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16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A real dissertation of I.O.T.B., February 28, 2001
First of all let me start by saying that IOTB was so ahead of it's time. Russ Doughton and Donald Thompson out did themselves on this one. The opening sequence was the most powerful to me. It focuses on a UPC bar Code on the back of some grocery product. This shot was key because the producers were fortelling what was to come. You have to remember that when this film was produced (1981) bar codes were still relatively new and not on all products. Now in 2001 we all have bar codes everywhere including on us. They also focus earlier than that on computers and how they would take over the world. Back then the saints didn't understand how much computers would be involved in our everyday lives. I was 6 years old when I first saw this film on 16mm at church. My father first introduced the series with A Thief in the Night then it's sequel A Distant Thunder. Both in which Patty Dunning did an excellent Job. But NONE could compare to her short but genius performance in IOTB. The guillotine sequence is where we find Patty getting slapped by Jerry to hopefully drive some sense into her. The FAMOUS theme music to these films RAGE out " duh-duh-duh-duhn..d-d-d-duhn " that music to this day scares the mess out of me. The way that Patty resists going to the guillotine and squeels was excellent. Especially when they started to lay her down she was shaking and crying hysterically. All of this made this scene so authentic. But the key was when she was strapped about to go through with the execution , the skies turn pitch black and an EARTHQUAKE rips through the foundation where the guillotine stood with Patty still in it. Something like this in a Christian film in 1981 to a 6 year old was TERRIFYING. Nothing before or since this sequence HAD EVER been done before. The rapture films of today are too polite. Mark IV pictures told the truth an scared literally the HELL out of you. The trip in this scene is the fact that Patty confesses openly that she now wants the mark...over and over again while the guillotine is shaking but no one cares about her, they just left her by herself. Suspense builds as you get several veiws of Patty's position and the Blade slowly about to slip off the hook. Excellent choice of string scoring throughout this sequence because the strings accentuate the feeling of panic and urgency to get free from the straps that held Patty down. Finally, the blade slips off - Patty's shrieking screams send chills down your spine and an awesome first person perspective shot of the blade coming down makes you feel like you're in it with her and CUT to BLACK. I remember the church screaming in shock that this was actually being shown in the dark. Some of the members requested to have some of the lights turned on because they were scared. I cupped my ears after that and was too afraid to watch it until maybe 7 years later on VHS I thought that the rest of the film could have been scarier though. After three films we finally lost PATTY and honestly after that the series lost it's punch to me. I still continue to show this opening sequence to people all the time and I get the same reaction I got when I was six....TERROR. After I show the sequence I ask the question "Did Patty go to hell because of her open confession of wanting the mark ? " OR " Did God still honor it because she really only said it due to the fact that she was frigthened by the quake ? "
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The World spins out of control!, June 21, 2004
This review is from: Image of the Beast (DVD)
So much for our beloved heroine, Patty, she got what was coming to her. It is too bad she got the guillotine, but there was no real way for her to escape anyway. The DVD for the image of the beast is pretty good. You get to know about Russ Doughten, the man who played our left behind preacher, and you get a really neat commentary along with it.
As the story of the end times goes on, David Michaels (William Wellman) takes over for our beloved Patty, who no longer has a head. When he meets up with Leslie (Wenda Shereos) and Cathy (Susan Plumb) and Cathy's three year old boy, the three set out to find salvation, and to find a way to keep out of sight from Unite. When Leslie is assumed dead after being shot, David decides maybe its time to give Unite a piece of their own medicine. As the two try to thwart Unites plans, and using their new counterfiet mark that David has invented, they can do things they never thought possible with the lord on their side. But the Tribulation gets worse as the things prodicted are becoming a reality, and Brother Christopher a.k.a. the antichrist, will stop at nothing until everyone is under his wing.
I think that this was better than A Distant Thunder for two reasons because one: There was a lot more suspense than in the second in the series. The action is also much better in the ways the budget is also much bigger and two: The plot seemed much more thought out and well written than a Distant Thunder. One thing that it lacked from A Thief in the Night was the message. It was displayed wonderfully in the end by Leslie and Billy's performance which was awesome, but it wasn't shown throughout the film as much in A Thief in the night.
I think that the action in the film is the best because it matches A Thief in the Night's (partly because there was no actiong A Distant Thunder) but still keeps it to the limit of christian filmmaking which is pretty hard. For instance, I think the best scene in the film is probably Patty's death scene. As the earthquake drives everyone away, you feel the guillotine. YOu feel it about to slip off it's last tether yet you desperately want Patty to get out but she just can't. As I watched the hook slip right off to the last centimeter, I really wanted Patty to get out. She was my favorite character, but I suppose her end was just. She was pretty much damning herself by screaming "I want the mark!". That's just as bad as taking it!
I hope Mark IV pictures continues to make films. After the Prodigal Planet came out, Mark IV simply petered out but still exists under a different name. I still like calling it Mark IV. If you bought the DVD, you probably know they're trying to make the fifth thief in the night which will finish the series. 35.5 million dollars is a lot of money to raise for an independent film company, especially since A Thief in the Night only cost $60,000 to make (the equivalent of $300,000 today). I hope they will. Status currently is "it's going slow" as I've been told by the people at Mark IV pictures and Russ Doughten films. Give them a call. You might be able to help!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Of The Series, January 21, 2007
This review is from: Image of the Beast (DVD)
This movie is different from the rest of the series in various aspects. First, while the first two movies move from the present to a flashback, this one started with the flashback. Second, Patty Dunning's character, which was the lead in the first two movies, loses her head and exits the story early in the movie. To take over the lead role is William Wellman Jr. as David Michaels, who is a better action character.
The scripting is great. I've seen this movie several times in a church setting, and there is one line I've never been able to understand (towards the end of the movie), because Wellman's previous line sparked loud applause from the audience.
I would follow the series in order, but this is my favorite.
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