The Apocalypse:
it's probably no big deal...
What do Jeff Fahey, Gary Busey, Carol Alt, Howie Mandel, Margot Kidder, and Mr. T. all have in common? Well, they all stared in the hit direct-to-video eschatological horror / thriller dramatic film series Apocalypse!
I’ll admit I was a little less familiar with this run of bible book store religious coercion, but after having watched all of this over the weekend, I do remember a few key scenes from the end of Apocalypse II: Revelation. It’s hard to say for sure, though. Many, MANY of the scenes from all four films in this series look nearly identical to scenes from Cloud Ten’s other popular series: Left Behind (2000) (bts tape here).
It was a bit of a surprise to me that three of the films in the Apocalypse series had already gone through production, release, and distribution before the first Left Behind film hit the shelves in 2000. Prior to giving these a watch and doing a little bit of research, I was thinking these surely have to be derivative works, riding the small but noticeable waves left behind by —well Left Behind…
It’s kind of fascinating to discover that the two brothers, Peter and Paul LaLonde, who wrote and produced the Apocalypse series, which feels like a direct competitor to the Left Behind series, would begin production on Left Behind (2000) before even starting work on the fourth and final film in the Apocalypse series.
Anyways, I had a good time watching these. They barely qualify as movies, often just vignettes stitched together haphazardly with a few scenes at the end that operate mostly as an altar call. It’s a lot like an episode of SNL if there weren’t any jokes, and probably a smaller budget. Box Office Revolution, a christian entertainment news site summed up my thoughts on the entire series in their review for Apocalypse II: Revelation:
"Once again I ask, who's going to watch this movie? It has nothing going for it whatsoever. There is no plot and certainly no notable production quality. The casting is horrible. Most Christians are and should be offended by this nonsense. Once again, the world is laughing. This kind of junk reaches no one and only adds to the caricature of Christian film. But wait...there's still more of these..."
So uh, enjoy the DVDs!
Apocalypse:
Caught in the Eye of the Storm
1998 | Runtime: 94 Minutes
Skeptic Bronson Pearl (Richard Nester) and Christian Helen Hannah (Leigh Lewis) are award-winning journalists caught in a frantic race against time to alert the world of the deadly deception of Franco Macalousso (Sam Bornstein), President of the European Union, and soon to be recognized by some as the antichrist.
Apocalypse II: Revelation
1999 | Runtime: 98 Minutes
Three months have passed since the events of the previous film. The leader of the world Franco Macalousso (Nick Mancuso) has convinced many of those left behind that he is the true Messiah. Counter-terrorism expert Thorold Stone (Jeff Fahey) tries to put the pieces of his life together, while his wife and daughter are among those who vanished. In the course of his investigation of an underground resistance movement, he discovers a conspiracy that leads to the discovery of a new global order. With the help from a group of underground Christians, led by Helen Hannah, a computer geek (Tony Nappo), and a blind skeptic (Carol Alt), Stone finds himself in a race against time.
Apocalypse III: Tribulation
2000 | Runtime: 99 Minutes
The first half of the film is set before the events of Apocalypse, and the second half two years after the previous film Revelation.
Tom Canboro (Gary Busey) is a police detective who finds himself battling a mysterious group with psychic powers. When his wife (Sherry Miller), sister Eileen (Margot Kidder), and brother-in-law (Howie Mandel) become the target of this dark society, he rushes to their aid. However, before he can reach them, a mystical force takes control of his car, and he crashes into an oncoming truck.
When he wakes up from his coma, confused, he barely escapes from the hospital. He looks for his family, and tries to find out what is going on in what appears to be a transformed society. All Christians have vanished in the rapture, and 95% of the world worships the Antichrist Franco Macalousso and wears a 666 mark on their right hand and/or forehead; those that refused to take the mark are beheaded by Macalousso. Meanwhile, Helen Hannah and her resistance group try to expose Macalousso as the beast himself.
Apocalypse IV: Judgment
2001 | Runtime: 101 Minutes
Supreme leader of One Nation Earth Franco Macalousso rules the world with an iron fist. His long-time nemesis Helen Hannah has been charged with crimes against humanity by the World Court, and Mitch Kendrick (Corbin Bernsen) is the troubled, reluctant lawyer assigned to defend her.
Prosecutor Victoria Thorne (Jessica Steen) is not only Kendrick's ex-lover but a high-powered attorney with a ruthless ambition to condemn all Haters; she has arranged that the verdict will convict Hannah. Meanwhile, hater J.T. Quincy (Mr. T) and his allies come up with a plan to rescue Hannah.
Well, that’s it for this week! I hope you enjoyed the DVDs! If you’re looking for more, please check out my page on Archive.org for the full list of digitized media. If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message right here or drop a comment below. If you haven’t already, please check out some of my older posts, also below, or all of my previous posts here. Thanks so much for checking out this week’s edition of Diptych!
See you soon!
—Forrest
Yet Another Religious Experience
Growing up in the church, and attending the school attached to it, I had access to lots of christian video tapes during my upbringing. From episodes of The Gospel Acording to St. Bernard and Colby’s Clubhouse to more educational tapes like what I have for y’all today.
When I was around 11-12 years old, my church and school moved to a new location and in the process of that move, renovated the new building almost entirely. For a few months that summer, I had free access to nearly every room in the new place, so long as it wasn’t an active work site, and I spent a lot of time in the new library watching whatever we had access to there.
The Donut Man Would Like A Word With You...
You're walking in the woods.
There's no one around,
And your phone is dead.
Out of the corner of your eye you spot him,
The Donut Man.
Revelations: Virtual Channel Surfing #10
The very first edition of Virtual Channel Surfing was published all the way back in May of 2022, and ever since I’ve tried my best to bring you a block of television as interesting and varied as the last. We’ve covered fast cars, relaxing music, travelogs, self-help, dancing tutorials, childhood edutainment, back pain relief, muzzleloading, gyroplanes, and a lot more. The picks I have for you this week are really something else, especially considering each of these tapes were found together in a stack.
I do remember these. Not in the best light. Will be watching these again. Report soon.
Christian movies about the rapture were around a while before Left Behind. You ever see A Thief in the Night? I had to look it up because I couldn't remember the name and just found out that it was also a quadrilogy.