End of Days (1999)

Director: Peter Hyams

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gabriel Byrne, Robin Tunney, Kevin Pollack

Primary genre: Supernatural

Secondary genre: Action

Third genre: Horror

An almost forgotten blockbuster, “End of Days” can be seen under favorable light two decades later. Directed capably by Peter Hyams (“Outland“ (1981), “Sudden Death“ (1995), “The Relic” (1997)), it has pretty much the same plot with another (and much better) Arnie cinematic vehicle (“Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (1991)) which pities our muscular (super)hero against an unstoppable foe only instead of a killer cyborg from the future we have the Prince of Darkness himself.

With a superb marketing campaign on its back and praying on the hysteria of the upcoming financial market collapse at the dawn of the new millennium, “End of Days” takes place during the last remaining days of 1999 in a surprisingly moody NYC. The script tries to juggle heavy doses of pseudo mambo jumbo Satanist mysticism and religious (or blasphemous) iconography that are further elevated by the atmospheric (and in some cases bombastic) score of John Debney who incorporates brilliant vocal solos that perpetuate a sense of inevitability and doom.

Yet, despite its attempts to place itself as a sincere and bleak religious horror flick, “End of Days” succumbs to the typical action tendencies of Arnold Schwarzenegger and occasionally flirts with parody. Any extended atmospheric moments are starkly contrasted by fast paced and explosive shout outs and foot chases that have Arnie battling it out with Satanists in chaotic skirmishes across a variety of NCY locations leaving a trail of dead bodies behind and the Big Apple in ruins.

Hyams directs a genre collision between action and horror with the former emerging triumphant and amidst all this mayhem the script’s dramatic tones fall flat. While Robin Tunney is appropriately vulnerable as the chosen bride for Satan, Arnie’s suicidal and alcoholic ex-cop Jericho requires a much more versatile and vulnerable actor to pull this off. The towering behemoth seems to be gunning for Oscar and in certain moments it is really hard not to have a smile on your face.

As for Satan, a grand operatic character and potentially for certain actors the role of a lifetime, for all the talk about the end of the world, he barely has any meaningful screentime or memorable moments. Gabriel Byrne portrays his Satan in a rather banal light and while he clearly relishes the role by whispering one liners and subtle threats, he lacks any nuanced menace and presence ultimately failing to provide a compelling take the way Robert de Niro (“Angel Heart” (1987)), Jack Nicholson (“The Witches of Eastwick” (1987)) or Peter Stormare (“Constantine” (2005)) did in the past.

Nevertheless, “End of Days” oozes a palpable sense of fun with a fantastically destructive climax that will please the genre fans with its practical effects. Perhaps we might desire too much from a film that puts Arnie against Lucifer but then again, we already got masterpieces like “Predator” (1987) and “Terminator 2”, so asking for more substance is not an illogical thing to do. As it stands, “End of Days” is a solid blockbuster pizza night but once the film is ended you probably will not remember much.

A silly but fun and explosive flick

+Chaotic action mayhem

+Solid atmosphere

+Great score by John Debney

+Clever use of real time back then proceedings

-Miscast Arnie

-Byrne lacks menace

-Action excess

-Sometimes it gets silly