The Reaping (HD DVD/DVD Combo)

SPANNING OVER ONE THOUSAND YEARS, & THREE PARALLEL STORIES, THIS IS A STORY OF LOVE, DEATH, SPIRITUALITY & FRAGILITY OF OUR EXISTENCE IN THIS WORLD.

The Reaping capitalizes on cheesy clichés to begin with, rendering it even less scary than predecessors like Children of the Corn, The Devil's Rain, Satan's Blood, or All the Colors of the Dark. Overuse of CG special effects ruin this already bad film about Louisiana State University scientist Katherine Winter (Hilary Swank), who heads to the bayou to investigate what at first she denies is a Biblical plague. The river has turned to blood, frogs fall from the sky, cattle die, and the townspeople keel over covered with red bumps, while Katherine, who happens to have been an ordained minister before she became a university professor, struggles to justify these horrendous events sans religion. Eventually, Katherine's skepticism places her in danger, as the town lays blame on Loren McConnell (AnnaSophia Robb), bewitched daughter of a local Satan worshipping family, and the one whom Katherine tries to protect since Loren recalls her own deceased daughter. As Katherine and Loren battle as angel and devil, they learn to instead forge Team Faith against the townsfolk who are all part of a sinister, inbred, Satanic cult. The film is badly cast, and the acting is horrendous, save Hilary Swank, who at least looks sexy traversing the swamps with a hunting knife hooked through her belt. The Rosemary's Baby ending is the icing on the cake. There is nothing original about The Reaping, except that it might be the biggest rip-off of previous Satanic cult films ever made. —Trinie Dalton