This is the third film in a four-part series. The previous movie, "A Distant Thunder", followed a young woman by the name of "Patty Myers" (Patty Dunning) up to the point where she had to make a choice between accepting "the mark" or being executed. This film essentially takes up where the last one left off with Patty making her decision and then shifting the focus to three other people: "David Michaels" (William Wellman Jr.), "Kathy" (Susan Plumb) and "Leslie" (Wenda Shereos). Not only do each of them have tough choices to make but the situations get much more difficult as "the tribulation" continues. Now, while a couple of the interpretations concerning this period may seem a bit out-dated, the main prophecies are still quite possible. For example, the emergence of a "world church" which replaces Christian gospel with ecumenical humanism is already taking root. Same thing with the advent of a "mark" in the form of a bar-code or microchip to replace paper currency and to provide easily retrieved personal data whenever necessary. The technology is already present and it could easily be used for all kinds of reasons. For example, it could practically eliminate counterfeiting and identity theft. So who could possibly be against something like that? Christians, of course! And if they refuse to get it then the case could be made that they are "trouble-makers" who need to be dealt with. And for anyone with complete control of all media outlets that shouldn't be too hard to accomplish. Be that as it may, I thought this film was pretty good. Yes, there were some scenes which could have benefited from better equipment or special effects. But the acting was surprisingly good and for a low-budget movie of this type I thought everything turned out rather well. All things considered. Overall then, I'd rate it as slightly above average.

If you saw The Thief in the Night, then there is no reason to see the remaining 3 films in this 4 part series. I just watched Image of the Beast and guess what, it's the exact EXACT same message and dialogue. It kills me to see such an interesting idea treated in this manner, but perhaps it's a testament to Mr. Doughton that he just doesn't have anything to say, except "go get saved". That's the message, thats all you hear. "so and so isn't going to heaven because they didn't get saved", "uncle John is going to heaven because he got saved", "you should accept Christ and go get saved". Over and over again. I would love to have seen character development and plot points beyond telling me that computers are of the devil, excuse me "hand computers" are of the devil. This film was made before computers really took off and it's sad to see how paranoid Christians were of computers back then. I guess this film could be used as a time capsule of sorts to remind us of how stupid we were and still are with our religious paranoia that everything is going to end, I mean why not? Do you have the capability to see the world continuing on it's present course? Of course not, it would take a person with faith in humanity to do that, to see that our civilization could actually continue and that some day we might get rid of starvation and disease, and be a lot kinder to one another. Not in this religion, according to the time line put down, 2006 is the beginning of the end, when Russia will invade Israel. Sorry for that spoiler there kids but does anyone in their right mind see Russia invading Israel? They have NOTHING to do with one another, but somehow according to Christians it happens, and computers are the way to the devil and in 2007 the beginning of revelations happens which according to the film means that at some point, and I love this piece of information, we will be overtaken, the whole world from Antarctica to Iceland, by 200 million horses and horsemen. And they will do something bad and we will all be sorry. My favorite dialogue comes at this point which is: Fallen Preacher: "the 7th horn sounds and 200 million horses ride forth and blah blah blah" Bad Actress says: "200 million horses!?" and Fallen Preacher says "there were over 200 million horses in China at one time long ago"....OK thanks for that information, I'll stay indoors where the horsemen can't get me. I guess there are 72 virgins and a garden full of dates and, oh wait, thats another religion based on fear. Why are Christians so afraid of living on earth? Why do they need impossible stories that lead to the death and destruction of hundreds of millions of people except them to feel good about themselves? I think Russ should write about Christians need for fear-based control and paranoia, that would be very interesting to watch. As for this film? Avoid like the plague, if you saw the first film there is no need to see the others unless you need a good laugh.

I saw this movie when I was a child and it terrified me. I still vividly recall images of the Rapture, the Mark of the Beast and the horrible fate of those Left Behind. It's the perfect movie to show your kids if you're a religious fanatic and you want your kids to start wetting the bed and crying in their sleep. It actually sowed the first seeds of my disbelief and started my move away from Christianity. If you have to resort to terrifying people in order to convert them instead of using rational discourse it doesn't say a whole lot for your belief system. This movie relies on the worst sort of emotional manipulation to convey its message. I didn't see the others in the series but since this is the best of the bunch I probably wouldn't bother with the others. I watched this movie again recently and I didn't find it terrifying at all, just really overwrought and annoying. If you like those cheesy Left Behind Books, you'll probably like this version of the Revelation fantasy. Oh, and the acting is really awful.

Being a Christian believer, I can't help but be interested in this four-part series. There are several ways to interpret the Book of Revelation. There is the Pre-Millennial interpretation (one I subscribe to) in which one accepts a literal Second Coming of Christ prior to a thousand year period in which the whole earth is directly ruled by Jesus Christ and then there is a New Earth and New Heaven established in which universal peace endures forever. Other Christians may subscribe to an A-Millennial view in which the prophesies of Revelation are often taken to be metaphorical even though the Second Coming of Christ remains a literal event in the future. And then, there is the Post-Millennial view in which some Christians believe that the Church on earth establishes the Kingdom of God through evangelism and conversion which eventually climaxes in the Second Coming of Christ.However, the question remains is what are the events that occur prior to the Second Coming of Christ. Jesus Christ Himself does say that there is a period of time leading up to this event that involves a great deal of travail on earth such as "wars and rumors of wars". The details of these events are what sincere Christian believers often debate. Is the beast mentioned in Revelation 13 the same entity as the "little horn" described in the Book of Daniel ? Is this some future world dictator ? Is the mark described in Revelation some sort of devious ID that people will be required to possess in order to "buy or sell"? Will Christian believers be raptured from this distress or will they go through it ? Does the Book of Revelation 16:16 describe the last world war on earth ? Does the Book of Daniel give a geopolitical description of events as we know them today ? One thing is certain. Much of this would have been impossible during the first century AD due to the lack of technology at the time. Some sincere Christians believe that the "beast" of Revelation may be a metaphor for Nero, an antichrist of his time. But as far as I know, no one had to bear some sort of mark in order to buy or sell even though they had to burn incense to Caesar. Its is possible that the Book of Revelation may contain double references to events during the time of the Roman Empire and to events in the 21st century. However, due to the accelerating advances in technology, the world does seem to be rushing towards some sort of climax in terms of human history at a rate unheard of in past human eras. However we may interpret the Book of Revelation and other passages of prophesy in both the Old and New Testaments, we Christians should always be on the watch (as Jesus Himself says - "He will come like a thief in the night") and be prepared for His Return. However, debating the details should not be a distraction to the true meaning of the Christian Gospel. There was a time a few decades ago in which people who disagreed on Biblical interpretation (Pre-Millennial vs. A-Millennial,for example)would not talk to each other. And these people would no doubt be sincere Christian believers, but they would permit their level of disagreement to sow division, something which should not happen in a Christian community. We should be focusing on how to improve our Christian walk and the way we show our Christian love in the way we treat other people in our lives. And above all, we should remember the central root of our Faith, namely, that Jesus Christ is God in human form, He became a man, and paid the penalty for ALL of our sins for all time to provide eternal salvation to those who accept and believe in Him. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, He is Lord, and the Father raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9). In the company of Christian believers and as witnesses to the world, this cannot be emphasized enough.Dan Basinger