Prophecy

UPC: 097360118247

Studio: Paramount

MPAA Rating: PG   Contains:[Graphic Violence, Not For Children, Adult Language]

Summary: This schlock horror classic from the 1970s is a product of the career ebb experienced by director John Frankenheimer. Robert Foxworth stars as Dr. Robert Verne, an inner-city physician renowned for his compassion and fairness. So he's asked by the EPA to mediate a dispute between Native American tribes and a polluting paper mill in isolated northern Maine. Accompanied by his pregnant wife Maggie (Talia Shire), a classical musician, Robert journeys to the deep woods, where he meets the tribal leader, John Hawks (Armand Assante) and a representative of the mill, Mr. Isley (Richard Dysart). It turns out that the mill is indeed poisoning the local water supply with mercury, causing illness among tribe members and some mutated local wildlife. The Native Americans and the paper mill point fingers at each other for a rash of recent disappearances in the area, but Robert believes that something more ominous is responsible when he observes a huge salmon eat a duck. He's proved right when he encounters an enormous, mutated grizzly bear with a taste for human flesh. Unfortunately for Robert and Maggie, he has taken one of the creature's cubs back to camp, leading an angry mother bear to his tent flap. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Category: Horror

Features: Widescreen version enhanced for 16:9 TVs
Dolby Digital: English Stereo
English subtitles
Interactive menus
Scene selection

Prophecy

Format: DVD

Release Date: 01/08/2002

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Cinemascope

Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, 2 PCM stereo

Runtime: 102 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
0. Scene Selection
1. Nocturnal Terror [7:41]
2. A Doctor's Futility [5:51]
3. John Hawks [1:18]
4. "Everything's So Perfect." [12:08]
5. Secrets of the Forest [2:31]
6. Freakism [3:17]
7. Killings and Evidence [9:59]
8. Into the Tunnels [1:03]
9. Trying for Town [11:58]
10. "It's Coming." [:57]
11. Flight Home (End Credits) [11:06]

Donald Guarisco

The summer of 1979 saw a glut of horror films at the American box office -- and sadly, Prophecy lies somewhere near the bottom of the barrel. The first problem is the script by David Seltzer: it has none of the forward momentum or gripping setpieces of his better-known work on The Omen. Those elements are replaced here with an endless barrage of heavy-handed messages about ecology, the mistreatment of American Indians, the evils of corporations, etc. and a lot of relationship-based drama between Talia Shire and Robert Foxworth that goes nowhere. The aforementioned leads struggle with the material but can't breathe life into their stale characterizations. The same goes for Armand Assante, who suffers the added indignity of being hilariously miscast as an American Indian. John Frankenheimer's direction doesn't help things: he is clearly out of his comfort zone here, doing competent but impersonal work with the dramatic scenes and treating the handful of monster-mash setpieces as if he was doing a parody of the genre (look out for an absurd scene where the monster attacks a camper who tries to hop away in a sleeping bag). It all culminates in an ineptly-staged battle royale that would make even the most patient Godzilla fans wince and a particularly ludicrous shock coda. In short, Prophecy is a self-important, totally misjudged dud that is for monster movie completists only. ~ Donald Guarisco, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Graham Jarvis  Actor 
Everett Creach  Actor 
Steve Shemayne  Actor 
Bob Terhune  Actor 
Jim Burk  Actor 
Mia Bendixsen  Actor 
Lon Katzman  Actor 
Charles H. Gray  Actor 
Johnny Timko  Actor 
Burke Byrnes  Actor 
Evans Evans  Actor 
John Frankenheimer  Director 
Leonard Rosenman  Composer (Music Score) 
Robert L. Rosen  Producer 
David Seltzer  Screenwriter 
Talia Shire  Actor 
Robert Foxworth  Actor 
Armand Assante  Actor 
Richard Dysart  Actor 
Victoria Racimo  Actor 
Tom McFadden  Actor 
George Clutesi  Actor 

Country: USA