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Picture
A former missionary who now debunks miracles investigates a small Louisiana town that appears to be suffering from biblical plagues.
HORROR

The Reaping (2007)

Directed by Stephen Hopkins

Written by Carey W. Hayes and Chad Hayes

Starring Hilary Swank, David Morrissey, Idris Elba,
​AnnaSophia Robb, Stephen Rea, William Ragsdale

Connor Eyzaguirre
February 1, 2018
6/10
When I was twelve, I saw the trailer for The Reaping, and for some reason, it stuck with me to this day. It looked like such an intriguing horror film, and I was surprised that it never became a hit. Considering this film has been in the back of my mind for nearly eleven years, it took me way too long to finally watch it. It's not very often childhood expectations die when you're in your twenties, now is it? The Reaping is a poorly executed, poorly acted, and poorly written religious horror thriller that squandered a brilliant premise and ruined any chance of Hilary Swank ever being a bankable star.

Hilary Swank is Katherine, a former missionary turned religious debunker after the death of her husband and daughter. When bayou man Doug (David Morrissey, in the role that clearly won him the Governor) comes to Katherine claiming that his town is suffering from biblical plagues, she and her partner Ben (Idris Elba, who does his best with a paper thin sidekick role) travel to Haven, LA to investigate. The idea of biblical plagues manifesting around a little girl who's the victim of a psycho cult is horror movie gold, and never should've led to a movie this bad. When AnnaSophia Robb's tragic Loren is introduced, the movie tricks you into believing she's the villain, but only because it's pretty damn clear from her body language. The only reason she ends up not being the true villain is because the movie says so, despite all clues beforehand pointing in that direction for the sake of logic.

The Reaping juggles themes introduced in far superior horror films and never quite sticks the landing. It's another example of a good story falling apart in the hands of poor writers and a director whose biggest horror movie prior to this was A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child. When you hire low, you get a low movie. It's easy as that. In the right hands, The Reaping could've been remembered as one of the smartest and scariest horror movies of the decade. Instead, I'm probably the first person to have watched it in eleven years.

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