Delayed for at least a year, the latest production from Dark Castle (the folks behind mostly under whelming fare such as Thir13en Ghosts and Ghost Ship), The Reaping has finally arrived in theatres and it's just one of many surprisingly dull "Biblical Plague" movies to come along. It certainly sticks close to the 'ten prophecies' (rivers turning to blood, locusts, and all that jive) that when scripters Chad and Carey W. Hayes try and thrown in an Omen-like twist in the finale it tends to fall apart in a cacophonous series of set pieces and effects.

In fact, the best moment to be taken from this can be seen in the trailer when Hilary Swank's character is asked by a backwoods woman: "are you here to kill my baby?" and when she says no is asked, "why not?" - for some reason that dialogue exchange alone made me want to head out to the theatres to see this. The rest of the trailer made it look like exactly what it was: a so-so horror movie that's trying to cram way too much into its 96 minute running time.

Swank stars as Katherine Winter, a scientist and University professor who's made it her job to prove all, and any, things considered "miracles" are anything but. And damned if she's not good at it. When we first meet her she's off in a foreign country proving that a sickness seeping from a church isn't a plague, but a chemical spill the government knew all about.

After returning to the States she's approached by Doug (David Morrissey), who's been sent by the residents of the small bayou town of Haven to recruit Katherine to come out to the backwoods and try to make sense of all the weird events happening. With assistant Ben (Idris Elba) in tow, Katherine agrees and arrives in Haven just in time for all sorts of shit to hit the fan.

Following a generally okay first half-hour, The Reaping soon starts to slide. Not only does the boredom set in, but the script decides to throw in as much pointless plot developments as it can. Do we really care if Katherine was once a Nun who lost her faith? Was Stephen Rea really necessary as the priest who pieces together clues to find out she's in trouble? And just what the Hell is with that finale? Did the makers decide they had no idea how to end the movie and decide to go the "overkill" route in hopes that their audience wouldn't notice just how sloppily made the entire thing was?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not above enjoying a well-done religious themed horror movie. Who doesn't like The Exorcist? Hell, I even liked a few of the sequels. But when you just seem to be using the Biblical angle to give you the chance to throw out as many effects sequences as you can (such as frogs falling from the sky and a massive locust swarm) without developing a true sense of the large scope such writings can have on a genre picture, you're just cheating. And for it to be so dull doesn't help. It was only the multiple explosions and firestorms in the last reels that managed to keep me from dozing off.

Director Stephen Hopkins can do suspense, his debut feature (1988's A Dangerous Game) was a small-scale thriller that worked. He can also do violent action decently also as he proved with his underrated Predator sequel. Here he just seems to be going through the motions. He keeps his camera busy during the effects moments but seems just as bored as we are when there's a lot of dialogue.

It's curious to see two time Best Actress winner Swank in what's essentially a Hollywood B-movie, but she does the best with what she has. Rea gives forth no effort in his pointless role and Morrissey isn't too successful in a role that requires him to flip-flop between southern gentleman and something a lot worse.

If you're looking for a 'religious horror' fix, there's better places to get it than with The Reaping. There could be a reason it didn't come out for so long as it's a fairly incoherent yawner that offers nothing but noisy effects and junky scripting. I'm even willing to say the Demi Moore flick, The Seventh Sign, was better - and that's something as it flopped about the same with critics and audiences alike. (Chris Hartley, 4/25/07)

Directed By: Stephen Hopkins.
Written By: Carey W. Hayes, Chad Hayes.

Starring: Hilary Swank, David Morrissey, Idris Elba, AnnaSophia Robb.