Servants of Twilight (1991) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)

This film succeeds pretty well for a modest made-for-cable thriller, probably simply because its scope is modest enough to manage, and it concentrates on doing only one thing  - confused paranoia. It does that quite well, and Bruce Greenwood lends credibility to the plot.
The premise is that a gang of religious lunatics have determined that a cute little six year old boy is the Antichrist, based on the visions their leader receives directly from God. The little boy and his mother are powerless to help themselves, and there is insufficient evidence to involve the police, so they hire a private detective agency to provide bodyguard services. 

NUDITY REPORT

None. The antichrist's mother keeps her bra on during a sex scene, reflecting the new modest Satan. 

DVD info from Amazon.

  • full screen (full frame)

  • no major features

The lead detective soon finds that he can't seem to escape the nutbags. No matter where he goes, they find him. No matter how secretive his movements, they figure them out. By the time the film is at its halfway point, almost all of his agents are dead, and it has boiled down to a battle between him and a whole bunch of lunatics who seem to be reading his mind.

To complicate the plot, he falls in love with the boy's mother.

How do the crazies keep finding him? Is it possible that God is showing them the way? Or is he being betrayed by someone on the inside with him?  That is the mystery he must solve.   

The Critics Vote

  • no major reviews online

The People Vote ...

  • With their votes ... IMDB summary: IMDb voters score it 4.7 . Incorrectly identified in IMDB as "THE Servants of Twilight"
  • With their dollars ... it was made for cable TV
IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, this film is a C. Watchable little thriller that had me guessing where the next threats were coming from, and how the crazies kept reading his moves. Some clumsy editing keeps it from being even better.

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