Movie Review: The Reaping
April 2nd, 2007 by Maggie Adan, Editor-in-Chief, K-ZonePosted in Media (Books, CDs, DVDs, Movies) |
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Showing: April 7, 2007
Starring: Hilary Swank, AnnaSophia Robb, Stephen Rea
Like I said before, I’m game for all kinds of movies, horror flicks included. Even if I can’t sleep without the lights on after watching it, I’m still game. Bring it on! I have to admit though I didn’t have high expectations for this one. I thought Biblical horror movies have been nothing but tired and uninspired, so I went in thinking, “Here we go again.”
But I was surprised that I genuinely enjoyed this one—in the best way horror movies are enjoyed…with one eye closed, the other one peeking through your fingers while your other hand is effectively cutting off the circulation of your seatmate’s upper arm.
In The Reaping, Hilary Swank is an ex-Missionary who turns into a pro miracle debunker after her husband and daughter die tragically. Her next assignment is to find the scientific reason behind what appears to be the 10 Biblical plagues…er, plaguing…the small backwater Louisiana town of (quite the misnomer here) Haven. But as the countdown continues, she becomes aware that this could be the real deal—you know, locusts, boils, river of blood, the works—and she has to come to terms with her faith in order to survive the dark forces closing in on her.
The scariest thing in this movie is not a mutated superhuman living in a barren hillside or a sadistic psycho in a clown mask. It’s a sweet-looking, blonde-haired, blue-eyed little girl, who looks less evil and more in serious need of a bath, a hairbrush, and some motherly attention. Despite her harmless demeanor, she crept the crap out of me with her subtler Children-of-the-Corn silence and stillness, and the habit she has of popping up unexpectedly.
I don’t even know how she managed to do that or exactly what made her so spooky but she looks like there’s something seriously wrong with her and although she has less than a handful of lines in the movie, she was scary. (Kudos to AnnaSophia Robb who plays the little girl.)
There’s a double twist near the end that I liked too. It’s the kind that makes you wonder, or want an explanation or a sequel. There are moments early in the movie that dragged a bit and there are things that are left unexplained but it’s easy to overlook those, I guess. But the twist is intriguing and I can’t wait to hear what you guys think.
Watch it and get back to me on this: Is the little girl good or evil?
See you at the posts!
April 2nd, 2007 at 7:26 pm
I wasn’t planning to watch this movie, but after reading this review, can’t wait to see it!
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:53 am
me too…
April 3rd, 2007 at 2:21 pm
watched it during the press screening in gb.
note: MAJOR SPOILER
The girl turns out to be GOOD.
Apparently, she seems to be the “angel of death” as she brought plagues to the town. The town, fraught with Satanists, wreaked their own devastation because of their fiendish acts and diabolic desire of cultivating the perfect “reaping of the Anti-Christ” which would embody Satan as a person.
You’ll be surprised at the “climactic twist” on the latter parts of the movie.
April 3rd, 2007 at 6:38 pm
SPOILER ALERT!
Hmmm…that’s what I thought too, Roanne…but there’s the second twist at the end (when they’re in the truck)that to me, suggests that she may be evil after all.
April 7th, 2007 at 11:10 am
Hmmm…I actually think that she’s EVIL. Maybe one of the Devil’s Princes or advocates or something. If you remember, Michael told Katherine that the Devil, since the beginning of time, have always tried to match God’s powers and signs. I think, the devil sent his wing man in the form of a little girl just to ensure that Hilary Swank will get knocked up with his baby. Afterwards, she (Loren) could destroy the pawns which are known as the townsfolk since their work was done, making themselves seem worthy enough to receive the devil’s blessing to have chose them to begin his “master” plan. I actually think that when Loren says, “We’re gonna take care of him too, right?” that she’s gonna pull a Mia Farrow and raise the antichrist here on Earth! You can’t ignore those evil eyes! But that’s just my demented interpretation. Great film!
April 9th, 2007 at 10:34 pm
I guess this calls for a part two.
I’m not much into drawing conclusions; but, it’s either the girl’s really evil (like everything’s perfectly planned to make her look like the angel the priest was referring to) or she’s just plain oblivious on the baby Hilary’s conceiving. ;P
April 10th, 2007 at 11:54 pm
i initially thought that loren was good, after all those explanatory flashbacks in the latter part, and her im-lucky-because-god-gave-me-you line.
but come to think of it, why would she want to raise the kid inside swank?
come to think of it, i thought that the sex between them was part of her dream sequence…
April 11th, 2007 at 12:59 am
I liked the movie. I agree some parts dragged a bit, but generally good. I didn’t like the ending though. Can’t she just get rid of “it”?
Sailorboi, I think it was made to appear as part of a dream, but whatever she took from the beer bottle, it must have caused her to hallucinate, thus blurring the line between dream and reality… SHe did wake with sand on her feet. hhmmm…
April 11th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Creepy!! hahahaha…
I think they left the ending that way to so they can opt to make a sequel in case the movie makes money..
I was confused too if the girl was good or evil.
April 15th, 2007 at 8:21 am
This MOVIE is a must-see. Watched this last night at Powerplant. This movie gave me goosebumps and I still had it until I went out of the mall. The twists are great! I think this deserves a part 2…
I’m also thinking that the kid is evil because of her last statement…hehe
btw, I think the kid will be a model…she has the looks of Natalia Vodianova? I think….
April 17th, 2007 at 3:03 am
I Think the girl is evil because of her last statement…. and Katherine (Swank) can abort the baby….
April 17th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
my thoughts exactly..
May 6th, 2008 at 5:59 am
at the begning I thouht that the girl would be evil but she was actully good but what she can do at the end was awesome!!!!