Just perfect...

I'll tell you why so serious

As Good As It Gets

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

One of the things about this film I've always found fascinating is it takes place not far from where I live. While they never mention the town specifically from what I remember, the similarities are too close to not be what it was at least based on. Of course, many of the things are mish-mashed and thrown together, but for all intensive purposes, it works. When it all boils down to it, this is a well made low-budget creature feature. The acting's very solid, and the FXs, for the most part, look decent. They're not anything to write home about, but they're serviceable enough. I don't think anyone is going to say the creature isn't a guy in a rubber suit, but it does what it sets out to do. Sure, there are plot holes (there are no grizzly bears in Maine) and some cringe-worthy moments, but again it's a late 70's creature feature. There were a lot of echo-horror films that came out in that time period. Films like Piranha, Food Of The Gods and Humanoids From The Deep are a few that quickly come to mind. If you're a fan of these types of films this is one of the better ones. It's also, as I said, a bit hard to track down, but well worth it. This might not be for everyone, but for genre fans, I would say it's a safe bet. My Rating: 6.5/10

This film could have been much scarier and some segments hinted at its potential. But I didn't find myself bored. I'd say about 30% of the scenes (in isolation) were quite good but got tainted by weaker scenes throughout. The acting was average.I liked the all-too-common message of corrupt polluters looking the other way, even though the outcome was exaggerated vs. real life. Methyl Mercury can cause deformities but probably not gigantic creatures. The bulbous Katahdin "bear" was possibly meant to be supernatural, though. It's predictable that a number of people disliked this movie because of its ecological tone, and I wish we could ship them to another planet to ruin in isolation.I was inspired to write this review to point out one of the biggest flaws: If you see a mangled baby something-or-other (bear?) with sharp teeth and claws, you don't stuff it inside your jacket and care for it like a puppy! The woman found this out toward the end when it started gnawing on her neck, but that was oddly downplayed. I didn't understand the urgency of keeping it alive since the corpse would have sufficed, unless they thought the lumbermen might have taken it for a hoax.Anyhow, this movie is worth watching but could have been more polished and realistic.

This film had the potential to be a rare echo-horror that actually tackled the subject of men tempering with nature. It was apparently inspired by a real environmental disaster in Japan and since it was directed by John Frankenheimmer, I was genuinely intrigued to check out this film that I had been dismissing for so long mainly because of the infamous exploding sleeping bag scene.It starts out nicely with a violent sequence that proceeds to set up the main characters and plot; Native Americans are demonstrating against loggers working on a paper mill and taking away their land. The protagonist is a doctor who is called to the affair as an adviser and soon finds out that the plant is poisoning the water, the fish and the people who live of the land. To make matters worse there's something in the woods feeding on loggers and campers.Now, I know this is a creature feature and the monster deserves a fair amount of screen time. It is kept in wraps throughout the film, making up for some genuinely suspenseful scenes. At first it's a mere side effect of the much bigger tragedy that the land and people are suffering. But by the end it takes over the movie, turning it into a gore fest and depriving it of its original atmosphere. All the subplots are dropped, characters vanished and the movie abruptly ends.All in all, as far as echo-horror goes this is one of the most decent and fans of b movies will certainly be entertained. More stuff to look out for is the gorgeous Victoria Racimo, a young Armand Assante, those adorable mutated bear cubs and of course, the exploding sleeping bag scene.

Hard to believe that political thriller specialist John Frankenheimer ("The Manchurian Candidate", "Seven Days in May") is the man in the directors' seat of this sometimes silly, sometimes effective shocker. It's definitely a horror film with a message, an ecological one, although it's laid on with an awfully heavy hand.Written by David Seltzer of "The Omen" fame, it spins a yarn about classical musician Maggie (Talia Shire), who accompanies her doctor husband Rob (Robert Foxworth) to upstate Maine where's he to do some investigating at the advice of a friend. What they and others discover is that methylmercury poisoning has turned the local wildlife into big mutant killers - one bear in particular."Prophecy" begins extremely well, with an intense chase sequence at night, and delivers some good moments as it plays out. It also has more than enough moments where it's possible that the audience is going to burst out laughing - that legendary sleeping bag sequence in particular. The creature effects by the Burman studio may well be a source of amusement for the viewer, even in attack scenes that should be exciting and scary. The location shooting is excellent, the scenery is wonderful, and Leonard Rosenmans' music score is majestic.Shire is likable, bringing some humanity to the proceedings as the young woman who's worried about the effect that eating contaminated fish will have on her developing fetus. Foxworth is good, but his character is pretty damn sanctimonious. In an interesting inversion, the paper company boss (Richard Dysart) - who usually would be undoubtedly the villain in this sort of thing - is actually more engaging an individual than the stubborn Indian activist (a ridiculously cast Armand Assante) fighting for his people. Trivia note: future director Tom McLoughlin ("Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI") and actor Kevin Peter Hall ("Predator", "Harry and the Hendersons") are among those taking turns playing the mutant bear (or, as Leonard Maltin puts it in his annual guide, the "giant salami")."Prophecy" is decently entertaining. Some viewers may appreciate it more as a so-bad-it's-good type of affair, but it still must be said that at least it's not boring. Monster movie lovers might enjoy it.Six out of 10.