Prophecy was a movie I'd seen before many years ago. In one of my killer animals/giant monster marathon runs I used to have in the day, I rented this and saw it for the first time probably 12 years ago. I kept it in the back of my mind, and this is my first time rewatching it.
Robert Foxworth, Talia Shire, and Armand Assante star in a film by John Frankenheimer. Those are a lot of names for a late 70's horror, but since Jaws had made a big "splash" earlier in the 70's, this got made and made with a surprisingly high amount of seriousness and budget.
Phophecy starts with some killed hikers and a environmental specialist being brought in. He is Robert Foxworth, and he doesn't want kids but his wife (Talia Shire) is pregnant and hasn't told him yet. They reach the land where the deaths happened and are greeted by hostile Indians, led by Armand Assante as John Hawk. They investigate the land and a nearby paper mill. Turns up that there are giant mutant fish and other things everywhere, and it might be because the paper mill is dumping mercury into the water. Sure enough, that's the case and the proof is in the 9 foot mutant bear that's hunting and killing people.
This movie kicked my ass. It has tons of cool acting first of all, and the violence ranges from hilarious to some of the best of it's time. Visible wires during several scenes clash perfectly with prime puppet sort of practical effects, but it all looks awesome and every other part of this movie is selling the shit out if it.
The fact is that I was unprepared for the pacing, and even for it's time it moves very slow in parts. I checked several times to see how much was left. That said, it really brings the thrills at other parts. Yes, certain things prevent it from being taken seriously, but if you look at it as a prime so-bad-it's-good specimen, than it definitely succeeds. I'd give it 3.5 stars.
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