Wow, well, you really know a Widen movie when you see one. He's one of those writers that come up with something unique each time he brings a script to the screen...he's also one of those writers that you just have to assume is on powerful hallucinogenic drugs.Walken, of course, gets top billing, and he did do a very good job, who doesn't love it when he's a villein? He is always delightfully creepy and, in The Prophecy he balances that creepiness with a healthy does of humor. It makes him a lovable character, but then he does have a great sense of humor and one of the best deadpan deliveries in modern Hollywood.Still...Elias Koteas. I don't think he means to do it, but he always takes center stage in whatever he does and The Prophecy is no different. The man just brings his A-game to every movie, every bit part he has ever played. And like his turn in Fallen, the one thing that lingers in your memory when the movie is over, is the Koteas performance. As usual he wields raw acting power with ease.Stolz, as always, plays Eric Stoltz, but in this movie it works perfectly. He is the angel just following orders, and one that positively stinks of 90s era cool. You know from the first time you see him on screen that he was the perfect casting choice for Simon.What makes it better is Adam Goldberg, the man that is always cast in the same sort of roles. That is the slightly dorky Jew. He's really the same character he was in Saving Private Ryan, only far more pathetic. But he also provides the comic relief as a walking, decaying, reanimated corpse forced back to life to be Walken's unwilling and lippy servant. The movie needed elements of relief to keep it grounded enough to appeal to the none Biblically inclined and Goldberg, well, he does his job and makes you laugh.What you have here is a small film with a small budget and a great cast and it works. It works better than anyone can imagine, partially because the surreal quality of the script needed a small budget to keep it believable, and partially because the production quality forced everyone to relay on a very well written story and weigh it all on a cast that could turn it into something memorable.The result is a film that is endlessly watchable

Years and years ago when I first fell in love with horror films, this is a series (I think there were only three at the time) that I discovered and remembered being decent. So I'm going to go through it again. The Prophecy walks a seriously thin line between campy horror and twisted story that could have fell flat on its face. The amazing thing is that it works and works so incredibly well. It turns in the type of film that was likely instantly a cult classic. There are some incredible and truly quotable lines in the film and scenes that will stay with you (hauntingly so) for a long time after that. There are some cheesy moments and yet the film is so dark and twisted that the cheese somehow blends in together and provides you with an eye opening and unique horror flick that I really enjoyed. I think great horror/thrillers can come out of Christian theology (some of Stephen King's most brilliant stuff certainly does) and The Prophecy does an incredible job of spinning this yarn around that and laying the groundwork for a series. The casting works so well and everything in this puzzle just fits together right. It is one of those films I think that you can't necessarily pinpoint why it works but it just does.Christopher Walken is a legend in his own right so I will start with him. Is he a great actor? Honestly, no I don't think that he is. But you cannot deny his unbelievable on screen charisma. He seems just a perfect fit to play this almost campy and yet dark and twisted evil Angel. This is probably one of his most memorable roles to me and for good reason. Walken is very Walken in the role and it works really well. Under-rated character actor Elias Koteas is disgraced Priest turned cop Thomas. This character is just fantastic. He is the perfect hero and Koteas does this brooding cop who is having the ultimate crisis of faith. His dialogue in the film is so well written and this script is shockingly smart at times. Koteas and Walken have this awesome rivalry that really drives this film. Virginia Madsen plays a character that is both necessary to the story and yet I felt she got in the way in some ways. She doesn't give as strong of a performance as everyone else but I understand why she's there. She doesn't really stand out though. Eric Stoltz, Viggo Mortensen, Adam Goldberg and Moriah Snyder deserve mention amongst the supporting cast. Stoltz and Mortensen border on being amazing and yet their roles are painfully small and not to be repeated by them in future instalments of the series.The one thing I took from The Prophecy more than anything else was the imagery. My God! Writer and director Gregory Widen had some messed up vision for this film and it translates onto the screen and gets under your skin. Whether its the tortured angels, the death scenes, the war, or the transferring of souls...the metaphorical imagery is deeply disturbing and effective. I'm shocked Widen didn't have more of a directing career after or before this and even more shocked that a writer actually managed to translate this into something really great. I have no doubt the series will gradually fall apart with future parts but I am going to stick with all of them and review each one because I thought this first one was just excellent and will absolutely remain high on my list of horror classics. 8.5/10

While trying to discover the identity of a mysterious corpse, former priest turned policeman Thomas Dagget (Elias Koteas) learns of a war raging in heaven, angel Gabriel (Christopher Walken) leading an army of rebels who are jealous of the favour God has shown towards man.For a film about warring angels, The Prophecy is surprisingly devoid of spectacle, with very little in the way of battles between winged beings and a hugely disappointing climax; thank heavens, then, for the great cast, who somehow make this biblical nonsense pretty entertaining. Walken as Gabriel is the film's strongest suit, giving a quirky performance that adds a touch of humour to the otherwise rather sober proceedings; Virginia Madsen, as a schoolteacher caught in the middle of the war, is simply gorgeous, adding the glamour factor; Viggo Mortensen makes for a surprisingly creepy Lucifer; and Eric Stoltz delivers a solid performance as good angel Simon. Amanda Plummer and Adam Goldberg are also good, but their roles add little to the movie as a whole.All in all, The Prophecy is a reasonably decent piece of religious horror, albeit not a particularly memorable one.

Are you saying we have a dead angel on ice?Saw this without any knowledge, but saw the cast, Christopher Walken, Viggo Mortensen and Eric Stolz, which I all admire for their work, and was immediately quite amazed by the tone and excitement. This is dark, compelling, chilling and quite shocking. I would say that most things work. It's so damned we'll played by all, not only the above mentioned. Maybe this is both Walken and Stolz best roles ever! Walken is simply astonishing chilling in his role as arch angel. An absolute must-see!We meet a cop, which formerly tried to become a priest, but fail at the final blessing. After giving up religion, and becoming a detective, he has an encounter with might be an angel. And then what also seems to be an angel, according to ancient scripts, also is an angel, dead after a violent fight. Are we seeing a war of angels?Based on old biblical writings this is way more exciting than any of Dan Brown's stuff. Don't let this mislead you into thinking this is something rubbish. It's scary and worst of all quite believable. Kept in a realistic everyday style, it still gives chill after chill in meeting with the angels, among them the great arch angel Gabriel.I also love the make up effects made for this film. Nasty, well done stuff. Filming is great. Just like some of the best films I saw back in the 70'ies, 80'ies and 90'ies. The feel I get the same good movie feeling I had a long time ago, and reminds me of the classics like "The Exorcist", "Rosemary's baby", "Name of the rose", which all are themed similarly or the dark filming work of "Deliverance", "Whatever happened to Baby-Jane", "Duel" and "The Marathon man". Yeah, it's really that good, and that well done, but even darker! If you liked the chills in those, you'll like this. It's good story telling, which makes this a hidden classic.Maybe the end is too abrupt and positive. The weakest part is the final minutes, but then again this is a story that needs such an ending.The music score is out of this world. Not only this. The dialog is exquisite and the quotes you can get from this are epic. Do yourself a favor, if you haven't seen this! Get hold of it! I just discovered a hidden gem!