Revelation

Counter-terrorism expert Thorold Stone (Jeff Fahey) has never questioned an order from his neo-fascist government. But when the Rapture comes, Stone'ss wife and child are taken to heaven while he's left behind to consider matters of faith and his blind obedience to earthly authority. Ever since dictator Franco Macalousso (Nick Mancuso) of the O. N. E (One Nation Earth) party rose to international power by virtue of his reputation as a peace-broker, the world has followed him like a herd of sheep. In support of Macalousso's policies, Stone’s agency orders him to hunt down the Haters, an underground group who characterize Macalousso as the anti-Christ. When the Haters are arrested for setting a bomb that killed a policemen, Stone realizes that they're being framed by Macalousso’s private squad. As the unveiling of O.N.E.'s "Day of Wonders" approaches, Stone meets underground rebels who put a different spin on Macalousso’s supposed benevolence. Former news anchor Helen Hannah (Leigh Lewis), wheel-chair bound hacker Willie Spino (Tony Nappo), and a blind Christian woman, Cindy (Carol Alt), help Stone uncover a high-level plot to bamboozle the multitudes with high-tech seductions. The Day of Wonders entails Macalousso’s offer of computerized Nirvana to anyone who denounces Jesus Christ. Unable to resist, Cindy and Willie discover that they can escape their physical handicaps by donning virtual reality glasses. With his friends committed to the dark side, Stone must figure out a way to disrupt O.N.E.'s mainframe by himself.

Mildly violent and deeply pious, this apocalyptic thriller offers OMEN-like thrills updated for the computer age: Instead of selling their souls for earthly riches, the unwary barter them for virtual pipe dreams. leave a comment --Robert Pardi