Make no mistake: "The Prophecy" is not one of the great horror films of all time nor is it on my list among the best, but it is as intelligent and hallucinatory a demon/angel horror flick as we are likely to say for some time. And it is Christopher Walken who transcends its murky storyline.
The film is set in a small Arizona community where there are no secrets, and somehow this is an existential resting area for the archangels and demons from above and beyond. There is the sweet, bearded angel Simon (Eric Stoltz) who takes the souls of humans with him by sucking their breath (a reminder of the breath-sucking gremlin in "Cat's Eye") - in this case, he has taken the soul of the most vile human corpse on earth, a general. The archangel Gabriel (Christopher Walken) is continuing the Second War of the Angels by trying to prevent Simon from continuing his soul-sucking methods - he wants the souls for himself. Somehow, this all relates to a brooding homicide detective (Elias Koteas) who almost became a priest, an elementary school teacher (Virginia Madsen), a Native American child who may or may not be possessed, and so on. We see eyeless angels, morgues, burned corpses, demons chained to rocks, visions of angels impaled in a vast horizon, war atrocities on grainy film stock, and it is all done with style to spare and never gratuitous or exploitative.
"The Prophecy" never makes much sense and I never quite understood Gabriel's intentions - does he want to rule the heavens by taking a few souls or is he just mad at God? Some of this is supposedly based on Milton's "Paradise Lost," but it would have been more productive if Lucifer was the one bent on vengeance against all, including God. After all, Lucifer was a former angel, "The Bringer of Light," until he was cast down in Hell after questioning God's blind faith. The main impetus of the film is that the angels got jealous and felt God did not love them anymore when He gave humans souls but since angels are not human anyway, what do they care?
The main attraction is the tall, entertaining wonder known as Christopher Walken - his trademark tics and maneuvering of body language keeps me interested and riveted from one film to the next. His piercing eyes and offbeat humor are enough compensation and justified when playing a miffed angel like Gabriel - imagine what he could have done as the Tall Man in "Phantasm."
"The Prophecy" is a fitful blend of humor and horror and tends to be over-the-top - Viggo Mortensen overacts and undermines as Lucifer during the fiery finale. Still, it is unusual and enlightening to see a horror film concerned with so much biblical jargon and wars between angels. Milton would have been proud.
For more reviews, check out JERRY AT THE MOVIES at http://buffs.moviething.com/buffs/faust/
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