Interesteg
What makes it different from others?
JinRoz
For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!
Ghoulumbe
Better than most people think
Portia Hilton
Blistering performances.
stratus_phere
You've got all your talking points. Greedy corporations; ignorant, gullible religious people who are so "economically desperate they will believe anything" (read "cling to their guns and bibles); radio station with a preacher talking about Jesus providing food for your table and bullets for your guns; smarmy liberals chuckling smugly over those impossibly ignorant flyover folks.Liberals should not be allowed to make movies that are not based in Hollywood or NYC. It's amazing to me how wrong they get it when they make movies about religion - Christians in particular. But then again, they exist in an echo chamber, and no new knowledge can squeeze in.
Wuchak
Released in 2007, "The Reaping" is a about a former ordained missionary who's now a professor who debunks supposed miracles around the world (Hilary Swank). She and her assistant (Idris Elba) venture to a bayou town where, amazingly, the ten plagues of Exodus are manifesting (!). David Morrissey plays their host in the town while AnnaSophia Robb plays the 12 year-old focal point of the plagues. Are the plagues real or can they be scientifically explained? If they're real, who's the source, God or the devil? This is a haunting mystery horror film rather than a monster/slasher movie, so if you're looking for the latter don't bother. That said, this is an extremely well-made production. The visuals of the various plagues are awesome, particularly the bayou turning to blood, the locusts and fire raining from the sky. Moreover, Swank looks super sharp in the manner of Raquel Welch (neither are my type, but who can deny their looks that kill?). Elba is a likable partner and Morrissey seems creepy from the get-go. As for AnnaSophia, it's clear even at 12 years of age that she was gonna morph into a curvy cutie.Where the movie goes wrong are elements of the story/script. It starts out good and is intriguing for the first 45 minutes or so, but then the next 30 minutes seriously lag. When the plot twist is revealed in the last act it turned me off the first time I watched the film, but I was braced for it with my second viewing and was able to accept it. The ending, while cartoonish, is spectacular in the manner of the end of "Raiders of the Lost Ark." So this is a solid mystery/horror movie, but it could've been better if they worked out the kinks in the screenplay, like the draggy second act and unsavory plot twist.The film runs 99 minutes and was shot in St. Francisville, Louisiana (the bayou town), Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Shreveport & New Orleans, Louisiana, as well as San Juan, Porta Rico (the opening sequence) and Austin Texas.GRADE: B-
SnoopyStyle
Katherine (Hilary Swank), having suffered a great loss, is now debunking miracles around the world and a professor at Louisiana State. She's called into Haven, a small town in the bayou. A small girl (AnnaSophia Robb) is suspected of unleashing the plagues and causing her brother's death. Only Katherine and her colleague Ben (Idris Elba) find baffling things keep happening.It works well for the first half as they try to debunk the plagues. Somewhere along the way, the odd events plus hallucinations overwhelm the delicate balance. It would be so much better to keep a healthy dose of doubt. It fails to maintain the tension and goes full bore into the supernatural. Only it lacks the cinematic style to make the supernatural compelling or scary.
WolfTheLycan
I just watched this movie last night, and I thought it was a really creepy movie. Some people said that this really disturbing; I sort of disagree on that part. I do say that this movie is creepy. I thought Hilary Swank did a decent job playing as a person that lost her faith in the beginning of the film. AnnaSophia Robb (Loren) was the best part in the movie; her character adds more suspense and creepiness to the atmosphere. Just like any other movie, it has flaws. Overall, it's possibly one of the most chilling movies I've ever watched. I recommend it if you love the concept of the ten biblical plagues that's on a modern setting.
