Revelation (1999)

Director:

André van Heerden

Writers:

Paul Lalonde (written by) and
Peter Lalonde (written by)

Release Date:

7 May 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

...the Book has been opened

Plot:

This is the sequel to Apocolypse. In this movie Thorold Stone is still looking for his family. The Christians...

Plot Keywords:

Christian | Christianity | Virtual Reality | Messiah | False Messiah

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Jeff Fahey	...	Thorold Stone
Tony Nappo	...	Willie Spino
Carol Alt	...	Cindy Bolton
Leigh Lewis	...	Helen Hannah
Nick Mancuso	...	Franco Macalousso
David Roddis	...	Len Parker
Marium Carvell	...	Selma Davis
Rick Demas	...	David Nidd
Patrick Gallagher	...	Jake Goss
Rothaford Gray	...	Ron Spalding
Bruce McFee	...	Agent Spencer
Corry Carpf	...	Wendy Stone
Chloe Randle-Reis	...	Maggie Stone
Melville White	...	Victor Davis
Neville Edwards	...	Agent Walker

Also Known As:

Apocalypse II: Revelation (USA) (alternative title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 on appeal for violence.

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Germany:16 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13

Company:

Jack Van Impe Ministries

Quotes:

Helen Hannah: [to Thorold] Would you tell Maggie that she should kill anyone who stands in her way of making her dreams come true? That's the lie Macalusso is spreading to the world, and it's the same lie that the serpent told Eve in the Garden of Eden.

Movie Connections:

References The Lawnmower Man (1992)

The Shape Of Things To Come?

From the combined ministries of Jack and Rexella Van Impe and John Hagee comes Revelation, the second in a trilogy of films about somebody's conception of the end times. I say somebody's because even fundamentalist Christians are by no means united about prophesying things to come.

I've not seen the first of these films Apocalypse in which a united world government is established and the rapture has taken place. A guy who even calls himself the Messiah named Macaluso played by Nick Mancuso has taken over the world and it's either his way or the highway.

Christians are not even united on whether there will even be a rapture, but I'm of the opinion that if the fundamentalists are right and whole lots of people that you know feel that way suddenly vanish it might give some tangible proof about the Bible being real.

But it has happened and it's happened to Jeff Fahey's family, wife and daughter, who just vanished without a trace. She could never quite get him to church and he's been left behind as a result. Anyway under the regime of Messiah Macaluso those who are not followers of his are deemed 'haters' and are rounded up and also disappear in more conventional ways.

Fahey finds himself questioning what's going on and when he does he's framed for his partner's murder and forced to flee among the haters. Who in his city include former news anchor Leigh Lewis who in the first film had been the first to denounce Macaluso for being Satan.

Mancuso's got something called a Day of Wonders where folks will be asked to participate in a virtual reality game en masse. Since we know who Mancuso is, it's something not good and its up to the believer types to throw a monkey wrench into the works.

Carol Alt and Tony Nappo play a blind and a paraplegic people respectively and when they play the game they are healed and become Mancuso's disciples. That's a mighty hard thing to give up, healing from some affliction to reject Mancuso.

David Roddis has an over the top performance as one of Mancuso's acolytes who's playing his villain in the best Snidely Whiplash tradition. All he needed was a handlebar mustache to twirl at both ends.

It's impossible to evaluate these films because believer folk will hang on every word and nonbelievers will inevitably scoff. Then it degenerates into a theological not a cinema discussion. The cast give it their best to inject reality in some far fetched notions.

There was a scene that really wasn't terribly germane to the plot where a father turns in his son for 're-education' because he caught him with a Bible. I took a look on the actor, Darrel Hicks, who played the son and found he'd also later done work on Queer As Folks. Talk about an eclectic resume.

The ending is positively biblical itself. Just think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.