Watch as Catholics kick Satan and his minions directly in the groin! That's right, thanks to Omen scribe David Seltzer and NBC; TV viewers everywhere were treated to this incredibly ludicrous six-part series (each episode ran in an hour time slot) about Satanists, the coming Armageddon, and one nuns search for Jesus.

Bill Pullman stars as a scientist who has helped bring Satanist Michael Massee to justice after his young daughter was murdered at the Devil worshippers hands. Soon though he finds himself being recruited by nun Natascha McElhone when it seems that the spirit of his dead daughter is trying to communicate to the living through the body of a young girl who's in a coma after being struck by lightning. The messages coming through the comatose girl are quite clear as it tells of the coming rebirth of the anti-Christ and perhaps even the World's end.

It's up to Pullman and McElhone to try and figure out the mystery behind the prophecies while all sorts of "odd" events start to happen around them. First a newborn baby is discovered in the middle of a shipwreck, then there's the kidnapping and Satanic brainwashing of Pullman's stepson, and eventually Massee has turned an entire prison full of inmates on his side which leads to a riot and escape. It's a race against time as they try and locate Massee and his followers before they have a chance to bring the anti-Christ to Earth.

Revelations is pretty unappealing. Overall it has decent production values and some steady acting (Pullman and Massee are fine, though McElhone is saddled with a character who constantly quotes scripture and has all sorts of wild theories), but the problem is all the heavy-handed Catholicism that Seltzer has brought to the story. The preachiness of it all becomes quite evident when you notice that there is a "religious advisor" credit in the opening crawl. Whereas this could've been an acceptably cheesy "end of World" horror-thriller instead it's a heavy-handed attempt by Seltzer to show that Satan is in fact "evil" and that current World events (they touch on the ongoing war, terrorism, and various other recent newsworthy items) may just be the undoing of the human race unless we let God show us the way. It's this preaching, and the fact that the Catholic standpoint may not agree with viewers of varying religions, that makes Revelations a wash.

It also doesn't help that the plotting remains mostly unfocused throughout and has many moments of "oh, come on!". There's a cheeseball "demonic internet girl" subplot, a really bad car chase in the streets of Rome, a priceless "baby with horns sonogram", and a finale that reaches the peak of ridiculous. It also doesn't help that the villains come across more as comic book caricatures than real, evil people.

If you want to see a religion themed horror movie that works then don't hesitate to pick up Seltzer's earlier The Omen, because it does the same type of story much better than this could ever hope to. (Chris Hartley, 7/13/05)

Directed By: Lesli Linka Glatter, David Semel, Lili Fini Zanuck.
Written By: Mark Kruger, David Seltzer.

Starring: Bill Pullman, Natascha McElhone, Michael Massee, Tobin Bell.

Picture Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: The transfer here is very agreeable sporting decent clarity and a clean image that stays solid throughout even in scenes in the finale set in underground caves.

Extras: Judging by the Universal releases I've seen focussing on television series they don't seen overly interested in giving the viewer much in the way of extras. Their earlier Munsters and Night Gallery sets suffered from it and Revelations does too as we're giving nine deleted scenes and an "on set" featurette that clocks in at an amazing three minutes! (yes, that was sarcasm).