Prophet of Evil: The Ervil LeBaron Story (1993)

You won't be disappointed!

So much average

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

The acting in this movie is really good.

William Devane and Brian Dennehy give strong performances in this deranged religious cult leader tale. Based on a true story, the film tries to cover a lot of ground and years, with decidedly mixed results. Some scenes are so rushed, especially at the conclusion that some impact is lost. The followers in this film are simply brain wired pawns for sect leader Dennehy, programed to carry out his grand plan of religious dominance. Devane and Dennehy are the reason to see the film, with the rest of the cast mostly forgettable. For fans of the actors, this is a real showcase. "Prophet of Evil" may have only been a TV movie, but it is definitely worth seeking out. - MERK

I do like Brian Dennehy as an actor but find that he usually fares better in "goodie" roles than "baddie" ones which is the case in this film. Religion over the years has often been misused by certain members of the human race to carry out acts of murder and cleansing. WHether the acts are good or bad all depends on how you yourself view religion - there is no hard and fast rule here ! This film starts out on the premise that killing in the name of religion is wrong and William Devane ( whom I adore as well ) sets out to track Ervil Le Baron all the way to Mexico, but the task seems more difficult than he at first imagined. I just personally have difficulty seeing Brian Dennehy in an evil role and therefore was not overly convinced by his performance ! When he says's he's had "visions", it just really is not very convincing !! The picture quality of the film is grainy and outdated, which is a bit of a shame. I would have preferred a bit more attention to detail and a more convincing lead role on the part of Dennehy. But the film certainly has good moments even though some of the performances appear unconvincing.

Fact based movie about polygamist cult leader skims the surface without delving too deeply into the 2 year manhunt and years surrounding it. Brian Dennehy does adequate job, for the amount of screentime allotted him. William Devane, is the investigator, who is also a devout Mormon, vigorously pursuing him while basically revealing stresses to his homelife, but again, isn't looked at closely enough. If film was longer, may have been more interesting. But still worth checking out if only for the fact that true-to-life films hold an historical interest, to a degree.