After scientifically explaining her 48th miracle (the most recent), Katherine is approached by a man named Doug (David Morrissey), who claims that his hometown of Haven, Louisiana has been afflicted by something that very much resembles one of the plagues from the Old Testament in The Bible. He reveals that the water in his town has been turned red, just like blood, and that the townspeople suspect a 12-year-old girl of causing it.
Having decided to check it out, Katherine and her partner, Ben (Idris Elba), gather their equipment and head down to Haven, to disprove yet another miracle. Upon arriving, they meet a couple of friendly residents and the not-so-friendly mayor, and go straight to work. They test the water and wade through the bayou, looking for anything that would lead them to suspect that the red color is caused by anything other than blood.
I don’t want to give too much away, but suffice it to say that Katherine has a difficult time proving that the water isn’t blood. On top of that, it seems that all of the other plagues from The Bible are descending upon Haven, and she finds herself questioning her belief that all biblical “miracles” can be scientifically explained.
This movie is creepy at times; especially when Loren, the aforementioned 12-year-old girl (played very well by AnnaSophia Robb), is involved. I think children are generally creepy in movies of this sort, but Loren pretty much takes the cake as the creepiest in recent memory. I think it’s mostly because she doesn’t say hardly anything—she just stares.
I have to admit, I was disappointed in the way the movie ended. I’m not going to say how it ends, but in my opinion it sort of built up the suspense and then fizzled. Other than that, the movie was quite entertaining, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for an unsettling story.
The DVD
The Reaping comes as a single, double-sided DVD (with both standard and widescreen versions of the movie) in a standard case, with an embossed cardboard slipcover. The cover graphics are nice—the front cover image shows Loren, covered in flies with a snake wrapped around her, on a white background. On the slipcover, the snake is embossed (so that it is raised off the background) and printed in an iridescent ink that really calls attention. I really like the design of the case.
The menu screen contains static images of Hilary Swank and AnnaSophia Robb in the foreground, with the town of Haven and a river in the background. Animations of a few of the plagues (locusts, fire from the sky, etc.) play out in the background, to the tune of suspenseful music. It isn’t necessarily fancy, but it conveys the mood of the movie nicely.
As mentioned before, video is presented in both full screen and widescreen formats, thanks to a double-sided DVD. The video quality is nice, and the images are all crisp, clean and bright. The cinematography is good. I was expecting something a little bit darker or grittier, like the cinematography in the recent Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies, but the look that the director went with is good.
Audio is presented in Dolby 5.1 surround in English, Spanish and French, which works well for this movie. The suspenseful music is made even more nerve-wracking when it’s coming at you from all angles. The sound was especially amazing in the scenes with the swarms of locusts.
Special Features
This DVD has plenty of special features. Many DVDs will have the obligatory deleted scenes and director commentary, but nothing really original. The Reaping has four featurettes that gives lots of behind-the-scenes looks at different aspects of the movie. The featurettes include:
· The Science of the 10 Plagues: The Search for Scientific Explanation
· The Characters: Cast Members Reflect
· A Place Called Haven: Explore This Exotic Landscape
· The Reaping: The Seventh Plague: Those Creepy Bugs
The funny thing is, this DVD doesn’t contain any commentaries or deleted scenes, and I find myself missing them. That said, I would much rather have the featurettes because I find that they provide more insight into the making of the movie, which is generally what I’m most interested in.
Overall
The movie has its creepy moments, and it has a constant sense of foreboding that will keep you in suspense. It is a worthwhile watch, if you’re looking for something unsettling, but don’t pop it into the DVD player expecting something that will genuinely scare you.
Overall: 6.5