This special limited edition slipcover (designed by Earl Kessler Jr.) is limited to 1,000 units and is only available on our website and at select indie retailers. Absolutely no major retailers will be stocking them.
VHSHITFEST has been uncovering and releasing movies on video for over a decade, across DVD and VHS, and is now moving into blu-ray, with the same goal to showcase the most unique, crazy, and obscure movies that they've discovered through years of collecting VHS, allowing even more people to actually be able to experience these nearly lost gems in the best versions possible.
Awakening a captive to his dreams, James Burton struggles to survive in the wilderness of his mind. A distant mansion draws the dream-vagabond down the dark terrain of a New Age witch, punks, and a psychotic killer. Playing with self-destruction and death, the "Lost Prophet" faces his subconscious enemy with passive, child-like fascination.
Michael de Avila's film is an intense mood piece that adeptly seduces the viewer into a hypnotic state to experience the random curiosities and terrors of the mind. VHSHITFEST could not be happier to rescue this film from obscurity with a beautiful brand new film transfer that captures the breathtaking and spooky visuals.
directed by: Michael de Avila
starring: James Burton, James Tucker, Zandra Huston
1992 / 62 min / 1.78:1 / English DTS HD-MA 2.0
Additional info:
Overall rating: 4.3461537 / 5 from 52 reviews.
The Lost Prophet slipcover is a limited edition item, available only on the VHSHITFEST website and select indie retailers. The film itself, directed by Michael de Avila, is an intense mood piece with a striking visual style, receiving mixed opinions but generally being considered interesting and enjoyable.
Review topics: ["looks","dreams","film","release","movie","visuals","watch","transfer","disc","vibe","story","shot","entry","director","features","bandw","man","cut","photography"].
"Feels more like the photography of dreams than a cohesive film, like if you slipped inside someone's head and recorded a night of barely-sober dreaming. Kudos to the director for capturing such a distinct feeling without completely losing the thread."
"Magnificent and solemn shots on the lake are some of my most prized in recent memory Quite an undertaking for such a jolly looking fella from the interview in the blu ray disc"
"This movie is better than it deserves to be. Atmospheric fever dream. Highly recommended."
"Lost Prophet is an American experimental horror film directed by Michael De Avila. An unstable man named Jim who spends the summer in an empty mansion meets a mystical woman, a real estate agent, and a man called Mick Prophet, and encounters a series of strange and disturbing events. As the story unfolds, Jim crosses paths with punks, serial killers, and witches, adding to the mystery and horror. Extensive bonus materials and a great 4K transfer from the 16 mm negative. Very beautiful B&W. Kudos to OCN."
"The disc looks great & the film is littered with striking images but this semi-proto-mumblecore odyssey doesn't quite conceal into a proper pudding for me. I've only watched the newer cut to experience the solid transfer & the film wasn't off-putting enough to prevent me from wanting to check out the older, longer cut. At the very least, I'm happy to have a rarer entry in the 1996 Psychotronic book on my shelf."
"VHShitfest are among my very favorite partner labels. This is a very different release from them though. It is not a SOV movie or a transfer from tape. LOST PROPHET was shot in the early 90s on beautiful 16mm black and white film and was restored from the original camera negative for this release. Hats off for this huge effort! I love surreal black and white films like ERASERHEAD or BEGOTTEN, and this is very similar. In fact both films are mentioned by the director in his interview. Felini's 8¹/² was another inspiration. If you are looking for plot, look somewhere else, because still film is pure dream logic and imagery. Much like their first release THE CORN SHUKKER, this is a quick watch, clocking in about just under an hour. A longer 75 Minute cut is included in the extras, but only transferred from tape. So the main feature is basically a new, shorter director's cut. VHShitfest's Dan Kinem is even mentioned as an executive producer in the credits. If you are a fan of the mentioned films, TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN or NIGHT OWL (both released by VS), this will be right up your alley. Please give us more of these hidden gems, guys. This is simply amazing!"
"This is what im always hoping for when i blind buy a film!"
"This is a decent release of a little experimental flick from VHShitfest. The film itself is all right, very dream-y and meditative. My personal preference tends toward more narrative stuff, but YMMV depending on your tastes. Nevertheless, VHSHF give this a nice release, re-edited by the director in a way that I think vastly improves it (the original 73-minute cut is included and is *so* draggy; the new edit clocks in at less than an hour, and for the better - it's so much tighter). The special features do a nice job contextualizing the original release, when this got a surprising amount of NY press coverage - not quite a breakout, but almost The Little Indie that Could. Not a personal favorite from the VHSHF catalog per se, but it's interesting, and it's nice to see them showing some love to something that moved them, so I vouch for giving this your support."
"A solid surrealist filmmaking entry. There were quite a handful of indie films made around this time that used high contrast black and white 16mm imagery (another notable surrealist one is Begotten) or just experimented in black in white in general. As with many surrealist films you need to just go along for the ride upon first viewing, save trying to consciously make sense of the story for a second viewing (at least that's what works for me). The visuals are fantastic, great encode of a pristine film source, you wouldn't expect to think of a movie like this as looking vivid but it does. Makes me want to see the same people release Begotten."
"Lost no more after finding this disc and adding it to your collection"
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