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but fails in the end. The plot for this film sounded good to me. A debunker of miracles, Katherine, investigates a small town that appears to be experiencing the 10 plagues of the Pharohs. I thought the movie was very good at the beginning. The mysterious bloody river and the death of a young boy right before it turned red. And the townsfolk seem to be saying a young girl, Loren, is the one causing the plagues. Katherine with the help of her colleague, Ben, and local Doug collects samples from the river and dying livestock. When the results come back that it's real human blood, I thought wow, this is getting good. But at the point when some of the locals go out to hunt down Loren and the attack of the locust, the movie gets silly. The once good plot just goes stereotypical Hollywood with the twist at the end and whom is really the bad guy. And how does Katherine know they are all first born. The plot holes begin to creep in.

It's like the writer knew this was a good idea for a story, but didn't know how to finish it so just put in a lot of explosions and a very silly conclusion.

FINAL VERDICT: If you like horror films, you may to check this out but expect to be disappointed.

I wasn't really too interested in seeing The Reaping, but it looked like it might be worth a watch, so my friend and I saw it last night and both him and I agreed, it was kinda predictable and not that entertaining. Hilary Swank is an incredible actress and this seemed to be a step down for her. While it has some creepy moments, it wasn't anything to be thrilled over, it just could haven been better or more scary. The acting was alright, the story could have been more clever, but I do have to admit the effects were pretty cool, sometimes a little hokey, but over all they did a good job on the "destruction" of the Earth.

Katherine is a scientist who used to be a Christian missionary, but when she lost her husband and child to a plague, she lost her faith as well. But when a town starts to witness the reaping, the end of the world through God's wrath, they blame it on a little girl, but Katherine is sure she can prove through science that it's nothing to worry about. But she starts to find out slowly how this may not just be something to forget about and the prophecy just might be true.

It's not a recommendation for the theater, it's more of a rental, I'm just warning you that it's not a movie to get thrilled over and it's a disappointment considering all the advertisement that it got. Hilary made a mistake taking this film, it wasn't creepy and it doesn't really get your mind thinking. Seriously, just wait for the rental, you'll thank me later.

6/10

Well I'm shocked-this is a pretty good little thriller.

Hillary Swank is an ex-missionary turned scientist and debunker, she's called into investigate a small town in the deep South where the river has turned red or as some suspect to blood. this is followed in close order by other Biblical plagues. They all seem to to be tied to a young girl living in the woods.

Creepy little movie thats better than many recent Bible thrillers. Here we start off with science and find as time goes on that it can't explain whats going on. well acted with a couple of nice set pieces this is a movie that works mostly by simple visualization, we see a red river, we see flies, we see frogs. except for a plague of locusts and some fire in the sky what we see out side of dreams is all simple effects given weight by the sincerity of the script and the performances. This is a film where the classic idea of its all better in the mind works to great effect with just a small push.

Is it a great film? No, but its a good one. Its the sort of thing you sit and watch on a Saturday night with a big bag of popcorn and a soda. Is it worth paying ten bucks in the theater for? I doubt it but on a rainy Sunday afternoon it may fit the bill on the bargain priced matinée. (Certainly worth a rental) Somewhere between six and seven out of ten.

I hooked right into this movie from the opening minutes to the closing credits.

It sets up the story with the creation of a fantastic atmosphere and the juxtaposition of science vs religion.

What really rams this movie home is the first class cast, who deliver credibility, passion and doubt.

It may have problems but I was connected enough with the movie to overlook them :)

The Reaping is one of the many high budget horror movies, doing their best to "resurrect" the genre. Although being watchable and even creative at times, it fails to complete the mission.

Katherine Winter is sent to a small town with the task of solving the death of a boy. She soon finds out the river, the boy's body has been found, is red. Locals claim it's human blood, but Katherine refuses to believe.

Stephen Hopkins, a popular director, makes another movie that is almost successful, but couple of wrong decisions affect the overall result. I really can't say I was disappointed. For my surprise, Swank is not a miscast. She does a decent, believable performance. The film's major mistakes involve needless plot details that could easily annoy the viewer.

Somewhere in the middle of the film, clichés take over the action. Most of the plot ending becomes predictable. Pointless, long scenes of flashbacks, romances and dialogs contradicts the general idea of the film. The second act is almost not horror, but a rather dramatic ride through Katherine's past. It's obvious that the movie depends too much on good acting moments. Something that is not typical for horror and so, I was normally upset by the emptiness of some scenes. Emptiness, that nearly made me fall asleep.

Hopkins's movie has the premises. It isn't only the high-budget and big names to help the movie reach the theaters. The story involves element from the religion which appears to be a really big cliché these days. However, the structure of the film remains balanced thanks to the good writing. The idea of Katherine's personal nightmares, being a barrier between reality and illusion fits perfectly into the plot.

There are also some great visuals that recreate a feeling of realistic terror.

The Reaping could have been better, but still, it deserves a look. There are some impressive scenes, I'm sure all whimsical horror fans will like.