The Gathering (2003)

A lot of fun.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Cassie Grant is a young American traveling on foot in England who gets hit by a car. The driver invites her to stay at her large estate with her husband, an art historian researching a recently-uncovered church nearby. Cassie's apparent amnesia gives way to disturbing visions related to the church, and a group of individuals in the village who seem to have sinister motives.This early-2000s supernatural horror romp has been on my radar for years, but it took over a decade before I actually sat down to watch it. It feels very much like a product of its time-the early 2000s, when supernatural thrillers of this sort were very much en vogue. What's unfortunate about "The Gathering" is that it is conceptually a very intriguing film with an engaging premise. As much as it is by-the-numbers, the narrative did draw me in.Where the film falters is its tonal inconsistencies and pacing. The cinematography is quite gorgeous, with the English locales vividly captured with atmosperhic flair, but there is a choppiness to the proceedings that give it the feel of a made-for-TV movie. I have read that it was truncated, so it is possible that there is a fuller cut of the film somewhere, but the released version feels like it has missing components that would have developed the character relationships a bit better.Christina Ricci is solid as always, though her performance does feel floppy at times, and there is some dialogue that comes off contrived. Ioan Gruffudd plays the tall, dark & handsome stranger/quasi-love interest and is serviceable. Stephen Dillane and Kerry Fox are quite good as the husband and wife who take in the American traveler.In the end, "The Gathering" is a mildly fun popcorn horror movie that could have been much more than it was. Whether the result of sloppy writing or sloppy editing, it feels underdeveloped, and that is its main problem. If you enjoy by-the-numbers supernatural thrillers, though, it is quite entertaining. 6/10.

If you're of a certain age, you may remember Miss Kitty's name. She was a real New Yorker who was viciously attacked and killed on the street in the 1960s while dozens of bystanders watched and did nothing. Kitty gave her life for a concept that now appears in thousands of psychology textbooks, known as "bystander apathy." It's the cornerstone of this movie, except they've ramped up the crimes to include Jesus, John Kennedy, an anonymous lynching victim, etc. Apparently, it's the same folks who turn up at all these horrible events, time after time, and do nothing but gawk. And now we've got photographic evidence to prove it.This is the tantalizing premise of The Gathering and it's more than you get it most horror films. That's part of the problem (and maybe why the film went direct to DVD). It's too classy for horror and too horrific for class. It's full (arguably too full) of startle/shock effects. They seem to come from a different universe as the stunning settings filmed on the Isle of Man. Too many horror clichés for all this old English countryside. As many reviewers lamented, the DVD version is nearly 10 min shorter than an existing theatrical print. Moreover, much of that 10 mins consists of a sex scene involving the luscious Ms. Ricci. Although the red-blooded male part of me protests that cut, I wonder if some judicious trimming didn't ultimately help the final product. The only outright stupidity in the script occurs midway when one of the priests brings the film's core premise (the idea that the same people, appear as gawkers over and over again), to a Bishop's Council. Instead of dismissing the idea as lunacy (and thus strengthening its power for the audience), the Bishop says, in essence, "Yeah, yeah, everybody knows that." Huh? They do? Then I guess this movie ain't so clever after all.But I still like it, and apparently more than most reviewers around here.

I just bought it for the reason that Ricci was in it. Somehow she has a special face to act in this kind of flicks. But not every flick she's in it is that good. She does deliver good acting but the story is a bit too unbelievable. Of course it's about the supernatural but some things made me yawn. This must be flick 13412476673656 about Christianity and the mystery surrounding it. But for me it failed somehow due the lack of horror in it. It's just a story, nothing more nothing less. If you can't take gore or blood then this is surely one for you but for the geeks I wouldn't 'gather' with your friends to watch it. The surely would damn you. It's one to watch with the family on a Saturday night kids allowed. At the end you could better go watch The Omen or Stigmata or something like that. Or if the kids are still awake, The Craft. Sorry, Christina Ricci, I invocate you to do better in an "after.life".

This was kind of an interesting movie, not much about it was original.Essentially, a church is found that dates back to the first century, and was made by Joseph of Aramatea (I have this image of the Castle Arrgghhhh) that had a bas-relief of the witnesses to the Crucifixion, who are cursed forever to go around and witness all the other disasters in history. Okay, you got that. Nothing original here, we saw this before in the Seventh Sign with Demi Moore (Witness to the Crucifixion doomed to immortality) and a buried Church (Those two attempts at Exorcist prequels.) One of these watchers (Ricci) is hit by a car by a distracted mother (again, why is this so popular in British-made horror? Are your roads really that bad?) and forgets that she is a watcher, but she still has visions of impending disaster.Not knowing she is one of these condemned, she attempts to prevent the impending disaster of a disgruntled village outcast preparing a terrorist attack against his neighbors. She does, at personal cost, and is forgiven and allowed to go to heaven.Now, exactly why hasn't this occurred to these people in the previous 2000 years? Why is the Big Guy such a jerk that he'd condemn these people to such a punishment? This is not a bad little film. Nothing original, but enjoyable to watch.