The Reaping (2007)

A Delectable Guilty Pleasure!

Ok, let's be honest -- this is not a good film. It's not an ok film. And it's not a bad film.

To me this is a film like, say, Roadhouse, Tremors or, I don't know -- Wild in the Streets? -- that is so irredeemably out there, so vividly rendered in just a straightaway un-ironic fashion, that it transcends its mere badness and actually becomes a fun, highly enjoyable guilty pleasure.

This is really a perfect B-film -- Hilary Swank plays it rigidly straight as the rational scientist even as she encounters increasingly absurd happenings that could only be the Devil's handiwork. Her sidekick is a gonner right from the get-go; the hunky sheriff in the bayou is hilarious, along with his overgrown gothic mansion right out of Forrest Gump; the townspeople and the local vigilante killing party are like some deluded crew from Doc Hollywood -- I really just enjoyed all of it.

If there was the slightest smirk, snark, or wink this film would just be pretty lousy. As it is it is a fun, solid B-movie thriller, the kind that has you talking back to the characters, discussing plot points with your friends, and eager to see it again. November 17, 2008

The Swamp Has A Lot Of Secrets

Hilary Swank downgrades her usually solid selection of films with "The Reaping." It's a run-of-the-mill plague-ridden spooker that's not that spooky at all.

The story is set in the backwoods of Louisiana (a recent trend thanks to perks offered by the state film commission) where a former missionary-turned-LSU professor/skeptic/debunker (Swank) is called upon to investigate strange happenings in the tiny town of Haven. With her student assistant in tow, Swank sets out to find scientific explanations for the plague-like occurrences in the small town.

What she finds is a close-knit community who believes that all of their problems are the cause of a Satan-worshipping little girl (AnnaSophia Robb). From there, Swank and company encounter more plagues while they try to put a stop to the Robb. As the story plays out, however, Swank begins to question the members of the community as well as her once-lost faith. Who should she believe? Who can she trust? And exactly what is that tenth plague again?

Overall, this snoozer is a step above most SciFi channel flicks, but it probably would have had a better run if it was released directly to DVD instead of on the big screen. As others have stated, the film's plot unravels as the conclusion gets near. If you enjoy thrillers and myteries that mix the Bible with creepy townsfolk, "The Reaping" is a sufficient rainy-day rental. October 6, 2008

We're talking the Bible, Ten Plagues of Egypt. How can you possibly go wrong?

The Reaping kinda sucked. The music worked way too hard, heavy, over dramatic in a way that when done right can be hugely affective, like in The Exorcist, but that here was just melodramatic and a little B movie of the week. Suckage also turned out to be a theme because the entire movie was a failure at whatever it actually was attempting. The plot was convoluted, the dialogue was crappy, it wasn't scary and the only reason that I was grossed out was because I made the mistake of eating a grilled cheese sandwich right in the middle of the lake of blood scene. (I have a delicate stomach, yo!)


So, let's make a movie and let's set it in the creepy backwaters of the Louisiana Bayou. We'll fill it with happy, southern people dealing with creepy biblical plagues. Throw in a newly menstruating blonde baby girl with big creepy blue eyes and surely we'll have a hit. Was that the pitch meeting? Did anyone really buy that? Hilary Swank did and I hope that she didn't read the script before she signed on cause the only thing that did work was the aforementioned blonde, blue-eyed creepy girl.

The Reaping fails at what The Skeleton Key excelled at. You're filming in the south in the bayou only kinda not really. I never got that heavy, languid, creepily atmospheric feeling that pervaded the landscape in The Skeleton Key. The Reaping's version of the Louisiana Bayou was sanitized and too bright. Hilary Swank gently perspired, the plantation was being renovated, but maybe most of the work had already been done. There was no peeling paint or squeaky steps, no rotting wood, very little in the way of tangled underbrush. That heavy feeling you get in tropical locales was completely missing.

Having only ever been to Louisiana in the spring and summer maybe I'm missing something and they were filming in the winter.

There was the requisite church songs playing in the background on an old record player, mystical, dreamy maybe sex, suspect heroes and the looming apocalypse. With all of that you would think that this movie could work it out. It was spliced with dream sequences and jumbled flashbacks that collided and, I suppose, were meant to make a kind of sense and reveal all sorts of super secret information cause hey, jumbled flashbacky dream sequences, what about that doesn't scream CLUE. Unfortunately, the clues only confused us more and we actually paused, re-wound and slow-mo'd through a couple of them. It still didn't really make sense. Not that that was unusual because most of the movie didn't make sense either and we all sat back as the credits rolled to try and piece together what actually happened and how in the heck Hilary Swank ended up carrying the anti-Christ when the entire time we thought the big-eyed blonde girl was the perfect demon child.

Well, as it turns out the blonde, Lauren, was a sort of angel. A second born child embodying the wrath of God, Lauren's purpose is to destroy the evil that's been brewing in Haven, Louisiana for generations. I have to say that I called it as we watched Lauren and Katherine (Hilary Swank) bond over the joy of becoming a woman. I figured that the entire town had been worshipping Satan and that now that they'd "reaped" (see how they did that) the perfect child they were in a panic because they couldn't actually control her. Well, I was *almost* right. Turns out they were trying to kill her not because they couldn't control her but because she was going to Kill Them All. See, Little Lauren was conjuring the Ten Plagues of Egypt and if you all recall the tenth plague is the Death of the First Borns. Well, Haven just so happened to be a town full of first born's as part of the tenets of their devil worshipping sect.

The entire movie was difficult and mostly silly and I couldn't figure out why Hilary Swank ran around at night in a flowing white skirt. What was that about, really?! Then there was, of course, the one COC, Ben. Ben is Katherine's T.A. from LSU and he's got a Master's degree and he's an educated black man who believes in the Lord (been going to church every Sunday for ten years) and was saved back in the day when he used to be a drug dealer and gang banger and general all around bad man. Of course, he also died. Like I didn't see that one coming.

Dude, seriously?!

Yeah, that's what I said, too.

The only thing that I did like about the movie was AnnaSophia Robb as Lauren McConnell, the angel masquerading as the Anti-Christ. That little girl is beautiful and angelic and creepy all at the same time. With her big, big blue eyes and delicate bone structure she managed to be all of those things that I think Rob Zombie was looking for in Daeg Faerch and failed to find.

Idris Elba did a good job with the crappy dialogue and did a great job creating a generic American accent. Too bad, really, because I think all if not most of the characters were actually supposed to be from Louisiana. David Morrissey was especially bad. DUDE! Seriously creepy southern town in the creepy backwater bayous of Louisiana where "every bump in the night is the devil at your back door"! Seriously?!

I didn't see the point of paying Stephen Rea to appear in the movie and Hilary Swank took ten steps backwards to play the part. Blessedly it was only 96 minutes, although sadly, those 96 minutes happened to fall smack dab in the middle of Jeopardy. September 25, 2008

Movie: 2/5 Picture Quality: 3~4/5 Sound Quality: 4/5 Extras: 1/5

Version: U.S.A / Region Free
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
VC-1 BD-25
Running time: 1:39:23
Movie size: 15,33 GB
Disc size: 17,42 GB
Average video bit rate: 14.31 Mbps
Dolby TrueHD 5.1 1623Kbps (48kHz/16-bit) English
DD AC3 5.1 640Kbps

Dolby TrueHD Audio English 1623 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 16-bit / 1623kbps (AC3 Core: 5.1 / 48kHz / 640kbps)
Dolby Digital Audio English 640 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 640kbps
Dolby Digital Audio French 640 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 640kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 640 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 640kbps

Subtitles: English SDH / French / Spanish / Portugese / Chinese / Korean

#Science of the 10 Plagues" (15 minutes)
#"The Characters" (7 minutes)
#"A Place Called Heaven" (6 minutes)
#"The Seventh Plague" (2 minutes) September 12, 2008

The Reaping Starring Hilary Swank

"The Reaping" is for the most part a good supernatural/horror film..... That is until the last 20 minutes of the storyline went completely haywire and the over-the-top special effects & the "End of Days" type theme killed the movie.

The Pros: Hilary Swank does a fine acting job in this film. I also liked the initial theme of "The Reaping", where Swank's character, Katherine Winter, is a LSU theology professor who goes around debunking so called "religious phenomenon" with her partner as there is usually a scientific explanation(s) for the religious phenomenon being reported..... Hence, Swank's character along with the help of her partner are then able to debunk the "religious phenomenon". Then Swank's character along with her partner are called to the small town of Haven to solve a lot of inexplicable "religious phenomenon" that have the townsfolk upset. Just when you think that Swank's character along that of her partner are going to be able to debunk these "religious phenomenon" with scientific evidence, the complete reverse happens and we find that the "religious phenomenon" can not be debunked with scientific evidence.

The Cons: The last 20 minutes of "The Reaping" was bad. As I mentioned above, the storyline goes haywire towards the end and the special effects were way too over-the-top. July 25, 2008

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