The Reaping (2007)

Director:

Stephen Hopkins

Writers (WGA):

Carey Hayes (screenplay) &
Chad Hayes (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

5 April 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Thousands of years ago there was a series of bizarre occurrences that many believed to have been the Ten Biblical Plagues. No one thought they could happen again. Until now.

Plot:

A former Christian missionary, who specializes in debunking religious phenomena, investigates a small town which seems to be suffering from the 10 biblical plagues.

Plot Keywords:

Priest | Biblical Plague | Maggot | Family Relationships | Graveyard

Awards:

1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Sept. 6	10:10 AM	MAX
Fri. Sept. 12	2:15 PM	MAX
Wed. Sept. 17	4:45 PM	MAX

Cast

Hilary Swank	...	Katherine
David Morrissey	...	Doug
Idris Elba	...	Ben
AnnaSophia Robb	...	Loren McConnell
Stephen Rea	...	Father Costigan
William Ragsdale	...	Sheriff Cade
John McConnell	...	Mayor Brooks
David Jensen	...	Jim Wakeman
Yvonne Landry	...	Brynn Wakeman
Samuel Garland	...	William Wakeman
Myles Cleveland	...	Kyle Wakeman
Andrea Frankle	...	Maddie McConnell
Mark Lynch	...	Brody McConnell
Stuart Greer	...	Gordon
Lara Grice	...	Isabelle

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, disturbing images and some sexuality.

Runtime:

99 min | USA:96 min (R-rated version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Portugal:M/16 | UK:15 | Italy:VM14 | Germany:16 | Norway:15 | South Korea:15 | Peru:14 | Finland:K-18 (self applied) | Netherlands:16 | Ireland:15A | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Sweden:15 | Singapore:M18 | USA:R (certificate #43267) | Malaysia:18PL | Argentina:16 | New Zealand:M | Singapore:NC-16 (edited for re-rating) | Australia:M | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Hong Kong:IIB | France:U (with warning)

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The film portrays the city of Concepcion, Chile, as a warm, tropical, Third World small town. This caused a furor in Concepcion, with people walking out of the theaters and others calling for authorities to ban the movies.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Katherine talks to the boy at the cattle farm, he is drawing with crayons. In the "over his shoulder" shots he is using a green crayon. In the "across the table from him" shots, he is using a blue crayon.

Quotes:

Maddie McConnell: Are you here for my girl? Are you gonna kill my baby girl?
Katherine Winter: What? No!
Maddie McConnell: Why not?
Katherine Winter: I'm just trying to help her.
Maddie McConnell: She doesn't need help. Can't you see that?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: The Worst of 2007" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Tell Me What I Did Wrong

Scare-free cliché-plagued schlock

God and the devil are at it again.

Religion in general is a minefield of horror film premises. Apparently, the production company Dark Castle realizes this and so we have "The Reaping" purporting itself to be a supernatural thriller treading a spiritual undertone in the league of, say, "Stigmata" (or at least that's what it seems). The problem is, it fails to even make the cut of simply being a decent horror movie, with its attempts at scares and twists painfully obvious and its narrative eventually falling into a pattern of genre clichés. Let alone its balderdash on the Christian mythology.

The plot engraves its cardboard foundation with Katherine Winter (Hilary Swank - probably just here for the paycheck) trying to disprove every miracle occurring in this world. An LSU professor with a tragic past that took away her faith in spirituality, Katherine is convinced that everything irrational that happens can be debunked by logic and science. But one day, she is called to investigate a strange thing happening in a small town called Haven in Louisiana. The river has turned into blood after a boy has just mysteriously died, and the townsfolk are placing the blame on a twelve-year old girl (AnnaSophia Robb), who they believe is a harbinger of the devil, and with her are the ten plagues from Exodus.

Swank, a two-time Oscar winner, gives a performance that is nothing to either praise or disparage - just a humdrum. The other cast members don't seem inspired either, like somnambulists in a maudlin project and aren't even interested in being interested. Robb doesn't seem as menacing as she should be, and Stephen Rea is largely wasted with a role merely there to provide the obligatory religious backstory.

Speaking of which, the ten plagues, which is supposedly the film's selling point that requires a myriad of special effects, and whose nature itself should be ominous enough for building tension, are simply there as red herrings that lead to an even more unsatisfying finale, which you could've figured out twenty minutes into the movie. Director Stephen Hopkins fails to extract a sense of eeriness from them and it was more fun and scary when the Stephen Sommers enumerated them in "The Mummy".

"The Reaping" has virtually no scares (unless you count the score's crescendo accented with a screech as scary) and even lesser sense. Honestly, I have more fun watching National Geographic's "Is It Real?" series.