The year was predicted to look pretty bleak with a number of major tentpoles being delayed due to the dual union strikes from the Writers’ Guild and the Actors’ Guild from late last year. However, that isn’t to say that there aren’t still some big releases, as some films were still ready to go for the summer. The past few weeks have seen a steamy character drama with Challengers, an action comedy with two stars from last year’s Barbenheimer sensation with The Fall Guy, the powers of Ryan Reynolds and John Krasinski teaming up for a cutesy family film with IF and a CGI-filled action epic from an established franchise with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Two of the films from these past weeks have already been made available on digital platforms — Challengers and The Fall Guy.
Both Challengers and The Fall Guy followed another film with a short theater life — Madame Web — whereas that movie not only flopped, but the film’s reputation would be a big joke of the internet. However, the aforementioned titles would garner a much more positive reception with critics and audiences and yet, the tickets were just not selling. According to a new article from The Hollywood Reporter, the box office for this summer has so far seen a historic low as there has not yet been a movie in the past two months that has opened to $100 million on its debut weekend in more than a decade (not counting for the COVID pandemic in 2020). The only big superhero movie to open this summer is Deadpool & Wolverine, and even with its unchallenging competition, that film still has a lot going for it, which is why the presales have already set records at FandangoandAMC. This anticipated film is sure to buck the recent bleak trend and become the first big hit of the year.
Wall Street analyst Eric Handler of MKM Partners is stating, “Hollywood is sucking wind right now. The strike wreaked havoc. For the first time in years, we started off summer with an unproven, character-driven film (The Fall Guy). I’m not worried because there are big movies coming, but it does put pressure on the rest of the summer and year.” Furiosa is about to drop, so it will remain to be seen if it can beat Deadpool to the top of the charts early on. There are also some family films that are usually reliable, like The Garfield Movie, Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4, that are just over the horizon. There are also recognizable titles like Bad Boys: Ride or Die and Twisters that can capitalize on their nostalgic origins.
Comscore chief box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian says that Hollywood has put their expectations too high by setting their sights on front-heavy $100 million weekends. He states, “In today’s modern theatrical marketplace, the emphasis should shift from the short-term gain to the long-term playability, since this is now a game of yards instead of inches. And the analysis of what constitutes a hit or a flop must be reevaluated.”
Hunter Schafer, the actor you may know from Euphoria, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, and Kojima Productions’ upcoming Xbox game OD, was recently part of a cover story and photoshoot for Vogue Magazine. Most of these photos show Schafer doing mundane things like reading and picking up trash. But…
Hunter Schafer, the actor you may know from Euphoria, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, and Kojima Productions’ upcoming Xbox game OD, was recently part of a cover story and photoshoot for Vogue Magazine. Most of these photos show Schafer doing mundane things like reading and picking up trash. But…
The episode of WTF Happened to This Horror Movie? covering The Prophecy 3: The Ascent was Written and Edited by Jaime Vasquez, Narrated by Travis Hopson, Produced by Andrew Hatfield and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.
After two movies, 1995’s The Prophecy and 1998’s The Prophecy II, Christopher Walken’s leading antagonist Gabriel undergoes a spiritual makeover that fans of the first two films couldn’t have seen coming. After back-to-back films of Walken setting objects – and people – on fire, among other acts of evil, archangel Gabriel proved just how sinister he could be. So, what made him change his tune? Find out what happened on WTF Happened to The Prophecy 3: The Ascent.
Christopher Walken was the first of a handful of actors to sign up for 1995’s The Prophecy. The stellar cast included Elias Koteas, Virginia Madsen, Eric Stoltz, and Viggo Mortenson. The film told a fascinating supernatural story of archangel Gabriel coming down to earth to carry out his plan of turning Earth into Hell by combatting a Police Detective and a School teacher. On an 8 million dollar budget, it became a minor hit, earning 16 million in the US. Dimension moved forward with a sequel, betting that Walken’s involvement would equal a successful home video release. The wacky but endearing Prophecy II racked up a decent amount of online chatter and sold a respectable number of copies. With Walken being game to do a third entry, Dimension put the wheels in motion for The Prophecy 3 (watch it HERE).
The original Prophecy was written and directed by Highlander creator Gregory Widen. The sequel was co-written by horror screenwriter Matt Greenberg (who also wrote Halloween: H20, the Stephen King adaptation 1408, and the 2019 remake of PetSematary) and Greg Spence, who would also direct. At the time, Spence had one directing credit with Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering, but he went on to produce HBO heavyweights Game of Thrones and The Last of Us. For the third installment, screenwriting and directing duties were split. Carl Dupré and Joel Soisson penned the screenplay. They would team up again on the Hellraiser sequel, Hellworld. Soisson would also write future sequels; The Prophecy: Uprising and The Prophecy: Forsaken, as well as the Wes Craven-produced Dracula trilogy, which would be directed by The Prophecy 3’s director, Patrick Lussier.
Lussier is a skilled talent behind some of the most iconic horror films of the last 30 years. As an editor, he worked on ’90s horror classics such as Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, Halloween: H20, and the original Scream trilogy. The Prophecy 3 was his directorial debut. After The Prophecy 3, he directed the 2009 remake of My Bloody Valentine, episodes of TV show adaptations of horror franchises Scream and The Purge, among other works. More recently, he helmed the horror film Play Dead starring Bailee Madison and Jerry O’Connell.
The Prophecy 3 was released almost two years after its predecessor. It would focus on a nephilim (which is a half angel, half human) who is conceived and hunted in Part 2. Here, he’s hunted as an adult. The nephilim in question is Danyael Rosales (played by Dave Buzzotta). Danyael is a street preacher who believes that the universe is purposeless and random, ranting in his sermon that “Our lives are nothing but a chain of unrelated accidents. Get used to it.” Danyael is hunted by a doomsday prepping psychopath, and an archangel who’s just been sent to earth by Pyriel, an angel who plans to overrule God and subsequently all of mankind. They both want Danyael dead as he is the last hope for humanity.
Danyael holds a gathering in a tent with his sickeningly supportive girlfriend Maggie, and about 40 of his followers. The meeting proves dangerous, when the aforementioned psychopath, AKA, genre icon Brad Dourif, (simply known in the credits as “Zealot”) stands in front of the crowd and opens fire on Danyael, shooting him in the chest a whopping 13 times, more than doubling Dr. Loomis numbers. Back in Brad Dourif’s apartment, he talks to an unseen presence that is apparently the driving force behind Brad shooting Danyael. He’s rejected when pleading for another chance to kill Danyael. Then he is killed by this invisible force, which Brad considers to be an honor. And that’s the last we see of Brad Dourif in this movie, unfortunately.
We see another familiar face in Joseph, the county coroner (played by Steve Hytner in his third appearance of the franchise). A quick glance at Danyael’s bullet-riddled chest prompts Joseph to pronounce him dead. And a quick glance at his name reminds him of Danyael’s mother, Valerie Rosales, with whom Joseph had spoken to briefly in years prior when she was pregnant with Danyael. Joseph looks up Valerie’s records. It turns out, Danyael’s mother died from a crushing case of Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome. Valerie Rosales (played by Jennifer Beals in The Prophecy II) is given a similar treatment to Laurie Strode in Halloween 4, getting axed off-screen prior to the film’s events. Well, not literally axed, she was set on fire.
Danyael is taken to the morgue, but is very much alive. Because he’s part angel, and even more so because he’s a nephilim, Danyael is hard to kill, and can only die if his heart is destroyed. Like, thoroughly destroyed. Then stepped on. And run over just in case. This is why Charles Lee Ray blasted him 13 times and didn’t see it as overkill. Joseph catches Danyael up and walking, right before Danyael runs away. Joseph then meets the second entity that’s hunting Danyael, Archangel Zophael Jones (played by Vincent Spano, who I’ll be referring to as “Z” to avoid confusion with Gabriel, Danyael, and Pyriel. I could call him Jones, but he acts too robotic to be referred to with a human name). Joseph is so bewildered by the night’s events that he starts hitting the books. And hitting the booze. He aims to solve the bizarre mysteries regarding Danyael. On the plus side, he has Maggie drive him home, so at least he drinks somewhat responsibly.
The following day, Z tracks Danyael down at a Donut shop, of all places. Danyael is healing from being shot, which apparently causes a voracious appetite. Danyael eats about a dozen donuts and pours an entire sugar bowl into his coffee. Or as sugar addicts call it, Tuesday morning. Gabriel runs over Z, allowing Danyael to escape again. So it would appear Gabriel is human, but also some type of guardian angel to Danyael.
An altercation between Gabriel and Z results in some offbeat hilarity. After Z threatens his life, Gabriel awesomely shuts him down by saying, “Fried food can kill me. A mugger can kill me. You’re not so special down here, Jones.”
Z finds Danyael inside the tent where he was shot. They engage in a fight similar to the ones in the original and the sequel. The angels collide midair. Z spins and lands perfectly balanced on his feet, raising the serious question of why he’s not an Olympic figure skater. Danyael pins Z to the wall with what appears to be a steel pipe. He questions Z about a weird symbol drawn in blood that he found in Brad Dourif’s apartment. Z tells Danyael that it is a symbol of Pyriel, referring to him as the “next God.” Apparently Pyriel is supposed to be an ominous and deadly being, but his name just reminds me of Purell Hand Sanitizer, so I can’t take him seriously.
On a mission to find Pyriel in the desert, Danyael hurls a random man off of his motorcycle, takes his bike, and literally leaves him in the dust. I feel like he could’ve just as easily taken, say, a Toyota Corolla, but this was just too dramatic to resist.
In parts 1 and 2, Gabriel forces unwilling people to drive him around, as he couldn’t drive until this movie. Since driving is apparently a skill no archangel has, Z follows that tradition and has Maggie drive him to follow Danyael. When they catch up to Danyael in the desert, Z fights Maggie, trying to take control of the steering wheel, in an attempt to run Danyael over. But Danyael remains unharmed and Maggie’s car flips over. Danyael and Z fight again. Before he can destroy Danyael’s heart, Maggie shoots Z, despite her fragile condition. Danyael rips his heart out, killing him. Even though he’s distraught over Maggie, he must leave her behind to fight Pyriel so he can save her. And you know, the rest of mankind. Gabriel stays with a barely conscious Maggie.
Pyriel and Danyael give us some more angel-on-angel fighting. Suddenly Pyriel is struck by lightning, which I’m sure is just a coincidence. Gaining the upper hand, Danyael stabs Pyriel in the chest, defeating him.
A symbol on Gabriel’s neck reveals he’s an angel once again. He revives Maggie so she and Danyael can be together. Gabriel offers Danyael his perspective on Danyael’s belief that life is unjustly random. “It’s not a mindless, indifferent, blind universe. It never was. Get used to it.”
Despite its short runtime, The Prophecy 3 is quirky, uniquely charming and even poignant, especially in the last few scenes. Gabriel had to become what he was most jealous of in order to come full circle and appreciate humanity. He had to live in a world where he could risk getting hurt or killed or eating a questionable Big Mac. He had to become human. Though it took three movies, Gabriel receives a proper redemption arc.
The Prophecy 3 feels like a finale, as there are a few fulfilled arcs and some closure that includes callbacks to the original. Mary, the little girl who gets possessed and almost kidnapped in Part 1 shows up in Danyael’s dream. On his way to confront Pyriel, Danyael meets Mary (played by the same actress Moriah Shining Dove Snyder). She reveals that she had a dream about him, and that she believes he can defeat Pyriel. Even though she doesn’t seem to have any idea who Danyael is. Gabriel stops at the Halfway House Coffee Shop, a diner he’d gone to in the original. Madge (portrayed by Sandra Ellis Lafferty), the same person who waited on him before, waits on him again. The cameos feel reminiscent of Scream 3. But at least here, the cameos are of characters we’ve met before. No offense to the late, great Carrie Fisher. As mentioned, Steve Hytner returns as Joseph, the coroner. He’s once again the deliverer of odd news to a leading character, this time learning the importance of Danyael being a nephilim and who Pyriel and Zophael are, and explaining this to Maggie. Who probably normally wouldn’t believe him, but since her boyfriend is capable of easily surviving 13 bullet wounds, she’s a little more open-minded.
The Prophecy 3 scored a meager 17% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But in its defense, it received very few reviews from critics, likely due to its direct-to-video release, and the fact that it’s a horror sequel. Critics probably felt it was too lowbrow to review. Also on Rotten Tomatoes, it scored a 40% audience approval rating, and a 5.4 out of 10 from users on IMDb.
While the film shows its budget and age, it wastes no time, breezing through its story in an hour and 21 minutes. Walken carries this film on his back – or on his wings, I should say. I would say he carries the trilogy on his wings, but there’s some debate on Viggo Mortenson possibly out-Walken-ing Walken in the original.
The Prophecy 3: The Ascent is a solid ending for Gabriel. Here, our leading archangel has some heroic moments and redeems himself in a sugary sweet one-eighty. BUT he did get to have a lot of fun as an evil archangel in The Prophecy 1 and 2. Which version of Gabriel do you prefer? Evil or good? Let us know in the comments, and as always, thanks for watching.
A couple of the previous episodes of WTF Happened to This Horror Movie? can be seen below. To see more, head over to our JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!
Model and actress Brande Roderick was a Playboy Playmate (Playmate of the Month in April of 2000, Playmate of the Year in 2001), played Leigh Dyer on the Baywatch TV series, and competed on a couple seasons of The Apprentice. Now she has made her feature directorial debut with the horror film Wineville, which she also stars in, and while making the movie she was drawing inspirations from ’70s genre classics like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Last House on the Left.
Written by Richard Schenkman (Mischief Night), who also produced the film with Roderick, Robin DeMartino, and Todd Slater, Wineville is a 1970s-set thriller that sees Roderick taking on the role of Tess Lott, a woman who escaped her abusive father as a teen. Now she returns as a single mother to her family’s vineyard after her father’s death to sort out her inheritance, only to discover the dark secrets and painful memories she left behind return as a murderous legacy sparking violence and death.
Roderick is joined in the cast by Carolyn Hennesy (Dawson’s Creek), Texas Battle (Final Destination 3), Casey King (The Secret Life of Amy Bensen), and Keaton Roderick Cadrez (Ace & the Christmas Miracle).
Some of Roderick’s other acting credits include Dracula II: Ascension, Starsky & Hutch, Hood of Horror, Bunny Whipped, The Nanny Diaries, and Project Legion.
Roderick told The Hollywood Reporter, “Wineville was influenced by ’70s horror classics like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Last House on the Left, as I wanted my first feature to be not only in the horror genre that I loved so much growing up, but to also pay homage to the flavor and style of that decade’s films that made such an impact on me.“
Dark Star Pictures has acquired the North American distribution rights to Wineville, with the plan being to give the film a limited theatrical release this September, followed by a digital release.
Are you interested in watching Brande Roderick’s horror film? Share your thoughts on Wineville by leaving a comment below. Since The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Last House on the Left are being used as reference points for this one, I’m definitely interested in checking it out.
Playing Hades in the throes of the anguish that was 2020 was exactly the balm I needed. It was the rare roguelike that worked for me, marrying a story that toyed with a pantheon and mythos I’d loved since childhood with some of the most white-knuckle combat I’d experienced in a game. Whether I wanted to check out for…
Playing Hades in the throes of the anguish that was 2020 was exactly the balm I needed. It was the rare roguelike that worked for me, marrying a story that toyed with a pantheon and mythos I’d loved since childhood with some of the most white-knuckle combat I’d experienced in a game. Whether I wanted to check out for…
I feel like I need to start with an apology. I’m so sorry. You were just minding your own business, scrolling the internet, and living your life blissfully unaware that late-night TV host Stephen Colbert recently premiered a Skibidi Toilet sketch featuring President Joe Biden’s head on CBS. And now I’ve ruined…
I feel like I need to start with an apology. I’m so sorry. You were just minding your own business, scrolling the internet, and living your life blissfully unaware that late-night TV host Stephen Colbert recently premiered a Skibidi Toilet sketch featuring President Joe Biden’s head on CBS. And now I’ve ruined…
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the long-awaited sequel to director Tim Burton’s 1988 classic Beetlejuice (watch it HERE), is set to reach theatres on September 6th – and with that release date just about three months away, a new trailer for the film has arrived online! You can check it out in the embed above.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was in development hell for decades before it finally got made. In 1990, Jonathan Gems was hired to write a sequel that was going to be titled Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian. Burton considered having Daniel Waters rewrite that script, Pamela Norris did rewrite it, and Warner Bros. offered Kevin Smith the chance to do another rewrite. He turned it down. Seth Grahame-Smith was hired to write and produce a new version of a sequel in 2011. Mike Vukadinovich was brought on to rewrite his script in 2017.
Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, co-creators and co-showrunners of Wednesday, have written the screenplay for Beetlejuice 2 that was actually filmed. Brad Pitt’s Plan B is producing the sequel, which filmed in London before moving to Vermont and Massachusetts.
Here’s the official synopsis: Beetlejuice is back! After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid, discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened. With trouble brewing in both realms, it’s only a matter of time until someone says Beetlejuice’s name three times and the mischievous demon returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem.
Michael Keaton is back in the role of the titular “ghost with the most” and is joined in the cast by Winona Ryder, reprising the role of Lydia Deetz; Catherine O’Hara, back as Lydia’s stepmother Delia; Jenna Ortega as Lydia’s daughter Astrid, Justin Theroux as a fellow named Rory, Monica Bellucci as Beetlejuice’s wife and Willem Dafoe as a law enforcement officer in the afterlife. Arthur Conti is also in there, in an unspecified role.
What did you think of the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice trailer? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
