to investigate goings on with a paper mill. There's a war going on between the Native Americans(They call themselves "O.P.s" which stands for "Original People". Sounds like an Ice-T song, doesn't it?) who live on the land and the lumberjacks that work for the mill who want to start cutting into their side of the forest. The always reliable Armand Assante is the leader of the O.P.s. Well, as we all know, of course there's something wrong with the paper mill! The mercury they use is getting into the water and mutating the local wildlife. Big ass salmon, tadpoles and maneating raccoons are on the prowl. The worst case however is a bear that runs about tearing people to shreds. Actually it's supposed to be a hybrid of a bear and a bunch of other forest animals, but it pretty much resembles a bear. Foxworth and Shire have to team up with Assante and some of the O.P.s(This ain't no f****ng joke, this s**t is real to me, I'm Ice-T-O.P!! O.P. The Original People. O.P. The Original People) to destroy the bear.
Not a very highly regarded film, but I like it. It delivers what this kind of film is supposed to deliver. It's a good monster movie, a little too talky perhaps, but a good time. As other reviews have pointed out, the menacing bear is quite laughable. Did Frankenheimer really think this was a good idea? Did he really think this creature was scary looking? Did the actors have to do take after take because they kept cracking up when they were supposed to be terrified? Whatever the story, the movie is all the better for it because a creature like the rubber bear is what makes a movie like this enjoyable. Actually there are a few shots of the bear in which it actually looks pretty good. These shots are the distance shots of the bear. Some of those are pretty good.
But if you like the "Nature Strikes Back" genre of the 70s, this is a must see.
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Prophecy
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