Prophecy (1979)
Prophecy (1979)
Prophecy is a horror film released in 1979, which is set in the remote forests of Maine. The film was directed by John Frankenheimer and written by David Seltzer. Though the film is set in Maine, it was filmed in British Columbia Canada. I tried to figure out where in Maine that the film takes place, and honestly the location in nonsensical, because they mention a town called Androscoggin, which isn't a real town, but it would suggest that it would be somewhere in the vacinity of Androscoggin County, or at somewhere near the Androscoggin River, however later in the film it suggests that the contaminated pond feeds into the Ossippi River, where the mill is located, which would suggest south western Maine, however, the river that they depict in the film where the mill is much larger than the small Ossippi River is, the river in the film would suggest a river much larger even than the Saco River which the Ossippi flows into. Also the remoteness of the forests, and the mountains would make south eastern Maine, and the region around the Ossipee River completely out of the question. Based on mountains and the absolute remoteness of the locations in the film I would guess the setting of the film to more likely be the northern part of Maine, maybe northwest of Mount Katahdin (which is also the name that the natives in the film give to the bear creature that they say is a god who came to protect them). Mount Katahdin is the tallest mountain in the state of Maine, coming in at an elevation of 5,269' and is the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. The name comes from the Penobscot Native Americans and means The Greatest Mountain. I'm starting to think that the polluted river in the film is in fact the Penobscot or the Kennebec Rivers, both of which have their headwaters in the wilderness near Mount Katahdin. I just spent hours researching the two rivers, and both rivers fit the descriptions that are hinted at in the film as being key logging films, and both rivers were heavily polluted by the logging industry as well as sewage drainage from towns as well as other industries. Both rivers, as well as the other waterways in Maine have been heavily rehabilitated to their pristine qualities that they have today. So this film has a ring of truth to it, since it deals with the pollution of a river in Maine by a careless logging company, that is putting mercury into the waters.
Prophecy was distributed by Paramount pictures on a budget of $12 million, and in the box office grossed $22 million. I would like to say that this film was a low budget horror film, but with a budget of $12 million qualifies as a big budget film. This film was the beginning of the "Hollywood North", and since this film hundreds of "American" films have been made in Vancouver British Columbia Canada. The film stars Robert Foxworth as Dr. Robert Verne, Talia Shire as Maggie Verne, Armand Assante as John Hawks, Victoria Racimo as Ramona Hawks, Richard Dysart as Bethel Isley, and George Clutesi as Hector M'Rai (interestingly enough George Clutesi is a Tseshaht artist, actor, and writer, and an expert on and ambassador for all Canadian First Nations culture). The film aso features three actors playing the mutated monster bear Katahdin, Kevin Peter Hall, Tom McLoughlin, and Charles Flemmer, Kevin Peter Hall also played a Bigfoot monster in Harry and the Hendersons as well as the Predator in the first two Predator films. Hall being 7'2" tall is why he is often monsters in films.
Prophecy is about Dr. Robert Verne whose friend talks him into taking a job working in Maine to help ease the tension between a logging company owned by Bethel Isley. Dr. Verne and his wife board a small plane to the remote wilderness of Maine where they meet with Isley, and soon witness a confrontation with the native tribe leader John Hawks and Isley's logging company. Once there Dr. Varne starts to investigate the environmental impacts of the logging company, and after hearing the story of the natives, and visiting the mill he comes to the realization that the logging company is polluting the river and lakes with methylmercury, which have caused devastating effects on the local native tribe, and even more devastating effects on the local wildlife. From monstrous salmon big enough to eat a duck, to a tadpole bigger than a bullfrog, to the monster bear creature Katahdin the doctor has begun to see the effects of the methylmercury on the local environment. Then the giant creature Katahdin goes on a rampage murdering anything in it's way, though it has a reason for hunting the doctor and those with him.
Though the film was a moderate success in the box office, it has received generally negative reviews from critics, and holds a low score on sites like Rotten Tomatoes. That being said, I enjoyed this film, sure the special effects are almost laughable, but hey that's what I'm here for. The issues of paper mills polluting rivers is a pretty real and serious issue, to the point that the waterways of Maine were almost dead and toxic at one point in history, so it isn't much of a jump to question what the effects of exposure to high amounts of these toxins are. This is part of trend of environmentally conscious horror films that act in a way as a warning of the potential results of our careless destruction of the environment. Sure this is arguably a bad film, with some pretty lame special effects, but it also works. I kind of like the fact that the film looks pretty low budget, like you can tell that the monster is a man in a suite, there is a classic monster movie charm to that, which I appreciate. Some of the acting was pretty lack luster, and it is hard to have any attachment really to any of the characters. It is what it is, a big budget horror film that can pass for a low budget horror film, with a preachy environmentalist message, and stiff characters that struggle to convey convincing emotion, and a monster that just must be seen to be believed, and if that is what you are looking for then I recommend this film. I think most people are going to watch this and think that it is a pretty bad turd of a film, but then there are those of us who love this style of film. It isn't meant be funny, but it is and I love it. I definitely recommend checking it out if you are into bad monster horror films.
Prophecy was distributed by Paramount pictures on a budget of $12 million, and in the box office grossed $22 million. I would like to say that this film was a low budget horror film, but with a budget of $12 million qualifies as a big budget film. This film was the beginning of the "Hollywood North", and since this film hundreds of "American" films have been made in Vancouver British Columbia Canada. The film stars Robert Foxworth as Dr. Robert Verne, Talia Shire as Maggie Verne, Armand Assante as John Hawks, Victoria Racimo as Ramona Hawks, Richard Dysart as Bethel Isley, and George Clutesi as Hector M'Rai (interestingly enough George Clutesi is a Tseshaht artist, actor, and writer, and an expert on and ambassador for all Canadian First Nations culture). The film aso features three actors playing the mutated monster bear Katahdin, Kevin Peter Hall, Tom McLoughlin, and Charles Flemmer, Kevin Peter Hall also played a Bigfoot monster in Harry and the Hendersons as well as the Predator in the first two Predator films. Hall being 7'2" tall is why he is often monsters in films.
Prophecy is about Dr. Robert Verne whose friend talks him into taking a job working in Maine to help ease the tension between a logging company owned by Bethel Isley. Dr. Verne and his wife board a small plane to the remote wilderness of Maine where they meet with Isley, and soon witness a confrontation with the native tribe leader John Hawks and Isley's logging company. Once there Dr. Varne starts to investigate the environmental impacts of the logging company, and after hearing the story of the natives, and visiting the mill he comes to the realization that the logging company is polluting the river and lakes with methylmercury, which have caused devastating effects on the local native tribe, and even more devastating effects on the local wildlife. From monstrous salmon big enough to eat a duck, to a tadpole bigger than a bullfrog, to the monster bear creature Katahdin the doctor has begun to see the effects of the methylmercury on the local environment. Then the giant creature Katahdin goes on a rampage murdering anything in it's way, though it has a reason for hunting the doctor and those with him.
Though the film was a moderate success in the box office, it has received generally negative reviews from critics, and holds a low score on sites like Rotten Tomatoes. That being said, I enjoyed this film, sure the special effects are almost laughable, but hey that's what I'm here for. The issues of paper mills polluting rivers is a pretty real and serious issue, to the point that the waterways of Maine were almost dead and toxic at one point in history, so it isn't much of a jump to question what the effects of exposure to high amounts of these toxins are. This is part of trend of environmentally conscious horror films that act in a way as a warning of the potential results of our careless destruction of the environment. Sure this is arguably a bad film, with some pretty lame special effects, but it also works. I kind of like the fact that the film looks pretty low budget, like you can tell that the monster is a man in a suite, there is a classic monster movie charm to that, which I appreciate. Some of the acting was pretty lack luster, and it is hard to have any attachment really to any of the characters. It is what it is, a big budget horror film that can pass for a low budget horror film, with a preachy environmentalist message, and stiff characters that struggle to convey convincing emotion, and a monster that just must be seen to be believed, and if that is what you are looking for then I recommend this film. I think most people are going to watch this and think that it is a pretty bad turd of a film, but then there are those of us who love this style of film. It isn't meant be funny, but it is and I love it. I definitely recommend checking it out if you are into bad monster horror films.
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