The Prophecy: Forsaken

They were made back to back and are basically one story. Just told in two parts. One of the things I like about the post Christopher Walkin Prophecy movies is that they are not a replica of every other Stephen King inspired "Devil in our back yard" movies. I'm not saying that is bad. Its just over done. The antichrist is always in a medium sized American suburb with nice normal middle class parents. Its nice to see a more global perspective. Not everything happens in middle class America. The underlying question of these movies is whether there can be such a thing as blind faith. The devil puts it best by saying you always have to ask why. The movie is cool. It is spooky in a way. But it will not scare you. It isn't trying to. So if you are looking fora horror film this is not for you. I would still suggest you see it, just to realize that the subject of revelations isn't just there to scare us. It can inspire us too.

Filmed back-to-back with the last Prophet sequel, this one picks up right where "The Prophecy: Uprising" left off. Kari Wuhrer is still in possession of a mystical book that both angels from heaven and demons from hell want. I found the previous sequel mildly diverting, and Wuhrer is a b-movie actress ("Anaconda" "Beastmaster 2" "G- Men from Hell") who I've always liked, but I found this sequel rather dull. The low- budget film is competently made from a technical standpoint, but the story here wan't all that clever or interesting. No real reason to watch this film unless you feel compelled to watch all five of The Prophecy films. Jason Scott Lee and Tony Todd also appear in the film.

This movie begins with a brief flashback to the previous film in which "Father Constantin" (Boris Petroff) finds a long lost Biblical book which is called "The Lexicon". While he reads the book the prophecy of the end times begins to mysteriously appear and reveals the exact name of the anti-Christ before he assumes world domination. Realizing the importance of this book the angels loyal to God have placed a unique woman named "Allison" (Kari Wuhrer) in charge of protecting it from the rebellious angels led by "Stark" (Tony Todd) who want to prevent Armageddon because it would destroy the humans they hate so much. If that doesn't quite make sense I should also add that "Satan" (John Light) also wants to keep the book out of Stark's hands because he wants Armageddon to happen even though according to Revelation it means his end is at hand and he will soon be thrown into a lake of fire. Throw in an assassin named "Dylan" (Jason Scott Lee) who shoots himself in the head rather than kill Allison--and then goes about trying to kill Allison--and you can pretty much understand that this movie is a jumbled mess which makes no sense at all. That said, I recommend this film only to those who have seen and enjoyed the previous 4 movies in the series. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother with it. Below average.

Well, this 5th film continues from the 4th - and parts 4 and 5 has very little to do with the original trilogy.

This film is a time waster - watch it on TV if it comes on but don't bother renting or buying this one.

2/10.

In Bucharest, Allison (Kari Wuhrer) is protecting the mysterious bible, "The Prophet Lexicon", where the last chapter about the apocalypse, called Revelations, discloses the name of the Antichrist in its last page. Meanwhile, the evil and jealous leader of the renegade angels Thrones, Stark (Tony Todd), forces the hit-man Dylan (Jason Scott Lee) to kill Allison to get the information about the Antichrist, but Dylan mysteriously feels attracted by the woman, protecting her against the Thrones. Allison seeks John Reigart (John Light) for help, but Satan tell her that he is interested in the apocalypse to gather millions of souls to Hell. Alone and betrayed, Allison discloses the truth about her origins, while protecting the Lexicon.

"The Prophecy: Forsaken" is a reasonable sequel of "The Prophecy: Upraising", but could be better and better. The story gives a perfect sequence to "Upraising", but it is too brief with only 75 minutes running time. There are good ideas that are not well explored or developed, like for example the story of Allison's parents, and indeed I was quite disappointed with the weak and confused conclusion of this good series about the war of angels. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Profecia - Renegados" ("Prophecy - Renegades")