Prophecy (1979) Review

CLAYTON'S CREEPY CINEMA!

WEEK 3: HAIR-RAISING HORRORS 

Prophecy (1979)

1979 was a terrific year for horror films, with such releases as the campy classic Phantasm, the successful remake of Nosferatu, and of course Alien, one of the greatest horror films of all time. But there was another horror flick released that year that not a lot of people have heard of—an ecological thriller called Prophecy. So, how does it fare in comparison to other seventies scare-fests? Let’s just say, it’s a pretty hairy adventure. Or hair-less, I suppose.

This cautionary tale follows a scientist and his wife who journey to Maine to investigate the effects of logging in the area. As it turns out, the effects are substantial and lethal. It seems mutative chemicals have spread throughout the environment by careless factory workers, turning the wildlife into deformed, abnormal freaks of nature. Giant bull frogs hop through the swamps, overly large fish swim the streams, and deadliest of all, a mutated grizzly bear fights to protect her cubs from the invasive people threatening the forest. Besides the killer Kodiak, a band of natives who blame the loggers for bringing a vengeful spirit to the woods (in the form of the bear) are hostile toward the scientist and company. They are forced to work together, however, when the mother bear tracks them down and starts killing them one by one.

Despite an intriguing premise, Prophecy fails to really deliver, and that is largely due to the creature’s performance, or lack thereof. When I said it was a hair-less adventure, I meant it. The mutant mother bear looks like it had its skin turned inside out and someone rubbed cheese pizza on it from head to toe. The bear is performed by a guy in a suit, and the bulky thing runs awkwardly through the forest, instilling laughs rather than screams. Even though the creature is so obviously bad looking, the filmmakers opted to maintain the serious tone and keep it scary. Unfortunately, any time the creature is on screen, it looks bad. That isn’t to say there aren’t any creepy parts in this film. As it's slowly revealed that there's something sinister going on in the Maine wilderness, the eeriness sets in and the monster lurking can be sensed. It isn’t until the bear’s reveal that things start taking a turn for the worse. There’s one noteworthy scene where the beast smacks a kid in his sleeping bag across a clearing and he explodes in a cloud of feathers (no blood though) and it is unintentionally hilarious.  

Prophecy certainly isn’t a classic horror film, and definitely not among the best from 1979, but in terms of killer bear movies, it’s at least original. Despite the problems I have with the monster, I do find the story compelling and can appreciate some of the more unnerving scenes in the first act; however, it does devolve into a campy creature feature by the end. For some this might be a disappointment, but for others, it might be the point where the film gets more entertaining. In terms of wilderness horror, you could do better, but you could do a lot worse.