The Reaping (2007)

Director:

Stephen Hopkins

Writers (WGA):

Carey Hayes (screenplay) &
Chad Hayes (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

5 April 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Thousands of years ago there was a series of bizarre occurrences that many believed to have been the Ten Biblical Plagues. No one thought they could happen again. Until now.

Plot:

A former Christian missionary, who specializes in debunking religious phenomena, investigates a small town which seems to be suffering from the 10 biblical plagues.

Plot Keywords:

Plague | Missionary | Biblical Plague | Small Town | Louisiana

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Hilary Swank	...	Katherine
David Morrissey	...	Doug
Idris Elba	...	Ben
AnnaSophia Robb	...	Loren McConnell
Stephen Rea	...	Father Costigan
William Ragsdale	...	Sheriff Cade
John McConnell	...	Mayor Brooks
David Jensen	...	Jim Wakeman
Yvonne Landry	...	Brynn Wakeman
Samuel Garland	...	William Wakeman
Myles Cleveland	...	Kyle Wakeman
Andrea Frankle	...	Maddie McConnell
Mark Lynch	...	Brody McConnell
Stuart Greer	...	Gordon
Lara Grice	...	Isabelle

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, disturbing images and some sexuality.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Australia:M | Ireland:15A | Hong Kong:IIB | Singapore:M18 | Singapore:NC-16 (edited for re-rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | UK:15 | Netherlands:16 | Germany:16 | USA:R (certificate #43267) | Italy:VM14 | New Zealand:M | Argentina:16 | South Korea:15 | Norway:15 | Malaysia:18PL | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Sweden:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Finland:K-18 (self applied) | Peru:14 | France:U (with warning)

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Philip Glass was the film's original composer. His score had been written and recorded before he was replaced by John Frizzell.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Upon first arriving in Haven, Katherine and Ben drive past a large red brick building and then immediately blow right through a stop sign (which has a police car behind it on the cross street).

Quotes:

Maddie McConnell: Are you here for my girl? Are you gonna kill my baby girl?
Katherine Winter: What? No!
Maddie McConnell: Why not?
Katherine Winter: I'm just trying to help her.
Maddie McConnell: She doesn't need help. Can't you see that?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: The Worst of 2007" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Have You Ever Been Down

You can't even parody a movie like this

My main question: who is this movie aimed at? Any non-theist will find it laughable and stupid, but it's not exactly doing people of faith any favors either with its groundbreaking "God is evil" message. In it we find out that, due to the expansion of the human race, God no longer has the resources to keep humanity in line, so he spends his time pranking tiny hick towns out of boredom. For Haven, Louisiana, he has decided to bring back his original 10 plagues, only it turns out that what was once looked upon as phenomenal power is really lame by contemporary standards. First he turns a two-mile stretch of river into blood, then drops about a dozen frogs into it. Having failed to terrorize the nonbelievers yet, he waits until they are about to eat dinner and then fills their barbecue grill with flies. OH SH*T, FLIES! DINNER WILL BE POSTPONED! The plagues continue on in this retarded fashion until Hilary Swank... okay, she really has nothing to do with it, the plagues just continue on to #10 and then stop. Louisiana: you have been plagued. Oh, wait: she believes now. Apparently God's goal in this movie was to give Hilary Swank her faith back by wiping out a random town. I'm not kidding. If anything could possibly make God look worse than he already does in the Old Testament, this movie has done it. It has also continued the mythical Hollywood view of atheism as some kind of mental health problem. I don't know why people complain about the extreme liberalism of Hollywood when every atheist character in a mainstream movie has become that way because of some tragic personal event (in this case, her entire family getting slaughtered), like atheism is the equivalent of post-traumatic stress disorder.

The only other thing I have to say about this idiotic movie is that David Morrissey's accent is the funniest thing I have ever heard. It reminds me of something, but I don't know what. The best I can come up with is Bruce Campbell playing Elvis Presley, but I know that's not right. Please, someone rent this thing and tell me who he sounds like, because it's keeping me up at night.

I'll give this an extra star for some nifty special effects at the end.