Reaper (2000) User Reviews

Reaper

[Scarecrow-88 · 5/10 · 13 April 2008]

A coastal Maine town is rocked by two vicious murders to traveling females which are similar to the deaths within a visiting troubled writer's novel, "The Reaper".

Famous novelist Luke Sinclair(Chris Sarandon), notorious for his grisly, detailed violence in his books, is struggling through writer's block deciding to get away for a spell hoping to tap into the primal side that unleashes the creativity which yields the stories that have made him such a success. He believes we all have an ability, primal, to kill, but many of us know how to control it. Government sends a forensic pathologist, Sonya Lehrman(Catherine Mary Stewart) to the town to assist the sheriff's department in the case. Sheriff Norris(Vlasta Vrana)doesn't make it easy for Sonya, as he's not used to being ordered around "by a girl." Sonya tries to cope with Norris' "backwards ways" while trying to find the serial killer before he copycats the final murder from the "Reaper" novel. Luke seems to know a great deal about how the murders might've occurred as Sonya interviewed him, probing his thoughts and feelings on the two open cases. His boozing, and not taking prescribed pills to assist a mental disorder certainly don't help Luke's standing while a killer is being pursued. Understanding the psychology of the killer also makes him an ideal suspect. Slowly Sonya begins to develop feelings for Luke as his life begins to crumble due to alcoholism, a souring marriage, and media coverage of his possible criminal involvement in a double-murder case. The film also offers a possibility of Sheriff Norris' less than polished career as a Boston detective and certain knowledge of a tattoo found on the second victim.

To be honest, without some nudity(..the sight of two naked bodies, not exactly elaborating too much as the director does a good job of removing the camera shortly after we first see them)and coarse language, "Reaper" actually plays like a Lifetime movie. The violence in this film is more discussed in details than shown. The film is quite dialogue, and performance driven. It's overall a detective thriller with multiple red herrings used to throw the viewer of the scent of who the killer really is. Some soapy melodrama thrown in with Luke and Sonya's developing feelings adding a bit of spice to the proceedings.

It Could Have Been Worse I Suppose

[Theo Robertson · 5/10 · 29 October 2003]

Chris Sarandon plays Luke Sinclair a writer of horror novels so controversial he occasionaly finds himself becoming the victim of assault which led me to ask how would a writer be so infamous that he`d

suffer from this type of hatred ? It`s similar to Liam Neeson`s character in THE DEAD POOL , a director of horror films so violent he`s treated as a danger to society . Is there any film maker so unpopular they`d find themself a hate figure ? Mind you I sometimes get nasty PMs from people who disagree with my reviews on this site and I do know many people who write far less subjective or polemical reviews who continually receive nasty hurtful comments . I guess there`s a lot of nasty people around and a writer being assaulted by self styled moral guardians isn`t as far fetched as it first seemed

As for the rest of REAPER it`s far from being a classic thriller and it does suffer from one too many plot twists at the end , but I don`t think it`s as bad as it could have been either . To the film`s credit Luke Sinclair is written and played as an unlikable anti hero unlike many of these thrillers where a writer is the main character , and despite a slightly cliched view of hick small town cops at least you recognise why they suspect Luke might have something to hide being a writer who writes about viscous murders

Wasted opportunity

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 26 October 2020]

REAPER is a really bland made-for-TV style horror flick which stars former FRIGHT NIGHT star Chris Sarandon as a horror novelist who moves to a small rural town and immediately becomes implicated by the murder of a young woman in the woods. He has to fight to clear his name and discover the identity of the real killer at the same time. Although this was made in 2000 it feels at least a decade older and is a completely disappointing experience, with clearly bored actors and cheesy direction throughout that makes you laugh more than anything. A wasted opportunity.

Complete waste of time

[aswathiputhenpurakkal · 1/10 · 9 January 2022]

Watched this movie after reading positive reviews but..its a total disappointment. The plot is paper thin and switches back and forth without much logic. Also there's an open ended plot with the blood type of the killer matching with the wrong guy and mismatched with the real killer. Which is absolute nonsense made up just for the sake of a plot twist which doesn't add up at all.

The perfect cure for insomnia

[brude2000 · 14 March 2000]

An alcoholic horror novelist (Chris Sarandon), suffering from writer's block, agonizes over his next novel while a real-life serial killer stalks small-town Maine. Catherine Mary Stewart and Vlasta Vrana co-star as the cops on the trail, but the real mystery here is why these three talented actors accepted a payday in this anaemic, sleep-inducing whodunit. I guess it was just that -- a payday.

Maine's premiere horror novelist, Stephen King, has nothing to fear from this Canadian thriller (and I use that word loosely) -- there are enough red herrings and telegraphed punches here that director Bradshaw should have issued a spoiler warning. You don't need Sherlock Holmes to solve this one.

Horrible waste of time

[dianakuriakose · 1/10 · 26 January 2022]

This movie is a pathetic attempt to create a groundbreaking thriller.

The detective doing investigation is a woman and the sheriff is skeptical about her. At the end she proves him right by making judgemental errors and even sleeping with the killer and doubting that the sheriff himself is the killer.

The actor playing Luke Sinclair is doing it in a one dimensional way. If it were a better actor like Robert deniro or pacino it would've been successful. A complex character like Luke's turbulence and emotions are barely portrayed by the actor playing him. He just gives a generic annoyed look to play a complex character.

Its a good storyline but lacking a solid script and acting.

OK film!

[Movie Nuttball · 7/10 · 23 August 2005]

Reaper is a very good film that has a good cast which includes Chris Sarandon, Catherine Mary Stewart, Vlasta Vrana, Joanna Noyes, Rob Pinnock, Gillian Ferrabee, James Bradford, Isabelle Cyr, Doug Sutherland, John Sanford Moore, Stephen Morgan, Bruce Dennis, Elizabeth Stevens, and Susanne McDonald-Boyce. The acting by all of these actors is very good. The special effects and thrills is really good and some of it is surprising. The movie is filmed very good. The music is good. The film is quite interesting and the movie really keeps you going until the end. This is a very good and thrilling film. If you like Chris Sarandon, Catherine Mary Stewart, Vlasta Vrana, Joanna Noyes, Rob Pinnock, Gillian Ferrabee, James Bradford, the rest of the cast in the film, Action, Mystery, Thrillers, Horror, Dramas, and interesting Bee films then I strongly recommend you to see this film today!

A scary, realistic, exciting murder mystery

[Eva Ionesco · 9/10 · 5 December 1999]

Chris Sarandon plays a famous murder-mystery writer who has become tired of life, and who has not been able to write in over 18 months. He's tired of the harrassment he's been getting from religious extremists who think that the grisly realism with which he writes means that he's in league with devil, and from his publisher who says he's three months overdue with his next book, and especially from his wife, who appears to find fault with everything he does.

So he goes up the coast to get away from it all, to see if he can get through his writers' block. By not taking his medication, and avoiding sobriety, he hopes to get back in touch with "the savage instincts within every man" which was responsible for the scary realism of his books.

The trouble is that murders start happening nearby, each one an exact copy of the murders in his famous book "Reaper". Not only that, but there's a page from his book on each of the victims' bodies, the exact page that describes the murder! So he's number one suspect, and is hauled in for questioning.

All good murder mysteries keep you guessing who the real murderer is, and this film is one of the best! Just when you think you've worked out who the real murderer is, other evidence keeps coming up, first pointing one way, then the other.

If you love a good murder mystery, this is the film for you. And if you don't love them, then this is the film which will change your mind!

Watchable thriller has some decent suspense.

[hu675 · 8/10 · 29 November 2007]

Luke Sinclair (Chris Sarandon) is a controversial crime novelist, who writes his criminals so vividly on his books. Despite he never really study on the subject. But his latest book is due and he owns his publisher a new book. Since Luke can't think of anything, because he has writer's block. He decides to leave on a trip by himself to finish his novel in a small quiet town, somewhere in the state of Maine. But soon, he finally arrives for a room. There's a murder that happen in that night and he becomes the number one suspect by the local sheriff (Vlasta Vrana). But what makes the murder so weird, that a page of his best selling book "Reaper" was found near the dead body. Now a female FBI investigator (Catherine Mary Stewart) is soon on the case as well, she soon finds Luke a suspect also. Is this could be the work of a crazed murderer, who's a fan of Sinclair's work or Sinclair is actually the killer himself ?

Directed by John Bradshaw made an slightly above average thriller with some unexpected suspense and thrills. Although this feels like a TV movie at times and it's routine plotted as well but the actors do a good job with their performances. It's intriguing enough to not get bored by this film. Fans of the genre will enjoy this one best. Worth a look, especially if u catch this one in cable late-night. (*** ½/*****).