Monday 28 March 2011

DVD REVIEW: The Gathering - Christina Ricci, Ioan Gruffudd, Brian Gilbert

Release Date: 23/03/11

SYNOPSIS:

Christina Ricci (Monster) stars in this spine-tingling supernatural thriller about an American backpacker in rural England whose life takes a turn for the worse after a car accident. During recovery, she is befriended by a researcher (Stephen Dillane) studying a buried 1st Century church embedded with images of Christ's crucifixion. She begins to have horrific visions of the townspeople and their deaths. Is the town cursed or are her visions spirits from the unearthed church grasping for life? What is uncovered will shock and terrify you!


REVIEW:

OK, I love a film that tries to do something different and something that will not only entertain the viewer but will also create a lasting chill down their spine as they recall scenes. Upon the original read of this titles blurb I thought that it would partly be a modern interpretation on the themes of the Wicker Man and when added to a cast list that looked pretty decent left me with the impression that it was going to be an incredible film.

Alas it wasn’t the case. The plot line was a little flimsy, the events within too much of a religious fervour and to be honest it grasped at straws as things that could have been done very well were only half baked. The script felt stinted in places and with a quality writer like Anthony Horrowitz on board I had expected more and yet there were places where it felt that is writing came to the fore within the explanations from the art historian. Add to this that I also felt that the time of the release could have been better concerning the events within due to an on-going Coroners Investigation and the creators could have been more sympathetic.

All in it was an OK film but with the cast they had when backed with the writer it should have been so much more.

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