The Gathering

Despite promise throughout, THE GATHERING is a rather weak slice of horror that proves perfectly watchable but comes across as an extended episode of MIDSOMER MURDERS more than anything else. It has that cosy TV movie feel to it, despite the odd burst of violence, and the play-it-safe script from popular author Anthony Horowitz doesn't break new ground at any point.

The story begins with an American tourist involved in a car accident where she obtains a serious head injury. Suffering amnesia, she goes to live with a household in a village, and soon grows close to a young boy in the family. However, she's plagued with violent premonitions of his death. Meanwhile, the boy's father is uncovering the mystery of a mural depicting the last days of Christ.

THE GATHERING is a sometimes-atmospheric production that occasionally brings to mind the air of spooky mystery in something like THE WICKER MAN. Unfortunately, more often than not it falls flat, thanks to weak plotting and a generally unfocused storyline. Christina Ricci feels out of place and it doesn't help that her character is one of those protagonists who doesn't actually have anything to do with the main storyline. Ioan Gruffudd is there for his looks alone, although Stephen Dillane (GAME OF THRONES) is more interesting as the father figure. The likes of Kerry Fox, Robert Hardy, and Simon Russell Beale barely get a look in during this oddly muted and non-suspenseful tale.

I went into this movie (the cut dvd version, which bought for cheap) expecting a cheap horror film. What I got was... not horror. I enjoyed it a lot, given that I'm a sucker for quaint mystery thrillers in general, but I bought this expecting horror because it markets itself as horror. and this is a bad horror movie.

However, I can look past this because I'm a rather casual movie watcher. I found myself pleasantly surprised at this film's build-up to a sense of dread which hits at about an hour in. The mystery of the movie solves itself in a very satisfactory way, and clocking in at roughly 85 minutes, the movie doesn't overstay its welcome. Granted, nothing new is explored in this movie that hasn't been done better elsewhere. But for anybody looking for something quiet, short, and satisfactory to kill time with, this is a decent film to choose.

While going to the town of Ashby Wake, the drifter Cassie (Christina Ricci) is hit by a car driven by Marion Kirkman (Kerry Fox) and loses her memory. Marion invites Cassie to stay in her huge old house with her family, while recovering from the trauma. Cassie becomes very close to Michael, the young son of Marion's husband Simon Kirkman (Stephen Dallane). He is researching a recently discovered buried church from the First Century, with images of the crucifixion of Jesus and many anonymous persons watching it. Cassie starts having visions and premonitions with some locals, and decides to investigate the weird and nasty mechanic Frederick Michael Argyle (Peter McNamara). Her findings about who she is and the mystery relative to the locals and the town surprises her. "The Gathering" is a good, original and mysterious horror movie, in the same line of "The Others", "Haunted", "The Sixth Sense"and "El Espinazo del Diablo". It is not gore, but very creepy and scary. Christina Ricci is magnificent, as usual, and the idea is fresh and unusual. The conclusion of the story is commercial, but it is not bad. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Encontro" ("The Gathering")

Yes, unfortunately most DVD releases of "The Gathering" are cut, and that slightly ruins the film. Not because a short explicit scene would make a great difference, but because plot holes were left where about 10 minutes are left out: The authenticity of two main characters, played by Ricci (Cassie) and Gruffudd (Dan) is keenly impaired, and that reduces the overall impression quite a lot. My rating counts for the original version, it would have been 6 for the short version. More info about the differences at "alternate versions" and in the message boards here.

Apart from that, this film has a really nice and intriguing story, mystery, suspense, some religious revelations, a little bit of horror and a gorgeous main actress. Worth watching... if you can get it uncut.

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.