The Reaping

The Reaping is one of the many high budget horror movies, doing their best to "resurrect" the genre. Although being watchable and even creative at times, it fails to complete the mission.

Katherine Winter is sent to a small town with the task of solving the death of a boy. She soon finds out the river, the boy's body has been found, is red. Locals claim it's human blood, but Katherine refuses to believe.

Stephen Hopkins, a popular director, makes another movie that is almost successful, but couple of wrong decisions affect the overall result. I really can't say I was disappointed. For my surprise, Swank is not a miscast. She does a decent, believable performance. The film's major mistakes involve needless plot details that could easily annoy the viewer.

Somewhere in the middle of the film, clichés take over the action. Most of the plot ending becomes predictable. Pointless, long scenes of flashbacks, romances and dialogs contradicts the general idea of the film. The second act is almost not horror, but a rather dramatic ride through Katherine's past. It's obvious that the movie depends too much on good acting moments. Something that is not typical for horror and so, I was normally upset by the emptiness of some scenes. Emptiness, that nearly made me fall asleep.

Hopkins's movie has the premises. It isn't only the high-budget and big names to help the movie reach the theaters. The story involves element from the religion which appears to be a really big cliché these days. However, the structure of the film remains balanced thanks to the good writing. The idea of Katherine's personal nightmares, being a barrier between reality and illusion fits perfectly into the plot.

There are also some great visuals that recreate a feeling of realistic terror.

The Reaping could have been better, but still, it deserves a look. There are some impressive scenes, I'm sure all whimsical horror fans will like.

I hooked right into this movie from the opening minutes to the closing credits.

It sets up the story with the creation of a fantastic atmosphere and the juxtaposition of science vs religion.

What really rams this movie home is the first class cast, who deliver credibility, passion and doubt.

It may have problems but I was connected enough with the movie to overlook them :)

THE REAPING:Warner Bros./Dark Castle/Village Roadshow 2007 color 99 m Horror-Thriller Hilary Swak, Stephen Rea, Anna Sophia Robb, Idris Elba and David Morrisey star. Written by Carey and chad hayes Directed by Stephen Hopkins Rated R for strong language, violence, gore and sexuality.

I'm not quite sure why Warner shelved this film for so long. That said The Reaping is one of the most original horror films in years and packs a surprising punch in its finale. Hilary Swank stars as Katherine Winter a woman who debunks supposed miracles all around the world. After hearing about a town being infected with the biblical plagues she comes over to scientifically explain the strange events. But as she is drawn into the mystery of the town, its people and a mysterious little girl secrets are revealed as the apocalypse draws near. And there's a lot more going on than that. The film is extremely complex and multi layered, it's chaotic and even a bit confusing at times but when the final revelations come together it's well worth your thought process. Swank is of course sensational in the lead she gives Katherine an heir of disbelief and confidence. Her swagger alone carries the film through it's rough patches. Anna Sophia Robb coming off the under rated Bridge to terebithia is wonderfully spooky as the mysterious child and the rest of the cast is filled out nicely by Idris Elba, Stephen Rea and the sexy David Morrisey. The direction from Hopkins is surprisingly unique and inventive that goes as well for the screenplay from the Hayes brothers. The film is far from perfect, the spfx tend to be a bit cheesy and the film seems a little muddled and unfinished in parts. But what the film ultimately succeeds at is in its originality. I've seen a lot of horror films and I've never seen something like this. It's pretty unpredicatable and infinatly interesting. It also is smart and handles it's subject matter surprisingly well playing it straight. The cinematography is complimentary and matches the film it's fills the film with dreamlike arches of landscape and a mood of eminent danger. The score like the recent premonition matches the film chaotically in a weird way making every scene seem much more intense than it actually is. This is a smart movie and has a lot going on it. At 99 mins. it feels a lot longer especially after you've made all of the films discoveries. It's a rare thing these days to be blown away by something so creative, don't miss The Reaping!

but fails in the end. The plot for this film sounded good to me. A debunker of miracles, Katherine, investigates a small town that appears to be experiencing the 10 plagues of the Pharohs. I thought the movie was very good at the beginning. The mysterious bloody river and the death of a young boy right before it turned red. And the townsfolk seem to be saying a young girl, Loren, is the one causing the plagues. Katherine with the help of her colleague, Ben, and local Doug collects samples from the river and dying livestock. When the results come back that it's real human blood, I thought wow, this is getting good. But at the point when some of the locals go out to hunt down Loren and the attack of the locust, the movie gets silly. The once good plot just goes stereotypical Hollywood with the twist at the end and whom is really the bad guy. And how does Katherine know they are all first born. The plot holes begin to creep in.

It's like the writer knew this was a good idea for a story, but didn't know how to finish it so just put in a lot of explosions and a very silly conclusion.

FINAL VERDICT: If you like horror films, you may to check this out but expect to be disappointed.

I wasn't really too interested in seeing The Reaping, but it looked like it might be worth a watch, so my friend and I saw it last night and both him and I agreed, it was kinda predictable and not that entertaining. Hilary Swank is an incredible actress and this seemed to be a step down for her. While it has some creepy moments, it wasn't anything to be thrilled over, it just could haven been better or more scary. The acting was alright, the story could have been more clever, but I do have to admit the effects were pretty cool, sometimes a little hokey, but over all they did a good job on the "destruction" of the Earth.

Katherine is a scientist who used to be a Christian missionary, but when she lost her husband and child to a plague, she lost her faith as well. But when a town starts to witness the reaping, the end of the world through God's wrath, they blame it on a little girl, but Katherine is sure she can prove through science that it's nothing to worry about. But she starts to find out slowly how this may not just be something to forget about and the prophecy just might be true.

It's not a recommendation for the theater, it's more of a rental, I'm just warning you that it's not a movie to get thrilled over and it's a disappointment considering all the advertisement that it got. Hilary made a mistake taking this film, it wasn't creepy and it doesn't really get your mind thinking. Seriously, just wait for the rental, you'll thank me later.

6/10