The job of the director is to pull a performance out of an actor. This director couldn't pull a tab off a can of Dr. Pepper! Maybe the director was having a bad year?! All of the performance were lousy ... which basically shows you that some of our favorite actors aren't as talented as we thought we were. Stephanie Zimbalist basically played a character somewhat reminiscent of Valerie Harper, in voice only. She looked horrible with freckled and blotchy skin. Get with it people ... we don't want to see her looking bad, takes all the fun out of watching her. Dennis Hopper was his usual boring self ... just kidding! Dennis is Dennis ... nothing more, nothing less. Just an average actor. Joe Penny ... what a let down! The man was two legs short of a roasted boar ... a total disaster area! Do we really want our hero types playing villains? I think not! Basically, the movie is a flop ... and somewhat boring. Nothing new ... old dialogues, and old plots! Oh ... and Sandra Locke ... guess she's only good in a Clint Eastwood movie, because she stunk worse than anyone else! Over-acting, with no sincerity what-so-ever.

Released in 2000 and directed by David Worth, "The Prophets Game" is a crime thriller starring Dennis Hopper as Vincent Swan, a retired detective from Seattle who is asked to fly to Los Angeles to help solve a new rash of murders similar to a case he supposedly solved a dozen years earlier. Stephanie Zimbalist co-stars as "Al," a frustrated officer assigned to keep an eye on Swan while Joe Penny plays the hardboiled chief of detectives. Robert Yocum, Shannon Whirry, Greg Lauren, Michael Dorn and Sondra Locke are also on hand.

While this went straight-to-video in the USA & most other countries it had a theatrical release in Spain and Korea. Having a more modest budget than feature thrillers, it lacks the polish of the similarly themed "The Dead Pool" (1988),not to mention it lacks a super-cop like Dirty Harry and the corresponding fast action, although it has some action. What "The Prophet's Game" has in its favor is an impressive character-driven script by Carol Chrest only hampered by convolution. On top of this you have zesty performances by all the principle cast members. Both Swan and Al are nicely fleshed-out and you care about them and the outcome of the story. Penny and Locke also give knockout performances, although their roles are relatively minor. Shannon Whirry shines as one of the most beautiful women to walk the earth in a peripheral part.

This is an R-rated flick and therefore contains cussing, gruesome gore and female top-nudity, but none of these are overdone. Some people don't like it because of the limitations of its modest budget, but I was nicely entertained from beginning to end. You'll probably like it too if you favor dialogue-driven stories and don't insist on blockbuster budgets. I wouldn't want to pay top dollar to see it at the theater, but it works well for TV, DVD or rental.

AN INQUIRY: There's a scene well into the second half where Swan (Hopper) is walking with two other characters through a campus and a few extras pass between the camera and them. One is a woman wearing white pants who is talking to another person. She is seen again in the same sequence in the background. I need to know who this woman in white pants is. I presume she's an extra provided by the casting agency that hired extras for the movie. I must see more of this actress; it's of the utmost importance.

The movie runs 106 minutes and was shot in Ventura and Santa Barbara, California.

GRADE: B-

(PS: The "INQUIRY" is a joke)

The movie starts with a 1969 flashback before the credits. Any horror mystery watcher worth their salt know who the killer is before the credits is over. It is just a matter of figuring out which person that is years later. 10 minutes into the movie, you should know why they are killing. It is just that predictable.

Knife stabs- When you play the Psycho sound track and make cartoonish squishy sounds with each plunge are we to assume this is a comedy?

The killer sends Dennis Hopper a post card and calls him at home. Apparently the killer knows him. He gives Hopper the first clue..."I'll leave the light on for you." Immediately our minds race...Is it Tom Bodett?

There is an Internet game being played called the Prophet Game, based on kid's game I was not aware existed. The game consists of riddles and players are pitted against each other. Patrick Thomas, an admirer of Curly plays a character reminiscent of the more disgusting Curly Joe.

Dennis Hopper plays Swan a retired detective who is helping the LAPD find the copy cat serial killer who kidnaps the losers in the game and kills them along with celebrities. Overly predictable. The clues apply to fictional characters the audience doesn't know so you can't play along.

Brief Nudity (Zoe the stripper) no sex, no f-bombs