THE PROPHECY 4 & 5

The Prophecy 4: Uprising & The Prophecy 5: Forsaken
By Aine

Written and directed by Joel Soisson the two latest Prophecy films continue the stories of the angels verses the humans in what is essentially one story-line spread between two films.

The movies follow Allison (Kari Wuhrer), a quiet woman with a mysterious scar under one eye. While doing her duties at church she stumbles across an ancient book called the Lexicon, after the priest dies reading it. A somewhat invisible angel named Simon (Jason London) coaches her, explaining part of the Lexicon to her, as well as her own importance and keeping her out of trouble from the jealous angels/demons who are after her and the book.

True to Prophecy form, we are then lead on a somewhat confusing ride down the constant bickering between heaven and hell. Supposedly, the Lexicon is like the bible, but it’s not, because the end hasn’t been written yet. The demon Belial is all hot to get the book, but angel Simon helps Allison get away. Note: Simon is also Allison’s father, so she’s a half-angel, figure that one out, especially since we spend a lot of time dealing with the flashbacks of who we thought was Allison’s father being shot.

Oh, and did I mention that a guy named John, who as far as I can tell is also Satan, is also helping Allison? Sound confusing? Well, it is, but if you’re a fan of the Prophecy series you will not be disappointed because it’s very much like the other three, only without Christopher Walken and some of the funny stuff. These two films play it pretty straight.

A fun thing is if you’re a genre fan like me, you can pick out all the people who work in these films, usually release by Dimension and having Neo Art & Logic involved in some way; and frequently shot in Bulgaria or Romania. For kicks I’ll list a few: Jason London, who was also in the Dracula series, Dracula II: Ascension and Dracula III: Legacy. Also from the Dracula films, Jason Lee, who is in Prophecy: Forsaken. Then we’ve got Kari Wuhrer starring in both Prophecy films, who was also in Hellraiser: Dead. And speaking of Hellraiser, Doug Bradley also appears and this time, out of make-up. It’s one big incestuous group, and if I forgot anyone I apologize.

Not series regulars, but genre regulars Sean Pertwee, and Candyman himself, Tony Todd are also in the films. Pertwee in Uprising, and Todd in Forsaken. And in keeping with tradition, Satan is remarkably sexy, especially when he’s eating a Twinkie, but you’ll have to see that for yourself. Maybe I’m just jaded, but while these weren’t that bad compared to other things that I’ve seen recently, I really feel like some of these direct to video series need to take a break for awhile. There are only so many things you can do with these stories before the material really starts to suffer for it. To quote Jurassic Park, “You were so busy figuring out if you could that you never stopped to think about if you should.”