Prophecy

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prophecy
After aiding an infant that has been gnawed on by a rat, Dr. Robert Vern (ROBERT FOXWORTH) decides city life is for the birds. With secretly pregnant musician wife in tow (TALIA SHIRE), he accepts a new job examining bizarre health issues that are appearing in a part of rural Maine that is suspiciously close to a paper mill that likes to dump mercury into the water. Well, rats are one thing but ferocious, mutated animals are another, and whereas oversized salmon may seem like a perk, what the contaminants are doing to the local bear population is cause for major concern. The begrudged Indian camp lead by granite faced Irish-Italian ARMAND ASSANTE believe the monstrous creature that’s bitch slapping campers to death is the resurrection of a legend known as Katahdin, a creature who is a combination of all of God’s creations. Poor preggers TALIA who chomped on some of the super salmon is suspecting her in utero offspring may be a freakazoid too. After finding an adorable mutant bear cub trapped in a fishing net, the Dr. and company decide to high tail it out of there with the evidence, but mutant momma mercury bear is having none of it and chases them down in a land locked man-against-nature tribute to JAWS. With its earnest ecological pontification and ultra serious tone, PROPHECY is gleefully unaware of its actual identity as a throwback to the 1950s era rubber-suit monster movies. This remarkably PG rated, blood-soaked offering is a tad long-winded for sure, but whenever the momma beastie makes an appearance, it’s pure B-movie magic. Lumbering about hopelessly like a slimed BARNEY the dinosaur, this pissed off cousin of GRIMACE, though painfully filmed in ultra darkness to hide it’s ineptitude, steals the show every time and is even rumored to be the inspiration for SOUTH PARK’s Al GORE nemesis ManBearPig!

INDELIBLE SCENE(S):

  • With apologies to Mr.Vorhees, ManBearPig is responsible for the very best sleeping bag death ever put to film!
  • Ultra-hilarious raccoon attack, this scene deserves legendary status!
  • Giant tadpole resembles GODZILLA foe HEDORA (the smog monster) as a child
  • Cute lil’ BabyManBearPig takes a bite out of TALIA’s neck
  • Injured guy strapped to overturned vehicle is decapitated
  • Mysterious new creature emerges to cue credits and beg for a sequel that has yet to emerge

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IrvingWallace
IrvingWallace
13 years ago

Love this movie, one of my favs. The mercury bear is the best, everything is just so out of control in this film, so strange but seems so normal to the people. A giant polywog and mutant bears? of course. http://sideshowmonkey.deviantart.com/art/MERCURY-BEAR-by-Hartman-25758905 check out this painting by David Hartman.

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unkle lancifer
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unkle lancifer
13 years ago

Irving, Thanks for posting that Mercury bear painting. I love that, I’ve never seen the creature look so cool! I’m glad there are other fans of this flik. I must have watched it a hundred times as a kid and rewound the sleeping bag scene 1,000. This was the first time I’ve seen it on DVD though and I got to say it looked great. As corny as some of the effects now seem there are some really cool shots and it’s great to be able to freeze frame on them now. I’ve also been strangely obsessed with the movie poster and the movie tie in book cover that was written by David Seltzer, the same guy who did THE OMEN.

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IrvingWallace
IrvingWallace
13 years ago

yeah! love that poster, freakin awesome. yeah the book cover is cool too. I still have it on vhs, is the dvd barebones? id like to get it on dvd just for a better transfer though, some scenes are fairly dark on the vhs.

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unkle lancifer
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unkle lancifer
13 years ago

The DVD is sadly barebones but the picture quality is enough to warrant the purchase. This movie was badly panned and scanned for the VHS and the muddy darkness is all but gone on the DVD. The image that we used of that final monster howling at the end of the film can attest to the superior image. Trust me, you’ll feel like you’re watching it for the first time again!

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Roger
Roger
13 years ago

Yeah, seeing this again in great quality would be awesome. I was at a sleepover and me and my friend saw this on a movie channel.  His bunny ear antennae would NOT pick up the station propertly, but of COURSE we kept watching!  We squinted at the Prophesy’s mutant attack scenes through a surreal TV static.  “What the heck IS THAT!?” Thanks UnkleL., for not forgetting that movie poster.  Most BADASS horror movie poster ever, IMHO.

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