PROPHECY (1979)
Label: Eureka Entertainment
Region Code: B
Rating: Cert. 15
Duration: 102 Minutes
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Audio: English PCM 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Director: John Frankenheimer
Cast: Robert Foxworth, Talia Shire, Arman Asante, Richard A. Dysart, Victoria Racimo
Late 70's eco-horror Prophecy (1979) is a film that gave me nightmares when I was a kid. I am pretty sure I saw it when it aired on TV in the early 80's when I was still in the single-digits, and even in the pared down family-friendly TV cut it had an effect on me, mainly because there is a hideous, deformed creature in it burned itself into my subconscious mind and infiltrated my nightmares. I recall many night I woke up covered in sweaty after being chased by it through the forest of my dreams. Re-watching as an adult I am reminded of how childhood memories can exaggerate and distort reality, because my memories of this film are quite a a bit better than the actual film I watched.
Duration: 102 Minutes
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Audio: English PCM 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Director: John Frankenheimer
Cast: Robert Foxworth, Talia Shire, Arman Asante, Richard A. Dysart, Victoria Racimo
Late 70's eco-horror Prophecy (1979) is a film that gave me nightmares when I was a kid. I am pretty sure I saw it when it aired on TV in the early 80's when I was still in the single-digits, and even in the pared down family-friendly TV cut it had an effect on me, mainly because there is a hideous, deformed creature in it burned itself into my subconscious mind and infiltrated my nightmares. I recall many night I woke up covered in sweaty after being chased by it through the forest of my dreams. Re-watching as an adult I am reminded of how childhood memories can exaggerate and distort reality, because my memories of this film are quite a a bit better than the actual film I watched.
It all begins with EPA scientist Dr. Robert Verne (Robert Foxworth, Damien: Omen II) being sent to a riverside community in rural Maine to research the impact that a paper mill company is having on the environment and the indigenous people who live in the area. Also tagging along is Dr. Roberts' pregnant wife Maggie (Talia Shire, The Godfather). The indigenous people, represented native American environmental activist John Hawks (Arman Asante, Fatal Instinct), accuse a paper mill company run by Bethel Isely (Richard A. Dysart, The Thing), of polluting the water supply, which has had a dramatic effect on the indigenous people and the local wildlife.
On the other side, several of the lumberman working for the papermill have either disappeared in the woods or have died horrific deaths, with the papermill head honcho laying blame on Hawks and his people. The tribe however blame the deaths on a vengeful spirit of the forest they call Katahdin, who they say has ben awakened by the activities of the paper mill. Hawks and his girlfriend Ramona (Victoria Racimo) have been spearheading protests against the paper mill which have become increasingly violent, leading up to a chainsaw versus axe fight!
Dr. Verne's investigation unsurprisingly turns up evidence that the paper mill is indeed polluting, highlighted by the discovery of an oversized salmon and a mutated tadpole the size of a good sized catfish, as well as a strangely developed tree root system, and an unusually vicious racoon. Heads up, the next paragraph will be filled with spoilers, so stop reading if you do not want to be spoiled on the film.
It turns out that the paper mill uses mercury during the milling process, and it's been seeping into the groundwater and river soil for quite some time, affecting both the ingenious people and the wildlife. This has spawned a giant-sized, grotesque grizzly bear who has been tearing through the lumberjacks. Worse yet she's a momma bear in search of her missing cubs, with the final leg of the film featuring her rampaging through an encampment and attacking a truck, and then finishing up at a riverside cabin with the main cast facing off against the monstrosity. The mutant bear was created by special FX man Tom Burman (Invasion of the Body Snatchers), looking like a bear seen on a bad acid trip,, but looks like it was a bitch to puppeteer properly, so we only glimpse in quick snatches for the most part, which is not super-satisfying, but probably a wise decision, this thing must have been the 'Bruce the Shark' (Jaws) of bear attack films.
The film is a bit of a bloated and sloppy mess for sure, with too many diatribes about how corporations are evil polluters harming the environment, all of which is absolutely true, but they beat the idea into the ground and there's not enough mayhem, especially in the middle section. While it's overstuffed with a sloggish middle third the film is still an entertaining eco-horror entry with a few memorable deaths, a nightmarish-looking mutant bear, a very solid cast, and some nice forest scenery photographed by cinematographer Tom Rolf (Ghost Story), all of which adds up to a messy and imperfect film, but it's entertaining flick that never bores.
Audio/Video: Prophecy (1979) arrives on Region B locked Blu-ray from Eureka Entertainment in 1080p HD framed in 2.39:1 widescreen. This looks to be the same HD master used by Scream Factory for their 2019 U.S. Blu-ray, which was very good to begin with. Grain appears natural, colors are solid and black levels are supportive, with identical color-grading. There are a few differences though, the Eureka shows a tiny bit more information along the sides, but also shows what looks to be a sliver of the edge of the film frame on the left side. I also noticed is that a tiny bit of frame damage I spotted on the Eureka release at the 21:09 minute mark has seemingly been repaired on the SF release. Checkout the over 60 screenshots from the Eureka release at the bottom of the review, and watch the embedded video below to see a comparison between the Scream Factory and Eureka releases.
Audio comes by way of English LPCM 2.0 stereo with optional English subtitles. The track is clean and well-balanced, there are no issues with distortion and the impactful score from Leonard Rosenman (The Car) sounds great. The Scream Factory release utilized DTS-HD MA 2.0 and I was hard pressed to discern a difference.
Extras on the Eureka release begins with a pair of new audio commentaries, the first with Richard Harland Smith and a second with film writers Lee Gambin & Emma Westwood, all of whom not only know their stuff, but are huge genre fans and offer up pretty much anything you would want to know about this imperfect bit of surreal environmental terror.
We also get two new interviews, the first is a 13-minute interview with screenwriter David Seltzer talks about being a lifelong animal lover, hos early work on documentary films, how he ended up breaking into screenwriting working on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, his reputation as a 'sultan of sobs', his obsessive writing process, and writing the screenplay for The Omen even though he knew nothing about The Devil, but that prompting him to read the bible and what e revelatory experience this was, not on a religious level but on a wild storytelling level. He also gets into the inspiration for Prophecy, an unfortunate environmental
pollution event in Japan, and learning about native American folklore from a friend. He also gets into how Frankenheimer stayed true to what was in the script but lacked the tone and atmosphere of his intention.
There's also a 20-minute interview with director Tom McLoughlin (One Dark Night) who was the man in the mutant bear suit, he talks about his early career as a mime and how he ended up playing the role, and what it was liek on set. The disc is buttoned-up with a Trailer, TV Spot, Radio Spots and an image gallery.
Below is a comparison of the disc extras, comparing the UK release with the Scream Factory release. I have both and will keep both, the SF release has nearly two hours of interviews not on the Eureka disc, and the Eureka disc has two excellent and exclusive commentaries and new interviews with both screenwriter David Seltzer and Tom McLoughlin,
Eureka Blu-ray Special Features;
- Limited Edition O-Card Slipcase featuring new artwork by Darren Wheeling [First Print Run of 2000 copies only]
- New Audio Commentary by Richard Harland Smith
- New Audio Commentary by film writers Lee Gambin & Emma Westwood
- Truth in Fiction: Interview with screenwriter David Seltzer (13 min) HD
- Katahdin Speaks: Interview with mime artist Tom McLoughlin (20 min) HD
- Original Theatrical Trailer (1 min) HD
Eureka Blu-ray Special Features;
- Limited Edition O-Card Slipcase featuring new artwork by Darren Wheeling [First Print Run of 2000 copies only]
- New Audio Commentary by Richard Harland Smith
- New Audio Commentary by film writers Lee Gambin & Emma Westwood
- Truth in Fiction: Interview with screenwriter David Seltzer (13 min) HD
- Katahdin Speaks: Interview with mime artist Tom McLoughlin (20 min) HD
- Original Theatrical Trailer (1 min) HD
- TV Spot (1 min) HD
- Radio Spots (2 min) HD
- Image Gallery HD
- PLUS: A LIMITED EDITION Collector’s Booklet featuring new writing by Craig Ian Mann; and an archival interview [First Print Run of 2000 copies only]
- PLUS: A LIMITED EDITION Collector’s Booklet featuring new writing by Craig Ian Mann; and an archival interview [First Print Run of 2000 copies only]
Scream Factory Special Edition:
- All Of Our Sins – An Interview With Talia Shire (20 min)
- Bearing Up – An Interview With Actor Robert Foxworth (10 min)
- Bear And Grin It – An Interview With Writer David Seltzer (13 min)
- Hard To Bear – An Interview With Special Make-up Effects Designer Tom Burman (20 min)
- Prophecy Prodigy – An Interview With Special Make-up Effects Artist Allan Apone (21 min)
- Beneath The Bear – An Interview With Mime Artist Tom McLoughlin (22 min)
- Theatrical Trailer (1 min)
- Radio Spots (2 min)
- Still Gallery (7 min)
Screenshots from the Eureka Entertainment Blu-ray:
