It's That Ol' Time Religion!
The Reaping Brings Back Old Testament Wrath

While The Exorcist may be the scariest movie of all time, it doesn't hold the exclusive rights to faith-based horror. The horror genre has been scaring up demons and anti-Christ figures for years. In the new supernatural thriller, The Reaping, director Stephen Hopkins brings the war between heaven and hell down to earth as a small Louisiana town becomes the setting for a series of biblical plagues.

The Reaping
Locust swarm around Katherine (Hilary Swank) in the supernatural thriller The Reaping. (Warner Bros. Pictures, 2007)
Directed by: Stephen Hopkins
Written by: Carey Hayes & Chad Hayes, based on a story by Brian Rousso
Starring: Hilary Swank, David Morrissey, Idris Elba, AnnaSophia Robb, and Stephen Rea

Rated R (for violence, disturbing images and some sexuality)
Running time: 96 min.

FilmGuru's Rating : 8 out of 10.

Hilary Swank stars as Katherine, a former woman of the cloth who now spends her life debunking miracles. When a science teacher named Doug (David Morrissey) asks for her help, she goes to a local town called Haven to investigate a "river of blood."

With the help of her colleague Ben (Idris Elba), she investigates a growing number of events that the locals believe are plagues of biblical proportion.

The skeptical Katherine must play Scully to Ben's Mulder as they investigate an increasingly bizarre set of phenomena, from frogs to flies to cows dropping dead for no reason.

While she searches for a scientific explanation, Katherine must also fight the small-minded townsfolk who cling to superstitious beliefs and want a scapegoat for their curse. The target of their irrational fear is a local 12-year old girl, Loren (AnnaSophia Robb).

In addition to being a good horror thriller, The Reaping is also an interesting story of faith. Swank's character, Katherine, has abandoned her calling and her faith for reasons that are brought out in flashback through the course of the film. It is her faith, however, that has put her in danger and it may be the only thing that can save her.

Although the story seems pretty cut and dry, there are some nice twists here. Katherine's scientific curiosity plays counterpoint to Ben's deep faith, something that puts them at odds as they investigate the growing number of incidents. In an interesting turn, Katherine's lack of faith nearly blinds her to the truth of the seemingly supernatural events.

For some, a story about Biblical plagues in modern times may seem old fashioned, even silly. Yet, The Reaping offers a good story about the struggle between what we see and what we believe. It also offers some good, downright scary moments as the story reaches its climax.

As good as the film is, it has one fatal flaw. The story includes an ending that is so forced, it is obviously tacked on in the hopes of spawning (no pun intended) a sequel. This kind of poor storytelling merely reinforces the stereotype that horror is a genre only concerned with pandering to the lowest common denominator.