The Reaping: Supernatural Horror on the Bayou
Written: Apr 07 '07
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: It's tolerable, there is a cool red river, plot twists
Cons: Hilary Swank decided to make this film
The Bottom Line: Wait for the video version.
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| RcknRbn3's Full Review: The Reaping |
Hilary Swank stars in The Reaping, previews show a river of blood and strange happenings, and my curiosity gave way to a childhood fascination with horror movies. That is why I went to the movie theater to see The Reaping. In many ways, the movie worked, if it had been made in the late 1970's or early 80's. The special effects and general story, however, were not up to modern day standards.
The Brave Cast
Hilary Swank will not be getting an Oscar nod for The Reaping. It was hard to realize, somewhere mid-way through the movie that Hilary Swank had actually agreed to lead this movie through the biblical plagues falling on the Louisiana bayou. Hilary's role as a myth buster professor/former ordained Christian missionary (Katherine Winter), was interesting, in an odd sort of way, after watching this Academy Award winner perform in movies like, Million Dollar Baby and Boys Don't Cry.
AnnaSophia Robb, the same girl who starred in Bridge to Terabithia (2007), plays the role of Loren McConnell, the shunned wild-child of the little town of Haven, Louisiana. To her credit, young AnnaSophia does a good job walking around in a tattered red dress with a hypnotic stare for most of the movie.
The rest of the cast includes Stephen Rea as Father Castigan, the token priest and sacred symbol finder in the movie, David Morrissey as Doug, a small town teacher, and Idns Elba as Hilary Swank's sidekick Ben.
Other cast members in the movie play smaller roles as the local residents of Haven, Louisiana. AnnaSophia's mother in the movie resembles the Bible-loving mother found in the blockbuster horror, Carrie, from the 1970's.
The Horrific Details
The Reaping throws many different horror elements into the movie. The plot is based on a biblical plague prediction for the Apocalypse. There is a frightened priest on set to interpret the predictions and notice the signs,and a town filled with cult-like believers.
The movie doesn't stop with just doomsday predictions, though. There is a river of blood, panic, and naturally, swarms of locusts. All the makings of a good, supernatural horror movie. As the plagues begin to fall upon Haven, Louisiana, the evil plots begin to unravel in the movie, and Katherine Winter must deal with flashbacks related to an earlier tragedy in her life. The Reaping gives Katherine the chance to test her faith, while trying to solve the mysterious happenings in Haven.
If you took all the main plot details of horror movies in the past thirty years and mixed them into a southern version on the bayou, you'd end up with, The Reaping. Katherine may have had flashbacks of her past tragedies, but I was having flashbacks of certain scenes from the horror movies of my youth, while watching The Reaping.
Final Thoughts
The Reaping has evil plots, sinister warning signs, a priest, tragic backstories, locusts, killings, and a twist ending. Hilary Swank leads viewers through a blood red river in hip boots, and AnnaSophia Robb triggers memories of the girl from the classic, The Bad Seed. For all of these tempting horror treats, I have to recommend waiting for the DVD version at Blockbuster. Keep your expectations at a reasonable level for this movie and give yourself 5 points if you can remember all the biblical plagues before they befall the little town of Haven.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Die-hard Fans Only
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: A few glitches, but mostly complete.
Worst Part of this Film: Plot
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Member: Robin
Location: Western New York
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