The Reaping

For a country so self-righteously Christian as the United States, it's curious that the only American movies that regularly touch on God and religion are horror films.

The Reaping is fairly typical. Hilary Swank is Katherine Winter, who lectures on the subject of Faith vs Science to rapt students, eager to hear how she travels around the world debunking modern miracles. Her scorecard currently stands at 48 for scientific explanation, 0 to the Almighty. Then she meets Doug (David Morrissey), a messenger from Haven.

This backwoods burg - 'the best kept secret in the bible belt' - is beset with a bayou running red. Superstitious locals have leapt to the conclusion it's a plague, and blame a young girl, Loren (AnnaSophia Robb) accused of having murdered her older brother. Katherine and her research assistant Ben (Idris Elba) go down to check it out just in time to catch the froggie rain, demented cattle and swarms of lice.

Before the night is through even Katherine is having nightmares about how she lost her faith during a tribal uprising that claimed the lives of her husband and daughter. As biblical scholars will know, there are ten plagues in all, culminating in the extermination of the first born, and Him Upstairs seems to be playing this one by the Book.

Directed by Stephen Hopkins (24) The Reaping is either unbelievably clichéd or it's consciously trying to synthesise classic horror movies.

You be the judge:

The whole pseudo-sceptical Faith vs Science debate (with faith winning hands down) is evocative of The Exorcist movies, especially with the African flashbacks and Stephen Rea cropping up (on his lonesome) as a priest who keeps witnessing dodgy miracles.

That's also a theme that crops up (in a more spiritual guise) in Don't Look Now. In The Reaping, Katherine chases a little girl wearing a red coat, and later confuses her with her dead daughter, just like Julie Christie does in Don't Look Now.

Katherine's feverish dreams of making love to Doug might come from Rosemary's Baby.

Loren, the girl, has a crazed religious mother, seems to have telekinetic powers (or at least the power to call down plagues), and all this just as she has her first period, just like Carrie White in Carrie.

Katherine and Loren's mom attempt to execute the supposedly demonic child in scenes that inevitably recall The Omen. That's also referenced when Ben takes refuge in a family crypt (well you would, wouldn't you?).

A shot of a plague of locusts covering every inch of available perch-space seems to be modeled on a shot from Hitchcock's The Birds.

The idea of a rational outsider in the midst of a rural cult he/she doesn't understand is similar to The Wicker Man.

Finally, the sequences where Katherine explores an old dark mansion after the power has been knocked out by a thunder storm, and later ventures into a possible murderer's cellar, these echo Psycho and about 1001 other horror movies we could mention. I'm sure there are other resemblances, but sadly The Reaping isn't in the same league as any of the above (well, maybe some of the lesser Exorcist movies).

The plot doesn't make any sense (not to me anyway) and the movie obviously exists as a showcase for CGI special effects, but the truth is these Acts Of God just aren't very scary. In fact for biblical catastrophes they're definitely on the poxy side. A dozen dead frogs� who is that meant to impress? And pray tell: why are the movie stars immune when the whole town is struck down with boils?

Like Halle Berry in Perfect Stranger, double Oscar-winner Hilary Swank is either slumming here, or simply reflecting the dearth of lead roles for women. There's nothing wrong with her capable performance in the circumstances, but you do wonder what she must have thought when Brit David Morrissey opened his mouth and came out with his half-assed version of a Deep Southern accent. Jeez, if they couldn't find an American male for the role, maybe they should have gone to Meryl Streep - I hear she's auditioning for American Idol now.

Tom Charity
tom.charity@lovefilm.com