Prophecy (1979)

A log company's waste mutates the environment, creating a giant killer bear-monster.

Director:

John Frankenheimer

Writer:

David Seltzer

Stars:

Talia Shire, Robert Foxworth, Armand Assante

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Talia Shire	...	Maggie
Robert Foxworth	...	Rob
Armand Assante	...	John Hawks
Richard Dysart	...	Isely
Victoria Racimo	...	Ramona
George Clutesi	...	M'Rai
Tom McFadden	...	Pilot
Evans Evans	...	Cellist
Burke Byrnes	...	Father
Mia Bendixsen	...	Girl
Johnny Timko	...	Boy
Everett Creach	...	Kelso (as Everett L. Creach)
Charles H. Gray	...	Sheriff
Lyvingston Holmes	...	Black Woman (as Lyvingston Holms)
Graham Jarvis	...	Shusette

Storyline

A Savage beast, grown to monstrous size and driven mad by toxic wastes that are poisoning the waters, spreads terror and death on a Maine countryside.

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Plot Keywords:

radio tower | wet t shirt | bear | chainsaw | sleeping bag | 

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Taglines:

The Creeping Crawling Dirty Death!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

A novelization of the movie was first published in 1979 the same year as the film premiered. Its dust-jacket tagline was: "A Novel of Unrelenting Terror". The book was also written by the film's screenwriter David Seltzer. According to Wikipedia, the "novelization of the film contains numerous differences from the film, as well as considerable background information on all of the characters".

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Goofs

In the scene where the weather is storming, the wind is blowing sheets of rain one way, yet the waves on the lake in the background are blowing in the opposite direction.

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Quotes

Dr. Robert Verne: [from the tape recorder] Described as the most potent neurotoxin of the post-World War II age. Used from 1948 to 1956 in pulping processes as a cheap and effective caustic agent that prevents algae from forming on waterlogged timber. It is also known for its mutagenic properties, concentrating in the bodies of fish and plankton-eating crustacea, affecting the fetal development of everything that ingests it. The ratio of toxin to blood level is 30% higher in the developing fetus than in the host....

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Alternate Versions

UK cinema and video versions received 8 secs of mandatory cuts by the BBFC to remove the shots of the raccoon writhing on the floor outside the cabin before the attack scene (the animal had been genuinely poisoned).

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Connections

Referenced in Eureka: Momstrosity (2010)

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Soundtracks

No, No, No, My Friend
by Norman Thalheimer and Will Crittendon
Performed by Free Style
Courtesy of AVI Records

User Reviews

Prophecy the movie is more complex than is being given credithere.

Reviewers of the film are quick to undercut its actual effectiveness as a film without realizing that many parts of the film succeed, including the tension of the characters against the beast, the horror of the beasts' attacks, the helplessness of man within nature, etc. Reviewers would be accurate to attack the cheesy effects, hokey dialogue at times and overall loss on energy in the film toward the climax, but there's much more going on here.

Prophecy is, at best, a) a departure for John Frankenheimer, b) a 70's horror movie with a social conscience and, c) not withstanding amateurish special effects, predictable dialogue and long-view shots of Talia Shire looking petrified beyond speech, an actually entertaining, somewhat surprisingly satisfying film. The novel created an intelligent, often compelling case for early environmentalism and the frightening consequences of doing nothing in light of the dangerous contamination of the Earth. Prophecy as a film suffers from a deplorable special effects deficiancy (case in point: at one point in the film, the monster is clearly "walking" on the dock with the courtesy of a mechanical dolly and hydraulic levers...uggh) as said before, but looking beyond this, the film's plotline does build tension, though it loses steam in the end, concluding with a rather lamely tacked-on "surprise" ending that is more befitting of the TV networks in the 70's. Frankenheimer captures a "land-locked" Jaws-like eating machine on film with a vengeance, and the subsequent carnage is, while unfortunate, in light of the circumstances that created the beast, understandable. The focal point of the movie, the beast itself, operates as a deranged ecological locomotive ( actually sounding like one onfilm at times ) hell-bent on taxing mankind for its misfortune.

Remarkably ( and most likely accidentally) the film achieved a perfect "of the moment" time slice capture of the late 70's era, replete with the worries, political movements, ambiguities and uncertainties of the time all woven within the backstory of the Indian's struggle against the papermill, global overpopulation, bigotry and commercialization at the expense of nature.

Beautiful scenery ( courtesy of British Columbia, circa 1978/1979), believable performances, particularly from Richard Dysart and Armand Assanti, combined with circumstances and sequences never actually realized on film before combine to make a pretty meaty B movie. Case in point, the opening sequence with the dogs and the cliff, the tunnels of the Indian village and their subsequent use later in the film. I saw this film when I was 11, and the memory of the camping family and their fate in the film has YET to leave me. Don't think I've ever camped again without recalling that scene...

I recommend the film without taking it as seriously as it seems to take itself, though the message of environmentalism is one worth listening to. The plot device of methyl mercury poisoning in Minimata, Japan is based on true life actual events, and is considerably more frightening than the sum of this movie, but is worth researching sometime.

• Monstergarp

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 August 1979 (France)

Also Known As:

Prophecy: The Monster Movie

Filming Locations:

British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$18,389,402

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$18,389,402

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1