The Prophecy II (1998) (V)

Director:

Greg Spence

Writers (WGA):

Gregory Widen (characters)
Matt Greenberg (written by) ...

Release Date:

20 January 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

An evil force has declared war...

Plot:

Gabriel returns to try to destroy the human race he despises so much, with the help of a suicidal teen and the opposition of the angel Daniel.

Plot Keywords:

Angel | Suicide | Monk | Morgue | Shot To Death

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Christopher Walken	...	Gabriel
Russell Wong	...	Danyael
Jennifer Beals	...	Valerie Rosales
Brittany Murphy	...	Izzy
Eric Roberts	...	Michael
Glenn Danzig	...	Samayel
Steve Hytner	...	Joseph
Bruce Abbott	...	Thomas Daggett
William Prael	...	Rafayel
Renee Victor	...	Mother
Elizabeth Dennehy	...	Kathy Kimball
J.G. Hertzler	...	Father William
Nicki Micheaux	...	Detective Kriebel
Tom Towles	...	Detective Waltrip
Danny Strong	...	Julian

Also Known As:

Ashtown: Prophecy II (USA) (working title)
God's Army II (Europe: English title)
Prophecy II: Ashtown (USA) (working title)
Ángeles y demonios 2 (Spain) [es]
God's Army II - Die Prophezeiung (Germany) [de]
L'angelo del male (Italy) [it]
Pahan enne 2 (Finland) [fi]
Profetian - Djävulens sändebud (Sweden) [sv]
The Prophecy II (France) [fr]

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and gore, and a strong sex scene.

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Iceland:16 | South Korea:18 | Australia:MA | Germany:16 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

First Congregational Church - 540 S. Commonwealth Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Dimension Films

Trivia:

Christopher Walken was robbed at the airport in Venice and his The Prophecy II script, glasses, keys, drivers license, and $100 were stolen. All items were later found (including the script) except for the money.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Gabriel and Izzy are at the dry cleaners, the computer screen at first is a bright blue color, then the next scene it is a dark blue, almost black color.

Quotes:

[Watching the cop talk on the handheld radio]
Gabriel: May I ask, you fellas use that to what, talk to each other? Yeah?
Cop: What, are you high? It's a radio. Yeah.
Gabriel: It's a miracle. Shh.
[puts him to sleep, takes the gun and radio]
Gabriel: Okay. Pop quiz.
[sets the gun next to Izzy]
Gabriel: How do you make that work?
[lays the radio down, too]
Gabriel: How do you use that? Hmm?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Followed by The Prophecy 3: The Ascent (2000) (V)

Soundtrack:

Todo En La Vida Se Paga

Walken is back! ...in a rather mundane sequel

The first Prophecy wasn't a bad film, but whether or not it deserved a sequel is debatable. So far, it has actually received four sequels - but this is the only one that I've seen. Overall, this film isn't good enough to warrant me bothering with any more follow-ups, but it provides a decent enough hour and twenty minutes of entertainment. Just like the original, this film fuses action with themes of biblical horror and once again follows the fortunes of the diabolical angel Gabriel during another plot to destroy the human race. Naturally, it's all very convoluted and silly; doesn't make much sense and features several elements that are obviously thrown in to sell the film; but hey, you can't expect anything else from a film like this. The film revolves around a child conceived by Gabriel's adversary, Danyael and a normal woman. Gabriel has taken it upon himself to get rid of this baby, which was prophesised by a monk; and after his army of angels have been exterminated, he decides to employ the services of a suicidal girl named 'Izzy'...

The main reason I saw this film was, of course, because of the presence of its lead star; Christopher Walken. Walken's role isn't very meaty, but he makes the best of it with a charged performance that steals every scene he's in. The original film benefited from a great star-studded cast to support Walken; whereas this film doesn't. That being said, it does feature some decent actors. Jennifer Beals is good in support along with Russell Wong, while future star Brittany Murphy stands out as the suicide obsessed teen and cult horror fans will recognise Re-Animator's Bruce Abbott in a small role. The film features a plethora of action scenes, which are mostly well done; but after a while it all gets rather dry as the plot isn't too interesting and it all seems to drone on. The film doesn't really fit much with any actual bible stories; which is something of a disappointment as that was one of the best things about the original movie. Overall, Prophecy II is worth seeing for fans of the original, although it's not a particularly good movie.