The Prophecy

Starring: Christopher Walken, Eric Stoltz, Elias Koteas, Viggo Mortensen
Directed by:Gregory Widen
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
1995

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: The angel Gabriel (Christopher Walken) is upset with God because he is jealous of God's love of humankind. He decides to go to earth to obtain the soul of the most evil human alive, to give him the power to allow the evil angels to defeat the good ones still in heaven. On earth, a good angel (Eric Stoltz) gets to the soul first, and buys enough time for an ex-priest (Elias Koteas) to mount an offense to stop Gabriel.

Review:

Tim: This is a very interesting turn on the old good angel, bad angel story- making the angel Gabriel a bad guy, trying to start a new war in Heaven. It is absurd, but I'll go along with this "what-if" movie.

The plot is pretty insane, hard to buy into, and even harder to seriously follow. The movie isn't scary, just a little creepy by the perversion of what you know about Gabriel the angel. The scariest part of the film is the recurring thought that perhaps it is blasphemous to be watching it.

Christopher Walken is terrific as Gabriel in an over-the-top performance. I seriously wonder at times what is wrong with Walken. They guy can act, but is just incredibly creepy. Elias Koteas is decent, but not exactly leading man material. Viggo Mortensen is worth mentioning in a small role, as Lucifer. He also gives an over-the-top performance.

The Prophecy is pretty entertaining and somewhat engrossing despite its best efforts not to be. When things like Heaven and the fate of all humanity are at stake, you tend to sit up and pay attention, no matter how cheesy the film may be.

This is a decently creepy film that will at least keep you awake until it is over. It is not by any means a classic, but it's probably worth a view.


Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Prophecy II, Virus, Constantine, Stigmata, The Order, Sleepy Hollow