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Based on the novel by Dean Koontz, this action packed thriller features Bruce Greenwood as a MacGyver-loving private detective hired to protect a little boy from a fanatical religious cult that believe he is the Antichrist foretold in the book of Revelation.

This film has a relatively low rating and I am not sure why. I rather enjoyed it. Sure, there are a few twists that might be predictable, but the overall story is pretty good and the acting is just fine (though I found the boy to be rather weak at times).

Lost classic? No. But really, I thought it was pretty good and the kind of early 1990s cheese that we just can never get enough of.

A fair movie that adapts the novel by Dean R. Koontz, "Servants of Twilight" stars Bruce Greenwood ("Star Trek" '09) as Charlie, a private detective. He's hired by desperate hottie mother Christine (Belinda Bauer, "RoboCop 2"). Her young son Joey (Jarrett Lennon, 'Freaks and Geeks') has been targeted by religious fundamentalist Mother Grace (Grace Zabriskie, 'Twin Peaks') and her flock, who genuinely believe Joey to be the Antichrist. They will stop at NOTHING to wipe Joey off the face of the Earth, and turn up every single place that Charlie tries to take him and his mother.

Generally, Koontz hasn't been served all that well on film, although there are exceptions (like "Demon Seed" from 1977). This is an okay horror flick, but never rises above the quality level of an average TV treatment of such material. Overall, it's not that satisfying, despite its best efforts to make the viewer doubt: how could such an adorable little kid (Lennon goes all out trying to be "cutesy") possibly be an embodiment of Evil? (Shades of "The Omen".) Eventually, all is revealed, although some viewers may be glad that the film is finally over rather than happy that their curiosity has been sated. The narrative hook of jumping back and forth in time (with a slightly crazed Charlie relating his story to his good friend, played by top character actor Jack Kehoe ("Melvin and Howard")) is really no big deal.

It's an effective supporting cast of familiar faces that keeps this as watchable as it is. Bauer is simply terrible, with some of the worst line delivery that this viewer has ever heard. Greenwood is fine as the hero. Zabriskie, who seems at least partly inspired by Piper Laurie in "Carrie", is amusing as the zealot who sets the story in motion. Richard Bradford ("The Untouchables"), Dale Dye (the veteran military advisor for the movies), Kelli Maroney ("Night of the Comet"), Al White ("Airplane!"), Carel Struycken (the "Addams Family" movies of the 1990s), Bruce Locke ("RoboCop 3"), and Jillian McWhirter ("Progeny") co-star.

Familiar names behind the scenes include executive producers Andrew Lane & Wayne Crawford (writers of "Valley Girl"), producer Venetia Stevenson (a former actress whose credits include "The City of the Dead"), co-producer William Sachs (who directed "Galaxina" and "The Incredible Melting Man"), and director / co-writer Jeffrey Obrow, who, with his writing partner Stephen Carpenter, made 80s genre favourites such as "The Kindred" and "The Dorm That Dripped Blood".

Genre and Koontz completists may want to give it a look, but it's nothing special overall. It's the cast that raises this viewers' rating by a star.

Six out of 10.

I remember when this movie came out and the video stores really tried to hype this film. Of course, the film went into obscurity for a while and I hadn't seen it for years. I had actually forgotten the name and that it was based off of a Dean Koontz story. With a little bit of searching I was able to watch this movie again and it was just as OK as the first time I had viewed it.

The story is nothing new, just told from a slightly different angle. A six year old boy by the name of Joey is being terrorized by a cult known as "Twilight". This cult believes the end is coming and believes that Joey is the start of it. They believe he is the anti-Christ. Joey's mother hires a detective named Charlie to help them. Charlie soon realizes that this cult means business as they seem to have cultist everywhere and they just can't escape them, no matter where they run to. This all leads to a climax giving you the question whether Joey is or is not the anti-Christ.

Sure, the storyline is nothing new, but, you can still have fun with it. The acting is really not that bad as we have a decent cast with a few familiar faces which include Belinda Bauer (Robocop 2), Grace Zabriskie, Carel Struycken (The Addams Family) and Bruce Greenwood. Also, the movie is directed by a classic B movie director of the 80's, Jeffrey Obrow, who gave us such fine films as The Kindred and The Power.

Well, I think the movie is worth checking out. You won't waste your time. 7/10

Read the book; watched the movie. The changed ending moved the category from psychological drama to horror by changing the character of the boy, but that was probably intentional. Production values were poor, sound and music likewise below par. This could have been another Indiana Jones with some more effort and money. Strongly suggest a remake; the story is good enough. I give it a 5/10 for entertainment value.

That summary alone isn't really saying much at all, especially for those unlucky bastards who forced themselves to sit through the particularly dreadful "Phantoms", "Hideaway", or ANY of the "Watchers" movies. That being said, this film about a devoutly religious cult headed by a pre-Twin Peaks Grace Zabriskie, who are hellbent (pun intended) on killing a six year old boy (young Andrew dice clay himself, Jerrot Lennon) whom they believe to be the current incarnation of the anti-Christ and willing to kill anyone who get in their way is passable entertainment if you can get past the overtly melodramatic beginning. Belinda Bauer as the mother of Joey is a big letdown, primarily because she's one-dimensional, well more so than the other cardboard cutout characters populating the movie, but also because she didn't follow up her terrific nudity in "Winter Kills" (only bring that up because one scene promises nudity, but then the director choose to pussy out). The ending is groan-inducing and silly. But there are still some unintentional laughs to be had here. Oh and I felt the need to call it the best THEATRICAL film only because I actually found the made for TV flick "Intensity" to be quite good and the best Koontz adaption put out thus far.

My grade: C-