If you want my entries on the first two movies in the “A Thief in the Night” quadrilogy, you read about them here and here.

If you want to watch the full movie, you can do so free on YouTube:

Summary of the Previous Films

The second coming of Jesus happened, all of the Christians were raptured, and we followed our final girl, Patty, as she tried to survive the apocalypse. Patty was not a Christian before the rapture, so she was left behind. However, she slowly started gaining faith while enduring the tribulation. Because they refused to take the mark of the AntiChrist, Patty and her friend Wenda were arrested by the AntiChrist’s police force. They were held captive in a church, and then taken outside, where they were to be executed by guillotine (I’m not making this up!). The last film ended with Wenda getting her head chopped off as Patty screamed in terror. Image of the Beast picks up where this one left off.

Image of the Beast Plot Summary [Spoilers]

Leslie

Kathy and son

David

After nearly 5 MINUTE LONG opening credit sequence, and we are given a brief opening scene that gives us the philosophy of the film: “Scarring you to get your attention about the tribulation so you will believe in Jesus.”

Then, we have a hard cut to the ending of Distant Thunder, where the soldiers are carrying Wenda’s dead corpse from the guillotine. Patty is screaming in terror, and is taken up next to be executed. However, before they can let the blade drop, a catastrophic earthquake happens, and the sky goes dark. Everyone runs for they lives, leaving Patty strapped down. She tries to free herself, but the earthquake loosened the blade, which eventually falls and cuts off her head. RIP in peace the OG final girl of apocalyptic Christian films.

A third girl, Leslie, runs and hides in a run down building, where she meets another Christian, David, who stole a police uniform, and another non-Christian woman (Kathy) with a child, who did not take the mark of the beast. They steal a jeep, drive away from the AntiChrist’s police, and almost make it out, but Leslie gets shot and dies… or does she? (She doesn’t. A random, Christian elderly couple finds her and takes care of her).

David and Kathy stumble upon a farm house run by a guy who looks exactly like the quasi-scholar of religion, Robert M. Price. Ironically (given his similarity to Robert Price), the farmer is the ‘evil’ liberal pastor from the first movie.





Pastor Price informs them, with his huge wall-sized chart, about how all the seals of the apocalypse are being broken, which will release horrendous plagues on the earth. These speeches happen several times throughout the film. Apparently, he believes everyone will have to bow down and worship an “image of the beast.” What’s the image? Probably some type of computer, because people already worship them (according to the filmmakers).

David informs Kathy that he’s going to use his computer hacking skills to make a counterfeit mark of the beast, which will allow them to buy food without selling their souls to the devil. They embark on a couple of missions to accomplish this, but can never figure it out.

The AntiChrist fulfills several ‘biblical prophecies’ (including resurrecting from the dead after an attempted assassination), and works to establish his new computer-idol-god-thingy in the Temple in Jerusalem. He informs the people that Satan and the power of computers is what saved them from death in the rapture.

Eventually, Kathy figures out the computer code necessary to make a counterfeit mark (it was on the back of a book!). David finds Leslie and they get straight to smooching. But then they are betrayed, and taken into custody by the police, along with Kathy’s little boy.

More plagues are unleashed on the earth, including water turning to blood and a swarm of monstrous locust-humanoid-scorpion creatures (more about this later). The farmer is killed by the locusts. Leslie and Kathy’s young child are both executed via guillotine (yep! They kill a little boy!). Kathy is stabbed by the locusts, but we don’t know whether or not she lives.

The movie ends with David being led up to the guillotine while quoting scripture as happy music plays in the background. Odd choice for setting the mood, but to each their own.

Top Memorable Moments

1. Cyberpunk Introduction

The first thing that stands out to me is the introductory credit sequence. Though it lasted too long, I thought that — aesthetically — it was one of the best parts of the film. I also love that synthesizer score. I thought it had a John Carpenter-esque feel to it.

I think the retrowave and synthwave combination also created a type of cyberpunk aesthetic. This is a clever idea for an apocalyptic movie. 1980s-era cyberpunk is a real gem of film history, and it would have been awesome for this movie to contribute to that legacy. Unfortunately, this cyberpunk theme is not held consistently throughout the film. For example, a driving aspect of the plot is how David and Kathy are trying to hack into the AntiChrist’s computer software in order to make a counterfeit. This could have allowed for some cool shots of retro-tech with that classic green hue (think The Matrix). But instead, the ‘hacking’ involves David and Kathy sitting at a dining room table, punching numbers into a calculator and writing on paper. Boring. My guess for the lack of set design was due to budget constraints — considering that practical effects and set building were kept as minimalistic as possible. Or, perhaps that since this film seems to think computers will probably be used by a literal AntiChrist, the directors did not want to glorify this blasphemous technology.

2. Death of the Final Girl

Patty Myers has been our final girl for the last two movies. I discussed in my last post that, interestingly enough, she actually subverts many of the final girl tropes. However, there is one trope poor little Patty wasn’t able to escape: getting killed in the sequel. Yes, it happens to so many of our beloved final girls: Nancy in Nightmare on Elm Street 3, Alice in Friday the 13th Part 2, and Rachel in Halloween 5. The list goes on.

Patty’s death was actually one of the best scenes of the movie. It was quite suspenseful, and I thought the actress did a decent job. I sincerely did not know whether or not she would survive, and I was actually shocked when she died. Didn’t see that coming at all. Given that Patty fell victim to a final girl’s classic demise, it makes me wonder…

3. Playing with the Rules?

First, we need to establish whether this is a sequel or a trilogy. As Randy pointed out in Scream 3, that fact changes what trope rules are operating.

If the same killer is back, and we are in another sequel, then the follow rules apply: bigger kill count, more gore, elaborate deaths, and don’t assume the killer is dead. However, if we are given an unexpected backstory with lots of exposition dedicated to it, then the sequel rules do not apply. Instead, we are in a trilogy, which is all about going back to the beginning with new rules.

The villain is basically superhuman and/or unkillable.

Anyone, including the main character, can die.

The past will come back to haunt you.

The crucial question is thus: Is there an unexpected backstory? I think this is the case. However, the backstory is not through familial relations, but rather through involvement with computers. The opening scene of the movie after the credits is Kathy and her husband at a store where they purchase a book titled Computer Prophecies. This immediately sets the theme for the rest of the film, along with a bit of foreshadowing: computers = new weapon of the AntiChrist. As it turns out, both Kathy and David have previous work in computers.

This could be a coincidence and would not necessarily mean that we are in trilogy rules. However, the characters’ involvement with computers helps activate rule 3 of a trilogy: the past will come back to haunt you. Because of David’s involvement with computer programming, Mustache Man (yep! The sexy guy from the previous films!) takes interest in David and Kathy as prospects for a secret government agency, which leads to big problems for them later on, contributing to Kathy’s son and David getting executed.

Since we are in a trilogy, the other rules apply, and seem to be clearly enacted in the plot. Rule 2 — anyone can die — is applied to Patty when she is executed. It is also applied to David, Pastor Price, Kathy’s son, Leslie, and possibly Kathy as well. Almost everyone is killed in this movie, so this is a clear trilogy trope.

Rule 1 is also applied. The main villain of the franchise is the AntiChrist. Though he is typically not shown on camera, he is the operating ‘evil force’ in the background. His will and decree is what the protagonists have to work against. He is actually killed and resurrected in this movie. Nothing that anyone does could kill him. Thus, the AntiChrist is definitely an ‘unkillable supervillain.’

4. Scorpion Locusts







This is one of my favorite aspects of the movie because it is definitely the campiest. It is based on a passage from the biblical book of Revelation chapter 9, which almost every properly credentialed scholar will tell you is symbolic of historical circumstances surrounding when the book was originally penned. But leave that aside for now. Here is the full passage:

In appearance the locusts were like horses equipped for battle. On their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, 8 their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth; 9 they had scales like iron breastplates, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails like scorpions, with stingers, and in their tails is their power to harm people for five months. 11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon. Revelation 9:7-11

First, I love how the artist symbolized these creatures in the first picture. I’ve never seen something so ridiculous in my life. Imagine life-sized version of those flying around killing people. THAT is the movie that should exist.

Second, I love the terrible practical effects for the scorpion locusts actually attacking people. It’s as if they taped some grey felt on a cardboard tube, and then had a guy hold from behind the door. It’s amazing.

5. Computer Prophecies





I love the cover design of this book. I also love the entire concept as a plot device: the AntiChrist is using 80s technology to get the world to worship Satan. It’s such a wonderful B-Movie plot that I want to make that film myself.

I searched for a while online, and it looks like, unfortunately, this book is not real. However, I don’t want to leave you empty handed, so here is a link to an article that argues the same general idea. Enjoy. https://www.thepropheticyears.com/reasons/Computers.htm

Concluding Thoughts

Overall, I think this has been the strongest entry into the series thus far. I’ve heard that it’s also the most popular because, like myself, people are fascinated by the argument that the AntiChrist will use computers to get us to worship Satan. It’s an apocalyptic B-Movie with a cyberpunk-esque aesthetic that tries to warn you about the AntiChrist. What’s not to love?

Did I leave anything out of my list? What were your favorite parts of the film? Do you think this movie should be considered cyberpunk, or would you have another classification for it? And finally, how do you think this movie compares to other two we’ve reviewed? Let me know in the comments below.