02-14-2010, 04:21 AM
[B]**THIS USER STEALS REVIEWS. THIS POST ONLY REMAINS INTACT FOR EVIDENCE PURPOSES. SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.** - Bojangles
The Reaping
[/B]The Reaping
Directed By: Stephen Hopkins
Cast:
Hilary Swank as Katherine Winter
David Morrissey as Doug Blackwell
Idris Elba as Ben
AnnaSophia Robb as Loren McConnell
Stephen Rea as Father Michael Costigan
William Ragsdale as Sheriff Cade
John McConell as Mayor Brooks
Andrea Frankle as Maddie McConnell
David Jensen as Jim Wakeman
Yvonne Landry as Brynn Wakeman
Stuart Greer as Gordon
Lara Grice as Isabelle
Mark Lynch as Brody McConnell
Myles Cleveland as Kyle Wakeman
Samuel Garland as William Wakeman
Cody Sanders as Hank
Burgess Jenkins as David Winter
Sabrina A. Junius as Sarah Winter
Plot:
The atheistic Katherine Winter is a former Catholic missionary that lost her faith on God after losing her daughter and her husband in Sudan, sacrificed by the locals that blamed them for the long drought. Presently she investigates religious phenomena with the intent of debunking them, finding a scientific cause for the event. She is invited to go to the small town of Haven, in Louisiana, where the river turned into blood after the death of a boy. After her arrival, each of one of the ten biblical plagues happens in the location dazing Katherine, who discloses the evil secret of the dwellers. In the room of Father Costigan puts together several photos that have been burned in strange ways. He finds they form a pattern of an upside down sickle with a cross through it. The symbol is the inverted astrological symbol for Ceres, which is believed to be a Satanic symbol. Elsewhere, Katherine Winter and her colleague Ben are in Chile investigating claims of a miracle. Upon exploring the area, Katherine uncovers a cache of hazardous waste illegally stashed in an underground oil well, which has ruptured and is causing the effects of the "miracle".Back at her office in Louisiana, Katherine receives a call from Costigan, who explains the symbol and warns her that the burned photographs he arranged were of her and that it is a warning from God, which Katherine ignores. Later, Doug, a science teacher from a nearby town called Haven, asks Katherine to help find a reason for a local river in the town turning red. The locals believe this a plague caused by a girl, Loren McConnell, who they believe killed her older brother in the river. Katherine and Ben travel to Haven and examine the river. While there, Katherine meets Loren and has a vision of Loren turning the river red. Meanwhile, Ben witnesses dead frogs seemingly fall from the sky. Doug invites them to spend the night at his house, since the town has no motel. That evening they encounter flies suddenly eating their dinner, and disease, which kills off all of a local man's cows.Later that night, Katherine finds Doug outside at his wife's grave. The two then talk about their deceased loved ones. 5 years ago, Katherine was an ordained minister. At Father Costigan's request, she takes her husband and daughter with her to do missionary work in the Sudan. After a year long drought, the locals sacrificed Katherine's family believing they were the cause. This destroys her sense of faith and she leaves the Church. Katherine and Doug depart back to the house and later, Katherine dreams images of her in bed with Doug and several other things including her own past and Loren. In the morning she goes to the McConnells' house alone, where she finds the cult symbol on a door. She meets Loren again and, upon trying to help her, sees a series of visions that seem to show Loren killing her brother. When the vision ends, Katherine wanders though the house and meets Loren's mother who is then attacked by Loren. Katherine leaves at the demand of Loren's mother.In town, Ben, Doug, and Katherine receive the test results from the river which is proven to be human blood. The citizens, meanwhile, are shaving the heads of all their children due to a mass outbreak of lice. Ben and Doug try to get the mayor to evacuate the town, but he and his staff are found struck down with boils. The town then forms a mob, ready to kill Loren themselves. Reluctantly, Katherine calls Father Costigan, who explains the cult sacrifices every second born in an attempt to create "a perfect child" with "the eyes of the Devil" to bring them power. He also states that an angel, who cannot be harmed by the cult, will appear to destroy them. He insists that Loren is that child and the plagues may be a trick of Satan's to protect her. He also tries to convince Katherine that she is the angel sent forth by God to kill Loren. Suddenly, a supernatural force begins to burn everything in Costigan's room, trapping him inside and killing him. Desperate, Katherine goes to the McConnell house where she finds the cult's sacrificial chamber in the basement. She finds Loren's mother who says that Loren is being controlled; Loren's mother then pulls out a gun and kills herself. Katherine grabs a knife nearby and proceeds outside where the sheriff and several others, including Ben and Doug, gather around the house preparing to kill Loren. Suddenly, thousands of locusts appear and swarm a local, his son, and the sheriff, killing them. Doug runs away and jumps in the blood river, Katherine locks herself inside the house, and Ben hides in a crypt, where he discovers skeletons and bodies of sacrificed children. He calls Katherine to tell her where he is and while talking to her, Loren appears outside.Katherine hurries after Ben but arrives to find him dead. She confronts Loren as darkness falls and fireballs shoot from the sky. Katherine attacks and is about to kill Loren when they share another vision. The cult, along with Doug, are shown trying to kill Loren, who was a second-born child. Loren escaped and her brother Brody stabbed her, but her wound miraculously healed, and Brody died. Katherine realizes that Loren is innocent and that Loren is the angel that God sent, not herself. The townsfolk appear and surround the two of them as Doug tells her that God is protecting Loren, and only an ordained servant of God like Katherine can kill her. He explains that they invited Katherine to investigate the plagues because they hoped she would join them, since she had turned her back on God like they did. Katherine refuses, while reminding them that they had sacrificed generations of second-born children leaving a town of only first-borns. Suddenly the fire begins raining down on the townsfolk, killing them. Doug tries to use Katherine as a shield against the fire, but is ultimately killed.Later, Katherine and Loren are driving away together and Loren discloses to Katherine that she is pregnant and can "hear" her son inside her. Katherine is stunned by this knowledge as this is her second child, which triggers a flashback in which she remembers the night she was with Doug. Katherine then realizes that her son is the prophesied demonic child.
Review:
Locust swarm. Rivers turn to blood. Fire rains from the sky .Are you prepared fro the reaping?..lol.. "This is a terrific horror-thriller that will keep you on the age of your seat" - this was said by Shawn Edwards of Fox -TV when he watched it on its premier. Investigate scholar Katherine Winter is debunker of modern miracles , bringing scientific light to superstition and fraud .But events in tiny Haven, Louisiana defy even her expertise. There, the 10 Biblical plagues seem to be recurring. And the more she seek answers , the more she quesyions her own beliefs. Katherine must uncover the truth , because the plagues are counting down . And time is running out.As I said the movie is a suspense thriller based on the 10 Biblical Plagues of Egypt set in the present world. Relying mostly on the strange phenomenal events occurring in the film to engage its viewers, The Reaping can't exactly be classified as a cheesy and predictable B-grade horror film. Depending on your knowledge of the Bible, the ten plagues will amaze you by keeping you on the edge of your seat anticipating the next plague. It's not a whole yard different from the thrills of Jumanji, where the audience is captivated entirely by whatever is going to appear from the enchanted board game. As part of the ten plagues, there are instances of locusts attacks, dead frogs, bloodied rivers, unidentified diseases, flies et cetera et cetera. It's weirdly horrifying, to say the least. The Reaping is admittedly more style than substance, but the style is so strong it's hard not to recommend. Lousiana seems to be the perfect place to make movies like this because the bayou atmosphere also worked well for The Skeleton Key. There is something very quaint about the location but it oozes with a sense of mystery and intrigue. The Reaping utilizes this surrounding to the best of its abilities and never really lets down the audience from a visual stand point. The visuals truly kick into high gear during some of the plague sequences. Some do look "too CGI" but others work quite nicely. The locust scene is a true highlight and definitely got my skin crawling. I'm not a big fan of bugs so I knew this scene would get to me the most. The boils sequence is quite impressive from a make up angle and the thunderstorm towards the end has a few moments of decent effects. There are also some good uses of the foreground as the Lauren character is shown numerous times right outside of the shot to catch the audience by surprise.I also found the subject matter interesting. Usually films about religion, God, and the Devil tend to not interest me, but this film actually went down an interesting road. The plagues and the story behind them is interesting and I loved how her character did provide legitimate scientific reasons to debunk some of these acts of God. There is a theme about the battle between God and the Devil and this explores what angles each takes in their quest to influence mankind (that is, if you believe in God and the Devil) The other actors in the film are adequate but this is Swank's show and i must say she was a wonderful host. There is something extremely likable about her and it made it easy for me to really root for her. She has this every day woman demeanor that translates well on screen. She also handles the emotion of her character's arc very well. There is a reason she's a two time Oscar winner, I just hope that Hollywood continues to utilize her talents. This is truly her project to carry and she does so with the greatest of ease.
The editing is top-drawer, and the cinematography is terrific. Seasoned horror movie buffs will know when something is about to leap out at the heroine, but "The Reaping" doesn't pull any punches or cheat audiences. This is Stephen Hopkins' most polished work to date!
Rate:3.5/5
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