The Gathering

The Gathering has 2 elements that are familiar to us: first, the thriller element of someone who loses her memory after being hit in a car accident, and later tries to recover from amnesia, while the situation gets more and more dangerous because she doesn't know yet who she is. The second is the horror element of something ancient and evil that is unearthed after many centuries, but still alive. What makes "The Gathering" particularly interesting, however, is the third ingredient: the people who gather are not those who want to do something - they are those who wish not to do anything. The watchers of terrible events, willing audience for any murderer. This idea is put to great use here, and since everything else, from the actors to the countryside location, works fine, I don't see any reason not to enjoy this picture.

I bought this on DVD (the short version - grrr!) knowing that Christina Ricci was in it and nothing else. What I found was an adequate, 6/10 movie (Ricci makes it a 7, but that's just me) with little by way of originality or genuine horror, but that does not make it inferior to many blockbusters. The English setting gives it a quaint feel, as it looks genuinely normal, and not some movie version of a creepy town. The cast are better than you'd expect, and some of the direction manages to evoke sinister feelings without use of hokey effects. However, unless you are easy to please, an aficionado of low-budget horror flicks, or a fan of Christina Ricci or Ioan Gruffud (or Mackenzie Crook in a non-speaking role) then there is probably no real reason to watch this.

THE GATHERING stars Christina Ricci as Cassie Grant, who is backpacking through rural England when she's hit by a car. This results in her staying with the family of the woman who struck her. Strange things begin happening, seemingly related to an ancient -and quite mysterious- first century, Christian church that has been unearthed nearby.

Upon recovering from her injuries, Cassie ventures out into the local town. Why are people now watching and following her? The longer she stays, the more bizarre and chilling it all becomes.

This is a solid supernatural horror-thriller, with some creepy twists. The unexpected ending ties it all up nicely. Ms. Ricci is really good in this, proving once again that she could very well be the Barbara Steele of her generation...

I wasn't expecting much at all, but it couldn't even live up to that. Essentially its' a by-the-numbers American thriller that just happens to take place in a small English town. Maybe I would've been more forgiving if it was Hollywood-glossy, extremely violent and had a sense of humor about it's own lack of originality (if it in other words had more of a postmodern vibe and was shamelessly attempting never to be boring)... but instead it's visually low-key in that European TV kinda way, I constantly expected Inspector Morse or Dalgliesh to come through the door, utterly sure of its own cleverness and complexity (which is a bit silly since there's no surprises worth talking about and it's about as deep as Models Inc.) and completely devoid of scares. Not even the cheap scares work (with one notable exception I won't get into here), nor does it deliver as a drama, since the plot demands that the central character stay pretty empty (the good ol' trick amnesia is dragged out) and none of the other characters does much of anything but spout heavy handed exposition. The film just doesn't deliver in any kinda way. Ricci is excellent, dressed in tight jeans and tight tops she's quite the visual spectacle as well, and the acting by the mainly British cast isn't bad either, but none of that can turn the script and the lackluster direction ("from the director of Not Without my Daughter comes a haunting horror movie") into a good film.

This film is about a young woman having horrible visions of the future, after being hit by a car.

I didn't know anything about the film before I saw it, and I bought it only for Christina Ricci. It was long ago that I have been so captivated by a film! The plot is new and interesting, and I don't recall seeing anything like it (that's because I don't watch that many horror films). Weird or scary things happen often enough throughout the film, and to my comfort there are no excessive violence or blood. The suspense is kept throughout the film. The idea of the "gathering" is really new to me and I am surprised that this has not come up anywhere before. I really liked the film!