The Reaping (2007)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

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:

Missionary | Biblical Plague | Plague | Louisiana | Small Town

Awards:

1 nomination

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

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The video camera carried by Ben while boating on the bloody river is a JVC HD-GR1, one of the earliest "pro-sumer" grade Hi-Def video cameras.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Katherine is giving Ben her list of causes for the 10 plagues, she states that locusts would have been blown into Cairo. The plagues took place around 1400BC, but Cairo didn't exist until 969AD, and didn't become the capital until 1168-1169AD. She should have used Thebes as the reference city since it did exist then, and was Egypt's capital.

Quotes:

Katherine Winter: [on killing Loren]
[throws the knife onto the ground]
Katherine Winter: You do it.
[Doug picks up knife but doesn't use it]
Katherine Winter: You can't do it, can you? Because you already tried and she survived.
Doug Blackwell: No, that not true.
Katherine Winter: [beginning to get upset] You decieved me so I would murder her. This... this innocent child.
[helps Loren to her feet and into her arms]
Doug Blackwell: She's not innocent, Katherine.
[signals fire]
[...]

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

Take Me to the Water

Good thriller is perfect with a bag of popcorn, a soda and rainy Sunday afternoon

Well I'm shocked-this is a pretty good little thriller.

Hillary Swank is an ex-missionary turned scientist and debunker, she's called into investigate a small town in the deep South where the river has turned red or as some suspect to blood. this is followed in close order by other Biblical plagues. They all seem to to be tied to a young girl living in the woods.

Creepy little movie thats better than many recent Bible thrillers. Here we start off with science and find as time goes on that it can't explain whats going on. well acted with a couple of nice set pieces this is a movie that works mostly by simple visualization, we see a red river, we see flies, we see frogs. except for a plague of locusts and some fire in the sky what we see out side of dreams is all simple effects given weight by the sincerity of the script and the performances. This is a film where the classic idea of its all better in the mind works to great effect with just a small push.

Is it a great film? No, but its a good one. Its the sort of thing you sit and watch on a Saturday night with a big bag of popcorn and a soda. Is it worth paying ten bucks in the theater for? I doubt it but on a rainy Sunday afternoon it may fit the bill on the bargain priced matinée. (Certainly worth a rental) Somewhere between six and seven out of ten.