The Prophecy (1995)

The angel Gabriel comes to Earth to collect a soul which will end the stalemated war in Heaven, and only a former priest and a little girl can stop him.

Director:

Gregory Widen

Writer:

Gregory Widen

Stars:

Christopher Walken, Elias Koteas, Virginia Madsen

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Walken	...	Gabriel
Elias Koteas	...	Thomas Dagget
Virginia Madsen	...	Katherine
Eric Stoltz	...	Simon
Viggo Mortensen	...	Lucifer
Amanda Plummer	...	Rachael
Moriah 'Shining Dove' Snyder	...	Mary (as Moriah Shining Dove Snyder)
Adam Goldberg	...	Jerry
Steve Hytner	...	Joseph
J.C. Quinn	...	Burrows
Emma Shenah	...	Grandmother
Albert Nelson	...	Grey Horse
Shawn Nelson	...	Indian Healer
Emily Conforto	...	Sandra
Sioux-z Jessup	...	Nurse

Storyline

"Some people lose their faith because Heaven shows them too little," says Thomas Daggett. "But how many people lose their faith because Heaven showed them too much?" Daggett nearly became a priest; now he's a cop. He may want to put religion behind him, but one morning a weird, eyeless, hermaphroditic corpse turns up. Suddenly he is on a path that will put him right in the middle of a war in Heaven. And once again, Heaven will show him too much: gore, blood, charred flesh, living corpses and much worse. Even more central to the heavenly war effort is a young girl. This American Indian child has something Gabriel wants. And Gabriel is willing to kill her and anyone in his path - or even reanimate a corpse or two - to get it.

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Plot Keywords:

religion | angel | gifted child | soldier | soul transference | 

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Taglines:

Dagget consults the most unlikely of sources for advice.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and gore, and for some language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 September 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Seraphim

Filming Locations:

Apache Leap Mountain, Superior, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$16,115,878

Company Credits

Production Co:

First Look International, NEO Motion Pictures, Overseas FilmGroup

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was released a year after both Christopher Walken and Eric Stoltz appeared in the Academy Award Winning, Pulp Fiction as both Stoltz and Walken had completed work on that film prior to starting work on this film. The way one can tell is Stoltz's look which he sports in Quentin Tarantino's film.

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Goofs

After Lucifer bites into Gabriel's heart, there is blood all over his upper lip and face. In the next shot, the blood on his face looks completely different.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Simon: I remember the First War, the way the sky burned, the faces of angels destroyed. I saw a third of Heaven's legion banished and the creation of Hell. I stood with my brothers and watched Lucifer Fall. But now my brothers are not brothers, and we have come here where we are mortal to steal the Dark Soul, not yet Lucifer's, to serve our cause. I have always obeyed, but I never thought the War would happen again.

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Alternate Versions

European release, titled God's Army, runs 90 minutes and features different footage:

• A sepia-tinted opening sequence shows Thomas Dagget sitting in in a swing, talking to Lucifer;
• The sequence where the first angel falls to Earth is shorter;
• The exorcism sequence at the end is shorter and has no special effects.

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Connections

Followed by The Prophecy: Uprising (2005)

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Soundtracks

Ave María
Written by Tomás Luis de Victoria
Classic song from Renaissance in Spain
Sung in the first appearance of Virginia Madsen

User Reviews

Walken Makes This Preposterous Story Fun

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.