Bringing Down LeBaron
Prior to watching "Prophet of Evil: The Ervil LeBaron Story" I had never head of Ervil LeBaron and so did a quick read up on who he was using Wikipedia. After I finished watching "Prophet of Evil: The Ervil LeBaron Story" I knew no more as despite being made back in 1993 this movie covers the same details on the Wikipedia page. As such this ends up a movie which is lacking in depth but it is interesting for those who know little about Ervil LeBaron.
The movie opens in 1972 as we witness the torching and slaughter of Los Molinos as Ervil LeBaron watches on from a nearby hill, satisfied with what he is witnessing. 2 years later and having served only part of his sentence for the fire Ervil is out of prison and is determined that his brother Verlan must die, not just Verlan but any other rival polygamous leader. Verlan aware of his brother's desire to kill him as he had already succeeded in killing their older brother goes to Federal Investigator Daniel 'Dan' Fields with what he knows about Ervil and his plans.
So as I said "Prophet of Evil: The Ervil LeBaron Story" is a movie which lacks depth to make it a truly fascinating movie as it doesn't dig beneath the details which are already available. But it is still interesting as we witness Ervil and those who follow him including his many wives obeying his orders to kill others, kill family members and if they failed were afraid for their own safety. It almost comes across as portraying Ervil as a mob boss who people feared and who he would order to murder their own for disloyalty. But as I have already said it is shallow on detail and if you have read the Wikipedia page on Ervil LeBaron you won't learn anything new by watching this.
Aside from that well with "Prophet of Evil: The Ervil LeBaron Story" being a made for TV movie it is function over style. It also features functional performances especially from William Devane as investigator Daniel 'Dan' Fields but you can't blame Devane for that as the character is ordinary. Less ordinary is that of Ervil LeBaron and Brian Dennehy certainly makes him an ominous creature who uses people and has a psychotic determination to get what he wants.
What this all boils down to is that "Prophet of Evil: The Ervil LeBaron Story" is an interesting walk through of The Ervil LeBaron Story but it offers up no more depth than you can now find on Wikipedia.
