La profezia - Il libro non scritto

I began to suspect something was up when I found it impossible to obtain a copy of Prophecy Uprising from my local video rental outlet. Initially I chalked it up to the fact that they only had one copy in stock, as opposed to the bazillion copies most releases command. However, upon doing a tour of other outlets in my area I was consistently confronted with the same thing. Each store only carried one or two copies and all were perpetually rented.

Curious, I checked what online reviews I could locate and most uniformly praised the film as a highly entertaining effort.

Finally my luck paid off and I managed to score a rental copy, and based on my viewing I have to say that the reviewers were right. This is one heck of a tight and entertaining film.

In fact, it's arguably the best by far in the entire series of Prophecy films, even though it doesn't feature the great Christopher Walken at all.

I can only surmise that this film didn't get a theatrical release simply because the powers that be at Dimension Films must have concluded that the Prophecy franchise (if such could be said to exist) was on its last legs and had run its course. It would be a shame if true for this movie completely invigorates the concept behind the films, and lays the groundwork for at least one more film, one of which, I'm now of the opinion, could only be done justice if done by the same director (Joel Soisson) and writers as Prophecy Uprising.

Make no mistake about it. This is not some hackneyed special effects blood and guts fright fest. Rather, this is actually a pretty clever and tightly written suspense film done from a detective perspective. The movie relies on viewers to be familiar with the concept behind the original Prophecy movie, but only in terms of the whole war in heaven issue. Beyond that the movie stands on its own and does a pretty clever take on the concept put forth in the original.

Performances are sound all around. The direction, editing, scoring and production values are all top notch. In short, you really can't go wrong with this most fine of direct-to-video gems.

Now I understand why this movie has been hard to obtain. It's good, pure and simple. Check it out and you be the judge.

In Bucharest, the tormented detective Dani Simionescu (Sean Pertwee) is investigating bizarre deaths with the heart removed from the victims. The Interpol agent John Riegert (John Light) is assigned to be his partner in the case. Meanwhile, the clerk of the church Alisson (Kari Wuhrer) finds the local priest dead and a mysterious bible, "The Prophet Lexicon", where the last chapter about the apocalypse, called Revelations, is being somehow written. The voice of an angel, called Simon, advises her that she must protect the bible against a demon called Belial that wants to read this final chapter to have advantages in the war of angels.

"The Prophecy: Uprising" follows the same premises of Christopher Walken's "Prophecy" movies, but it is not a sequel. There are new characters and the story is also good. The locations in Bucharest and the cold and quite dark cinematography contribute with the atmosphere of the film. I liked the performance of the cast, especially John Light with his evil look and Sean Pertwee. I believe that viewers that like movies about fallen angels will also like this good flick. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Profecia: A Guardiã do Destino" ("Prophecy: The Guardian of the Destiny")

A series of grisly ritualistic murders transpires in Bucharest, Romania. Gruff cop, Dani Simionescu (Sean Pertwee from "Dog Soldiers" and "Equilibrium" ) teams up with Interpol agent, John Riegert (John Light) to track the killer down. Meanwhile, Allison (new B-movie mainstay, Kari Wuhrer) is a church worker, who, after her priest drops dead, gets to be in possession of an ancient manuscript called the Lexicon, that is still being written by an unseen hand and holds the key to turning the tides in the war against God's army and the army of Satan depending on who gets to it first. Now she is being pursued by both in this movie that has tenuous links to the previous three films at best. Entering this film I was very skeptical about a Prophecy film with no Christopher Walken in sight and to it this film set on the shelf for some time before getting a release and my expectations were low to non-existent. I was surprised then that the film was better than the atrocious part 2. Sean Pertwee in no small part, helped with the enjoyment of the film with his excellent acting, even if the story itself is lacking. The metaphysical pseudo-religious mumbo-jumbo does tend to try one's patience before the film is over, and the lack of any real ending still makes this one pretty bad, it's just better than I had expected.

My Grade: D+

Surprisingly okay direct-to-video fourth film in the Prophecy film franchise (even minus Christopher Walken) about bad angels continuing to try to bring about the end of man. With Walken gone from the series, the new main bad angel is played by none other than Doug Bradley, best known to horror fans as Pinhead from the Hellraiser films, but the main character of the film is Kari Wuhrer, playing a woman in possession of an ancient secret tome that contains an unfinished chapter of The Bible describing in more detail the end of times. Writer/director Joel Soisson seems to have specialized in direct-to-video sequels ranging from sequels to Piranha, Mimic, Hellraiser, Children of the Corn, Pulse and so on and so forth. Of these low budget sequels that I've seen, none of them are great, but none of them are terrible either, and they all seem to be in this middle ground of being mildly diverting if you enjoyed the earlier films, which is my overall assessment of this sequel. Joseph LoDuca provides the film's music.

I watched this movie expecting to hate it, knowing that there was no Christopher Walken and more importantly that the Prohpecy trilogy had concluded perfectly with Prophecy 3.

But "Prophecy 4 (Uprising)" avoids all ties to the first 3, and so it becomes a standalone story with its own merit. Prophecy purists may dislike it for that reason, and I almost wish it had been released under a different title. But then I probably never would've heard of it, much less watched it. Maybe the same goes for you too. Dimension Films deserves to have its heart ripped out of its chest cavity for not releasing this in theaters.

Not only is it different in story & characters, but the style is grittier and has more of a "film" quality (despite the fact that this movie, as well as Prophecy 2 & 5, were direct-to-video releases). The story takes place and is filmed in Romania with an authentic European feel, and most characters speak with a British accent. And we all know that British accents immediately make a movie classy. Except when Keanu Reeves tries it.

"Prophecy 4 Uprising" is a great suspense thriller with a nice twist that brings it home at the end. If you're lucky, nobody has ruined it for you yet. You don't need to know about the plot except that, once again, it's about a bunch of angels behaving badly.

What I love most about this film is that it blurs the distinction between the labels "good" and "evil". All the Prophecy films touched on the concept of moral ambiguity, but this is the film that hits us hard with it, doesn't hold back, and even has a nice Machivellian speech near the end to emphasize the point. (If you skipped reading Machiavelli's "The Prince" in 12th grade Poli-Sci class, it's about the idea that morals & ethics do not exist in politics. Most politicians today would probably agree, though never out loud.)

Is there such thing as good & evil, or are they arbitrary labels we create to suit our own selfish viewpoints? This challenging theme can be found in many great stories like Clint Eastwood's "The Unforgiven", (the new) "Battlestar Galactica", and "Wall Street" (with Gordon Gecco's famous speech: "Greed is good"). If this theme interests you, and I'm guessing it does if you're a Prophecy fan, do NOT miss this movie.

A final word about the humor (an essential ingredient of all Prophecy films)... There are some great, witty & comedic lines in this movie. John Light & Sean Pertwee, two actors I'd never seen before, excel at their sly banter, giving us more than a few lol moments. Sure there's no Walken... but hey we'll live.

Movies I would compare this to in style & atmosphere include "Moscow Zero", some of the recent James Bond films, and the criminally-underrated masterpiece "Exorcist III".