The Prophecy (1995)

Strangely enough being an atheist I am fascinated by supernatural thrillers, especially of the apocalyptic or eschatological variety. 'The Prophecy' is one of the smartest and most effective of this small genre, helped by a first rate cast. Thomas Daggett, a priest turned cop (Elias Koteas - 'Crash', 'Exotica'), stumbles across the corpse of an angel and a Bible with an extra chapter to the Book of Revelation, which mentions a war in heaven. Soon enough he becomes involved in a fight between the angels Gabriel (Christopher Walken in one of his best roles) and Simon (an impressive Eric Stoltz) over an evil man's soul.

A fascinating, atmospheric movie packed with interesting ideas, scenes and performances. Writer/Director Gregory Widen (only previous work of note: 'The Highlander'!) really comes up with the goods in this one, which nods to both Milton and Garth Ennis while adding several original touches. Also co-stars Virginia Madsen ('Dune', 'The Hot Spot'), Amanda Plummer ('Butterfly Kiss', and Walken and Stoltz' co-star in 'Pulp Fiction'), and a small but memorable appearance by Viggo Mortensen ('The Indian Runner', 'American Yakuza') as Lucifer!

Fmovies: You will most likely be offended since this movie plays around with biblical storytelling and fundies always hate that kinda stuff. Stick to bad Christian B-movies and you will be fine.

Now, if you want entertainment, love Christopher Walken's awesome acting, and want a very interesting movie that will give you the creeps, pop this video in your DVD player and enjoy.

There is very little SFX and it really doesn't need it. Walken carries the movie through sheer force of talent. Mortensen and Stoltz do admirable jobs with their characters, and for some reason this whole movie is unsettling...but in a good cinematic way. Mortensen gets in a classic "last word" which will make you consider using a night light from that point on. Walken is downright hardcore...and you will never think about angels in the same way ever again.

A gem of a low budget film with good acting making up for lack of explosions, gore, and CGI.

This was a different kind of horror movie with bad angels as the main attraction. Actually, the main attraction is Christopher Walken in the role of "Gabriel." He's extremely entertaining with his mixture of humor and evil. He admonishes people for profanity!

Of course, the theology in this movie is so preposterous it's hilarious. In movies like this (actually almost all movies) you aren't going to get Biblically-based stories, just a lot of mumbo-jumbo passed on as such. At least in the end, the hero of the film correctly identifies the warring angel as one doing so strictly out of jealously for God. That's Bibically accurate, but the rest of the theology here is totally bogus. You just hope people aren't gullible to believe this stuff. However, a lot of people probably don't know there are such things as bad angels, so that part is true.

Theology-aside, this is a very entertaining movie. The language is tame but beware there are a couple of very gory scenes that might offend. The special- effects are good. Walken is a "trip" to watch and Virginia Madsen looks beautiful.

The Prophecy fmovies. A movie with an interesting concept--a second angelic war in heaven, brought down to earth--but bogged down with unnecessary elements. First, the idea that the offending angels needed a particularly dark human soul in order to win their war--and, further, that this soul turn out to be an unknown Korean War veteran living in a tiny western town--is ludicrous. The movie would have been better served had the "soul searching" been replaced with a more unique gimmick. Second, the film would also have benefited with the absence of the Indian "exorcists," who did nothing but shake feathers, chant mantras, and talk in that slow-paced, no-contraction English that Hollywood always has Native American actors speak in. And the "possessed" girl was totally unconvincing.

The angel characters were all excellent. But Lucifer could have done without his diminutive, hooded, white-faced imp-assistant, who, apparently offended his boss in some fashion at one point, and became the object of a short but ferocious growl. It gave Lucifer a chance to flex, but hey, why cart along a trouble-making imp? But apart from little Baron von Imp, ole Lucifer really helped this movie. At one point he informs the main character, a priest turned cop, that he, Lucifer, really WAS under his bed sometimes! And Walken was excellent as a bad angel.

But the ending, oh, the ending--not good! A regular god-in-the-machine cop-out. Watch the movie and count all the missed opportunities for good horror.

Clunky but effective cult thriller about a lost chapter in the Book of Revelations which describes a second war in heaven, in which the arch angle Gabriel (Walken) gets cast out. Gabriel & his minons hate humans because of God's "special treatment" for humanity, and decides to hatch a sinister, and somewhat bizzare, plot to regain his place. The plot twists are uneven, but an interesting story lies at the core. Walken is wonderful as the anti-hero Gabriel, and Viggio Mortensen is a total hoot as Satan, Gabriel's rival. Eric Stoltz's character is underdeveloped, as is the relationship between Elias Koteas and Virginia Madsen. Director Widen gives his angels a refreshing cyberpunk/goth feel, rather like Tim Broadstreet's Vampire drawings - it is effectively disturbing to watch angels dressed like they belong to the Shotgun Mafia, instead of white sheets and feathered wings, but some will be put off by the contrast. This moovie spawned a less-effective sequel, and rumor has it a third one is in the making! You can tell Christopher Walken had a blast with this character, and that alone keeps the moovie interesting and effective. MooCow says if ya don't mind the silly bits, go for it! :

I absolutely LOVE this movie, I have watched it over 10 times now and love it every time.

Christopher Walken is brilliant as Gabriel, you could not have had a better person for that role. All the actors in the movie played their part just superbly, and even though Viggo Mortensen who played Lucifer only had a small part. Boy did he play it well.

Brilliant movie, watch it and just totally enjoy it as its meant to be. Awesome...