Prophecy — Prophecy(Blu Ray)

Prophecy is one of the more straight & thought-provoking films of the 1970’s environmental horror cycle, though it still packs a camp 'n'  brutal (clawed) punch when needed. Here from Eureka Entertainment is a new Blu Ray release of the film- bringing together two commentary tracks, a selection of new interviews, and an inlay booklet.
 

Prophecy (aka Prophecy: The Monster Movie) appeared in the year 1979. It was filmed in the vast forests and sprawling waterways of British Columbia, focusing on a city health department doctor researching the impact of the lumber industry on the local environment- coming across something huge and deeply horrifying in the woods. The film was based on a screenplay by David Seltzer, who had penned the original Omen. It was directed by New York born director/ producer John Frankenheime- who was a respected and versatile director, whose work went from social-political thriller The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Skydiving drama The Gypsy Moth(1969), terrorist in charge of an Airship disaster movie Black Sunday (1977), and early 80’s brutal Ninja action film The Challenge (1982). And Prophecy is a fairly big-budgeted blend of environmental horror-meets-brutal creature feature- so it’s all very well produced/ stage film, with a well picked and effective cast, some neat ‘n’ raw flesh creature action, with later on some gore 'n' mayhem added into the mix.
 
The film finds Rob (Robert Foxworth)- a stern, serious, yet socially conscious city doctor heading out to the woods of Maine, to try and smooth over upset between the owners of a huge papermill and the indigenous people of the area- who are causing problems from the company. Joining him is his cello-playing wife Maggie- played by Talia Shire- who’ll be known to most as Rocky’s love interest Adrian. From the off, it’s clear the relationship between the mill and the indigenous people has hit an all-time low, as the Dr and smug mill worker Isely- played by Richard Dysart( The Thing, Pale Rider, Begin There) have a set too with the natives with a chainsaw. Fairly soon it becomes clear the Mills off-wash is creating huge size growth in the fish and water-dwelling animals in the area. Though the worst is to come when they realized the woods are been roamed by a mutated and raw flesh-covered bear, who is brutally attacking and killing folks off.
 
In typical 1970’s fashion the pace and the build of the whole thing is fairly slow- though this gives us a good insight into the drama going on between the corporate mill owners and the indigenous people, and the characters involved- with a lot more depth/ range given to the characters then you’d normally expect from this type of thing. The creature action doesn’t kick into about the hour mark of this nearing hour and forty-five-minute film, and when it does it’s done fleetingly at first. When we finally get a good full-on shot of the Creature(s)- they are fairly impressive and deranged looking things- coming off like fir ripped off and raw flesh deformed huge bear. As we move towards the last twenty minutes or so we get a good blend of more brutal and bloody attacks, and a tense/ kind of creepy being stalked over misty water showdown. For the most part, Prophecy is a rewarding crossbreed between environmental horror and creature feature, with the more serious tone and early drama leanings giving the whole thing more depth/ impact. If I had one slight criticism, it would be the very in your face orchestral score- which at points goes way over the top/ overblown, though if you can manage to filter that out it’s not too much of an issue.
 
 
Moving onto the Blu Ray disc it’s self-and we high definition transfer of the film, which give us a nice and rich print. Moving on to the extras we get two commentary tracks- the first is with film commentator/ writer Richard Harland Smith, and the second is with Australian film writers/ academics Lee Gambin & Emma Westwood. I played the second of these, and this is a wonderfully researched, fact and observation packed track- the pair move from talking about the dramatic flashlights in the dark, then human carnage of the opening shots, moving onto discuss the use of classical music in the score and its popularity in the '70s. They move on to talk about the plight of indigenous people, discussing, in particular, the treatment of the American Indians in the 60’s/70’s. They comment in detail on their favourite/ stand out moments in the film, discuss character motivation and how well they are drawn in the film. They move onto discuss effects set-up and shot set-ups, they talk about John Frankenheime other films, and how the film to hand relates to those. They talk about incidents of similar environmental damage around the real world, and much, much more- making for a track you could easily play a few times. Next, we get an on-screen interview with screenwriter/ author David Seltzer- this runs twelve minutes and is most fascinating as he moves from talking about how he got into screenwriting, the influences on his writing of Prophecy, and his writing process. Next, we get another onscreen interview with mime artist Tom McLoughlin- this runs nineteen minutes. An original trailer, and an inlay booklet featuring new writing from Craig Ian Mann, and an archive interview.
 

Prophecy is certainly on the more thought-provoking and less cheesy side of the environmental horror-come-creature feature films, with well-drawn characters, neat creature design, and some nice tense moments. As you’d expect from Eureka Entertainment, we get a nice presentation of the film and a great selection of most worthy extras.