The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005)

Storyline

Ex-con Jimmy Cuervo (Edward Furlong) and his girlfriend (Emmanuelle Chriqui) are targeted by satanists, who murder them as part of a ceremony to resurrect the devil. However, a crow brings Jimmy back, and as an invulnerable spirit of justice, he begins hunting down his murderers. While the satanists meet grisly ends one at a time, the leaders, Luc "Death" Crash (David Boreanaz) and his lover, Lola (Tara Reid), attempt to complete the ritual, which will make them even more powerful than Jimmy.

Plot Keywords

ex-convict, girlfriend, priest, satanist, gang member, crow, suspenseful, brutal, indian reservation, desert, church, burial grounds, small town, murder, resurrection, satanism, ritual, telepathy, marriage, revenge, quest, 2000s

Short Review

I saw the previous films and despite the differences, I love them all. The first was a classic, worthy of praise and imitation in other works. The second was fine and could have been better. The third was wonderful in its own right. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for this sequel, at present, the final film of the franchise and it is an abomination.The previous Crow movie was unfairly given a straight-to-home video release. This one does deserve to be denied a theatrical run, heck, it is so bad that it did not deserve to be made at all. Jimmy Cuervo is a man having been released from prison serving time for manslaughter. Years of life living on a Mexican-Native American reservation have given him a lot of pent-up rages. But those rages are sated because of his love for Lilly, the beautiful mystic daughter of the tribal chief. Despite their differences, the two love each other and decide to get married. Only around the same time, Luc Crash, a convict acquaintance of Jimmy's escapes from a work detail with help from a host of his friends and girlfriend Lola Byrne. Luc is a Satanist with ambitions of bringing the apocalypse with his friends taking on the names of the four horsemen and granting mystical powers to his girlfriend by killing Jimmy and Lilly just as they are about to be married.The murders call upon the divine spirit of revenge from the previous Crow stories and resurrect Jimmy as he seeks his revenge all the while saving the world from a monstrosity that Luc intends to become.This movie, unlike the others, is a complete and utter joke. Gone is the seriousness and omnipotence that defined the previous films. Instead, there is more of a sarcastic horror pastiche resembling films From Dusk ‘Til Dawn or Machete. This was insulting to the notion of love being stronger than the death that was prevalent in the previous movies. The actors and actresses are attractive, but their performances are terrible. Eddie Furlong has the look of the Crow, but he is not a great actor. David Boreanaz plays the psychotic Satanist well but with hammy as heck. The apocalyptic posse is ridiculous, but nowhere near as bad as Dennis Hopper's special appearance. I think the only character I really liked was Tara Reid as the naughty witch girlfriend. Other characters such as Jimmy's potential in-laws including a nice appearance from Danny Trejo were nice additions but sadly wasted.I cannot believe something so good ended so bad. As far as I am concerned Crow ended at a trilogy, not a tetralogy. Avoid at all costs.