When I was a kid, I looked into the whole story of Nostradamus and his prophecies and rapidly came to the conclusion that it was all a load of utter rubbish.
All those vague prophecies could be — and were — construed to mean almost anything, particularly since he declared straight out that he was trying to hide his real meanings.
Because they were such hot stuff, of course. Not so he could blather on about things that sounded really impressive but didn’t have to actually mean anything.
But, perhaps it’s because of the apocalyptic themes, or the promise of terrible secrets that only the most enlightened of us can possibly understand, or perhaps it’s just that he has such an overblown reputation after years of people going on about how brilliant he was, he has been one of the staples of science fiction films, particularly in those which are on the borderlines of what can honestly be called science fiction. He’s shown up several times here on this site: in the legendary “lost” Toho film, The Prophecies of Nostradamus; as the inspiration for a group of cultists in Fish Story; and even as the ideal brain donor in The Man Without a Body.
However, you get the impression that this film saw all of those — and a few of the more exaggerated documentaries — and said, “Hold my beer.”
Mind you, it takes a while to build up to that point.: We have a series of mysterious deaths, which appear to be spontaneous combustion. Rob Estes plays a cop named Michael Nostrand, who is so desperate to find the answer that he turns to an old friend, a psychic who works as a consultant for the FBI.
But eventually we learn that the assassins are time travelers, using a time machine invented by Leonardo da Vinci.
Oh, and Michael Nostrand is really Nostradamus.
Right.
Now the science fictional and the supernatural get thoroughly confused in all this as the killers are this strange race of unknown origin who can kill with words and the bad guys are a group who are trying to bring about the Apocalypse.
Perhaps the finest example of just how messed up all this is comes when someone explains the astrological motivation for the crimes to Michael and he asks if killing these people is going to affect…
The stars and planets?
And you know what? No one tells him, of course not, that’s just ridiculous.
Right.
Oh, well, it’s an entertaining piece of nonsense, but not exactly memorable. Tibor Takacs wasn‘t exactly a great director, and spent much of career working on TV shows and Sci Fi Network originals. However, he did make a few memorable films along the way, like The Gate; I, Madman; Redline; and Spiders 3D. Nostradamus is definitely competent, and its goofy plot keeps it interesting, but it hovers on the edge of both the utterly gonzo film where nothing makes sense and it doesn’t matter, and the true guilty pleasure where its very badness is one of the reasons we love it. I have to wonder if the final scene was meant to be the jumping off point for a TV series.
It wouldn’t be the first low-budget film which was intended to be a backdoor pilot for a new series…
BUY ME A COFFEE!
A TO Z REVIEWS
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
CHECK OUT OUR NEW FEATURE (UPDATED FEBRUARY 16, 2022):
The Rivets Zone: The Best SF Movies You’ve Never Seen!
DON’T MISS MY STRAY THOUGHTS ON FILM, SCIENCE FICTION AND ANYTHING ELSE THAT CROSSES MY MIND:
THE RIVETS ON THE POSTER BLOG
Where horror is both practical and non-linear…
rivets on the poster 