THE REAPING
Reviewed by Sam Hatch
It is common knowledge that the early months of any given year serve as a celluloid dumping ground for mediocre horror films. The Reaping (directed by Stephen Hopkins, who also helmed Judgment Night, Blown Away and Lost In Space) isn't a tried and true horrible film, but neither is it a particularly scary one. It's shot reasonably well and sports a decent enough cast (and trots out Hillary Swank as its trophy actress), yet the only people who will find themselves terrified by it are overly religious folk who would probably dump their pants at a picture of Satan drawn by a four-year old with crayons.
Swank plays Katherine Winter, a miracle-busting skeptic who tries her best to debunk any and all spiritual phenomena. In one early scene, she visits the Chilean city of Concepcion with her colleague Ben (Idris Elba) to discover that a rash of visionary activity can be attributed to the unlawful dumping of hazardous waste near holy grounds. As much as she loves slamming Jesus and his pals to the mat, she's one of those conflicted atheists who used to be a bible-thumping minister herself. Unfortunately, her work as a missionary led to the untimely demise of her husband and child, and it's been a life of disbelief and science for her ever since.
Father Costigan (Stephen Rea) - one of Katherine's old contacts - still believes, and once a collection of photographs portraying his old friend spontaneously combusts into the burning image of an inverted sickle he attempts convincing her that some bad juju is afoot. This is timed well with her invitation to the Louisiana town of Haven at the behest of a local science teacher named Doug (David Morrissey).
It seems Haven has been subjected to all manner of Biblical activity, the most alarming of which is the fact that its primary river has turned red with human blood. As all intolerant small town folk are wont to do, they immediately blame the incident on a potentially murderous weird little girl, and proclaim that these events are related to the Ten Plagues of Egypt from the book of Exodus.
What follows is part CSI, part X-Files and half-Lifetime movie as Katherine and Ben fight to keep their scientific wits about them as more and more potential plagues arrive (raining frogs, swarms of flies, mysterious cattle deaths). As they dig deeper and deeper, it comes to light that the mysterious happenings may be tied to the possible birth of a demonic child (never heard that one before!), and that an angel must appear to combat this being. The rest of the time Katherine wrestles with her faith, but she's nowhere near as interesting a character as The Exorcist's Father Karras or even Elias Koteas' priest-turned-cop in The Prophecy.
The script (by Carey and Chad Hayes) delights in misdirecting the audience so that they side with the wrong people from time to time, but for all of its twists and turns we're left with yet another faded replica from a string of better films dealing with diabolical subject matter. Taking a cue from the June 6th, 2006 release of last year's suprisingly deft remake of The Omen, this product has been pushed back to open on Good Friday. It's a cheap marketing ploy that underlines the fact that this film needs all the help it can get.
With an inherent lack of truly frightening story DNA, Hopkins is occasionally painted into a corner by the dull script and is forced to rely on the shock tactic of using loud noises for no good reason. One early instance of this cheesy gimmick occurs when Katherine is rudely wakened from her slumber during a car ride as a semi truck screams past her window, accompanied by a crashing sound effect and the fading cry of its horn. Perhaps it was a ghost rig, but I'm sorry – trucks don't simply appear out of nowhere! They do not stealthily approach your vehicle only to make booming sound effects directly next to your window. And their horns are not silent right until their sonic crescendo, as they're so often rendered in films such as this.
That's probably the most egregious example of the film's false 'scares', and otherwise the filmmaking techniques are capable enough – if nothing to write home about. The Louisiana location brought to mind many post-Katrina notions (such as the river of blood being a metaphor for a lack of proper disaster relief as opposed to an actual body of plasma), but it also unfortunately reminded me that I'd rather be watching that other recent and far superior Bayou horror flick Skeleton Key.
The Reaping owes a royalty check to a number of films, from the previously mentioned Omen series to Rosemary's Baby and then some. If you're terrified by the notion of Biblical retribution, by all means throw on a pair of depends. But for the rest of us, our shaking legs won't be a sign of an overload of nervous energy, but rather a manifestation of our restlessness as we endure an unenthralling series of rather tepid events.
The film I really wanted to see was the little-known account of sugar coated marshmallow Easter treats plaguing a small town with their yellow yummy goodness. If next year sees the release of The Peeping, I'll be the first in line! What Hath God Wrought? Addictive candy chicks, that's what!