End of Days

END OF DAYS

Rating: D
It was tempting to give this film an F, but then there'd be no way of distinguishing those truly wretched exercises in inanity such as The House on Haunted Hill, so I settled on giving it a D. Life is all about choices.

The story, if you must know, is yet another rehash of the antichrist-comes-to-earth saga, which this film proves once and for all was beaten to death long ago. This time, the devil (Gabriel Byrne) puts in a personal appearance, and must seek out an earth woman to impregnate before the end of the millenium. This all happens in the final days of 1999 (which, it's pointed out to us, forms "666" when it's turned upside down - are these scriptwriters clever or what?). No one bothers to point out to the horny guy that he actually has a whole 'nother year before the new millenium, but somewhere along the way logic and reason seemed to stop being a concern to the filmmakers.

At one point in his career, Arnold's acting appeared to be improving, but here he's had a serious relapse. In half the scenes it doesn't even look like he's trying. Director Peter Hyams serves as his own director of photography, presumably because no one else would dream of hiring him for the job. Each murky, poorly-lit scene is worse than the one preceding it, with the only generated suspense being just how awful it's gonna look on DVD...