The Reaping (2007)

A former Christian missionary, who specializes in debunking religious phenomena, investigates a small town which seems to be suffering from the 10 biblical plagues.

Director:

Stephen Hopkins

Writers:

Carey Hayes (screenplay) (as Carey W. Hayes), Chad Hayes (screenplay)

Stars:

Hilary Swank, David Morrissey, AnnaSophia Robb

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Hilary Swank	...	Katherine
David Morrissey	...	Doug
Idris Elba	...	Ben
AnnaSophia Robb	...	Loren McConnell
Stephen Rea	...	Father Costigan
William Ragsdale	...	Sheriff Cade
John McConnell	...	Mayor Brooks
David Jensen	...	Jim Wakeman
Yvonne Landry	...	Brynn Wakeman
Samuel Garland	...	William Wakeman
Myles Cleveland	...	Kyle Wakeman
Andrea Frankle	...	Maddie McConnell
Mark Lynch	...	Brody McConnell
Stuart Greer	...	Gordon
Lara Grice	...	Isabelle

Storyline

The death of a child in mysterious circumstances sparks a series of events that seem to represent biblical plagues, which start occurring in, of all places, a town called "Haven" that is located deep in the bowels of Bible belt country in the bayous of Louisiana. A former Christian missionary turned religious phenomena debunker and her top open minded student turned personnel assistant are sent to investigate.

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Plot Keywords:

biblical plague | plague | missionary | louisiana | small town | 

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Taglines:

The Seventh Plague: Storms Of Fire

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, disturbing images and some sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [Germany] Warner Bros. [France]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

5 April 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Reaping - Die Boten der Apokalypse

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$10,025,203 (USA) (6 April 2007)

Gross:

$25,117,498 (USA) (1 June 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Dark Castle Entertainment, Chime Productions LLC

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Philip Glass was the film's original composer. His score had been written and recorded before he was replaced by John Frizzell.

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Goofs

In the slide show presentation in the beginning of the film, there is a slide show displaying both methanol and ethanol. However, the molecular structure labeled as ethanol is in fact methanol, and methanol is labeled as ethanol. Also, the structures displayed for both other chemicals on the same slide, DMSO and benzene, are incorrect.

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Quotes

Doug Blackwell: [about dead fish] When did this start?
Sheriff Cade: This morning. Bubbled up like farts in a bathtub.

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Crazy Credits

The opening logos are unique and blend into one another: a red Warner Bros. logo crumbles into dust to reveal a pink-tinted Village Roadshow Pictures logo, which in turn is obscured by clouds that part to reveal the Dark Castle Entertainment logo.

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Episode dated 7 April 2007 (2007)

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Soundtracks

Poor Black Mattie
Written by R.L. Burnside (as Robert L. Burnside)
Performed by R.L. Burnside
Courtesy of M.C. Records

User Reviews

Better than people are saying

Just got back from seeing The Reaping and I must say it was better than I expected. After reading the critics reviews and reading a majority of the user comments I thought this movie was going to be a real dog. One of the complaints was about the poor special effects. I've never been too impressed with CGI in the first place, but this was as good as any I've seen lately. It has never looked real to me in any movie. As far as the storyline not being original, what film has been original in the last few years. There has been so many movies made in the last 80 years or so that it's gotta be difficult to come up with a never used theme at this point. I also believe when you have an actor the caliber of Hilary Swank in a movie they are held to a higher standard and are thusly criticized more harshly than others if their movies aren't stellar. Give this one a try and judge for yourself.