Reviewed by Neil Davey
Stars Hilary Swank, AnnaSophia Robb,
David Morrissey, Idris Elba
Written by Carey & Chad Hayes
Produced by Joel Silver & Robert Zemeckis
Certification UK 15 | Us R | Australia M
Runtime 96 minutes
Directed by Stephen Hopkins
What is going on with horror movies at the moment? First of all, we don’t appear to have had that many. Secondly, what we’ve had has been derivative. Are we truly out of demons?
The Reaping throws its hands up and goes back to the source: the big evil himself, Satan. Sadly, combined with the plot — strange small child appears to be the agent of Beelzebub while someone who’s lost their faith tries to get to the bottom of it — brings to mind The Exorcist and The Omen. Those films are the daddies of Satanic movies and, inevitably, The Reaping is going to suffer in comparison.
That’s something of a shame because the set-up, the commitment of the leads and the all-out creepiness is highly effective for a good two-thirds of the film. Hilary Swank is Katherine Winter, a former minister who lost her faith when she lost her husband and child. Now she works for a university and spends her days debunking supposed miracles around the world. Her assistant, Ben (Idris Elba) is the opposite: he wants to prove a miracle to reinforce his faith.
The two are called to Haven, a small Bible Belt backwater, where the river appears to have turned to blood. Is it the start of the ten Biblical plagues? Or is there a scientific explanation? Whichever it is, Katherine is under pressure to work it out, otherwise the villagers intend to kill Loren (AnnaSophia Robb), the 11-year old girl they blame for incurring God’s wrath.
These are big themes and director Stephen Hopkins generally spins them together well. It’s certainly better than other papers might lead you to believe: well, up until the denouement, anyway. Swank is never less than convincing, Elba is a likeable foil and Stephen Rea pops up in his now standard role of ageing priest to add some extra quality to proceedings. Brit David Morrissey is also on hand as the schoolteacher who brings Katherine and Ben into the investigation. He’s a fine actor but he doesn’t do so well with the accents, accordingly he appears to come from the Black Country’s Bible Belt.
Most impressive though is AnnaSophia Robb. She has a thankless task — part Carrie, part-Damian, part-Linda Blair and gets almost zero dialogue. However, she’s a magnetic little performer as she also demonstrates in the forthcoming Bridge To Terabithia which is, frankly, the best, most moving family movie for about 20 years. More in that in a week or two though; suffice it to say, she’s sweet and menacing, and Dakota Fanning must be suddenly worried about her career. On the whole though, The Reaping’s alright. It’s not a classic but it’s a decently made diversion with some genuine scares, effective creepiness – and an undeniable sensation that it’s much, much better than last year’s The Omen remake.