The Seventh Sign

 



Director - Carl Schultz (Winners, Bullseye)
Starring - Demi Moore (Parasite, Beavis and Butthead Do America), Michael Biehn (The Terminator, Tomstone), and Jurgen Prochnow (In the Mouth of Madness, Judge Dredd)
Release Date - 1988
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "It was foretold there will be seven signs.  The seventh sign will be a woman.  Her hope is all we have left"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

 

     Last month my family went through a house fire.  It was not a total loss but we did have a few rooms destroyed so now we are forced to live in boxes at my mother in laws.  The cramped house is not the perfect situation for a family of five.  I mostly play video games in my spare time but I can't now because my children are always on my lap or playing around in front of the television which is distracting.  Now all my time is centered around watching movies and getting reviews knocked out.  I decided recently to have a little Scream Factory marathon.  The first one in this mini marathon is the 1988 religious thriller The Seventh Sign starring Demi Moore.  This is a movie I've owned on several formats but never took the time to review.  Thank you Scream Factory for sending this one my way. 

      The film follows an expecting mother (Moore) and her husband as they await the arrival of their new addition.  Her husband is a lawyer and is representing a young man with Down Syndrome who killed his parents because he thought it was God's will.  Around the world natural phenomena is occurring like sea life dying and freezing in the middle east.  For extra income because she is unable to work they rent out a spare room to a man named David who is actually the second coming of Christ.  She suspects he is evil but once she starts investigating him she discovers who he really is and how a priest who is cursed to live forever is ushering in the apocalypse so he can finally die.
     I knew The Seventh Sign was not my typical horror fan.  I'm not religious but I have crossed paths with religious thrillers before that were very good.  The Seventh Sign has it's problems but it was still a damn fun watch to say the least.  The acting in this one is hit or miss.  Demi Moore has never been an actress that I enjoyed.  She always looks surprised regardless of what the scene calls for.  When she is happy, sad, heartbroken, nauseous, or whatever she still looks surprised.  Almost like she wiped and her finger went through the toilet paper before each scene.  She is not that convincing to me and I get the feeling I'm not the only one to think that.  Michael Biehn was another performance I was disappointed with in the film.  His character Kyle Reese in The Terminator is easily my favorite character in any film.  I absolutely love that character and my son was almost named after him.  Sadly, he doesn't have the personality and charm in this film as he does in previous films.  With that being said, the secondary characters deliver the best performances starting with Jurgen Prochnow.  He is awesome in the role but the character does not get as much screen time as you would think.  The remaining cast is great as well.  The story for this one is a rather bold story that has a lot of potential but some of the more fun elements were not fully explored.  Following the pregnant woman is not that entertaining but if the film followed more of the seals then this film would have been unforgettable.  Finally, those of you wanting blood and gore will not find it here.  However, there is a few scenes featuring some very noticeable visual effects.  Overall, The Seventh Sign is a film that works but left so much to be desired.  It does have a promising story but some of the intriguing aspects are barely mentioned.  This film has no replay value but the blu from Scream Factory looks fantastic.