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Image of the Beast
A Thief in the Night III: Image of the Beast
USA 1980
produced by
Donald W. Thompson, Russell S. Doughten jr (executive) for Mark IV Pictures
directed by Donald W.Thompson
starring William Wellman jr, Susan Plumb, Patty Dunning, Ty Hardin, Russell S.Doughten jr, Wenda Sheroes, Thom Rachford, Maryann Rachford, Sandy Christen, David Crabtree, Ben Sampson, Justin Craig, Herb Brown
written by Donald W. Thompson, Russell S. Doughten jr, music by Richard A.Girvin
A Thief in the Night
review by
Dale Pierce
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The third of the Thief
in the Night-series of films bridging the horror realm and religion is
again an odd hodgepodge of creativity, scriptwriting, poor special effects and
sermon. The lead character of the past two films (Patty Dunning) ends up being put out of the
way in short order and therefore, new people have to come along. Enter William
Wellman as David, an average man who becomes a guerilla fighter against the
forces of the antichrist. Thom Rachford, another regular in this series, has
become a big wig in the forces of evil and as such, is set to collide with
this new protagonist. In the end, David seems set on coming out on the losing
end, where he too will end up being a martyr for the cause (this film series
became big on depicting martyrs for the cause, supposedly to scare the
hell out of people and make them find God.)
The key figure whom they never intend you to identify with is the villain,
Jerry, played by Rachford, who is still acting in films to this date. He too,
has gone from being just another man on the street, to a high ranking heavy.
Without him, this whole series would have fallen apart as he becomes the guy
you love to hate.
Again, the Antichrist remains a distant character, shown only briefly on
televison interviews during the course of the film, where you hardly even get
a good look at him. What you are shown depicts him as someone you'd expect to
find on a tv commercial, selling insurance. It is again surprising how little
focus they give to this bastard who is the cause of all the trouble, offering
very little on him himself, though examples of his bloody handiwork are
everywhere. Though this series seems to take a more horrific twist in these
latter projects, perhaps capitalizing on The Omen in the secular world,
there is a lot of room for better writing, evidently missed within the script,
with the Antichrist being more of a lead, rather than a character
actor.
Former cowboy-tv- and -film-star Ty Hardin makes an appearance as "The
Missionary" in this as well. He has not aged gracefully since his days as
a western gunfighter
While Christians will herald this as wonderful, nonbelievers will have more
laughs than thrills or spiritual uplifting. The soundtrack in particula, will
provoke laugther as you halfway expect the Monty Python crew to come galloping
out on imaginary horses, looking for The Holy Grail.
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review © by Dale Pierce
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes,
cuddly toys and
shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill
Your Bones to
is all of that.
Tales to Chill
Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays
ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic
to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by
the twisted mind of
screenwriter and film reviewer
Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill
Your Bones to
the new anthology by
Michael Haberfelner
Out now from
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find Image of the Beast at adultvideouniverse.com