A conflict is brewing in the forests of Maine. Native Americans who inhabit the area are being forced out by a lumber company that has recently purchased a sizeable plot of land to expand their paper-making business. The Environmental Protection Agency recruits Dr. Robert Verne (Robert Foxworth) to investigate the situation. If the EPA finds that the lumber company is being environmentally responsible, the purchase will be approved by the government. However, if Robert’s investigation finds any wrongdoing on the part of the lumber company, the sale will be halted and the Native Americans will retain their land.
Robert travels to Maine with his wife, Maggie (Talia Shire), in tow. Maggie is struggling to work up the confidence to tell her husband that she is pregnant. Robert does not want a child because he feels that raising a kid in this screwed-up world would be too much to handle.
When Robert and Maggie arrive, their host, Bethel Isley (Richard A. Dysart), a representative of the lumber company, tells them that the Native Americans talk of a creature called Kathadin. Some lumberjacks and a search and rescue squad have recently gone missing and are feared dead. The lumber company blames their disappearance on the Native Americans (or O.P.’s – original people). The Native Americans blame the disappearances on Kathadin who, they say, has risen to protect the land.
Robert and Maggie meet John Hawks (Armand Assante), the leader of the Native American resistance. Hawks tries to block their entrance into the forest. Eventually, Hawks approaches them and shows them some strange things that occur in the forest. Animals grow to twice their normal size and babies are born with birth defects so serious that they are better off dead. Robert believes that the lumber mill is using mercury in their paper-making process but he needs evidence. Testing the villagers’ blood will reveal if this is the case although it will take up to 10 days to get results.
Meanwhile, some nearby campers are brutally murdered. The local authorities arrive at the O.P. village and blame Hawks and his resistance members for the crime. Hawks manages to escape into the woods. Robert and Maggie travel to the crime scene with Hawks’ wife, Ramona (Victoria Racimo). While at the camp site, Maggie spots something caught in a poacher’s fishing net. Two mutated bear cubs — one still alive — have been caught. Robert is determined to keep the surviving cub alive as it will provide the evidence he needs to blame the lumber company for contaminating the environment. Unbeknownst to Robert, Maggie, and Ramona, the mother of the cub is Kathadin, the creature of the Native American legend. It is Kathadin who slaughtered the campers and now she wants her cubs back.
Released in August, 1979, Prophecy has an impressive pedigree for such a mediocre film. It was directed by John Frankenheimer, who was behind the camera for such classics as The Birdman of Alcatraz, French Connection II and the original version of The Manchurian Candidate. The screenplay was written by David Seltzer, who wrote the script for The Omen. In fact, it may be its impressive credentials that are responsible for Prophecy being more disappointing than your typical b-grade horror flick.
The usually ignored aspects of a horror film such as character-building and building a decent storyline are given so much attention that the sequences that require the usual horror elements are disappointingly tame. Although very violent for a PG-rated movie — as this was before the PG13 rating existed — it’s obvious that some of the attack scenes have been heavily edited. It’s also obvious from the way the bear attack scenes are framed that Kathadin is not as fearsome as the script would like you to believe. Obscured by trees and shaky camerawork (sometimes both simultaneously), Kathadin looks very much like a man in a mutated bear suit and, sadly, not a very good one at that. When one places this rubbery-looking killer bear smack in the middle of the serious movie that Frankenheimer and Seltzer have constructed, things just feel off-kilter.
The ending of the film doesn’t help matters either. It just screeches to a halt without tying up any of the loose ends that were given so much care at the onset. Although a sequel is hinted at before the credits roll, I can’t help but think that something happened that caused this potentially good movie to be intentionally scuttled mid-production. It’s too bad because Prophecy has a great concept and, in the hands of a director more suited to the material, it might have been a classic.
2.0 out of 5.0 stars
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