AnneCarlini.com Home
 
  Giveaways!
  Insider Gossip
  Monthly Hot Picks
  Book Reviews
  CD Reviews
  Concert Reviews
  DVD Reviews
  Game Reviews
  Movie Reviews
  Check Out The NEW Anne Carlini Productions!
  [NEW] Belouis Some (2024)
  [NEW] Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel (2024)
  [NEW] Mark Ruffalo (‘Poor Things’)
  [NEW] Paul Giamatti (‘The Holdovers’)
  [NEW] Crystal Gayle
  [NEW] Ellen Foley
  Gotham Knights [David Russo - Composer]
  The Home of WAXEN WARES Candles!
  Michigan Siding Company for ALL Your Outdoor Needs
  MTU Hypnosis for ALL your Day-To-Day Needs!
  COMMENTS FROM EXCLUSIVE MAGAZINE READERS!


©2024 annecarlini.com
6 Degrees Entertainment

'The Gathering'
(Christina Ricci, Ioan Gruffudd, et al / DVD / R / (2002) 2007 / Genius Products)

Overview: Christina Ricci stars in this psychological thriller as an American backpacker (Cassie) traveling through the English countryside, whose life turns for the worse after she is involved in a random car accident. During recovery she is befriended by Simon Kirkman (Stephen Dillane), who has been researching a buried church from the First Century, embedded with images of Christ’s crucifixion.

DVD Verdict: Originally made in 2002 and mysteriously released on DVD in North America in 2007, 'The Gathering' is a British horror film in the tradition of The Wicker Man and The Omen. The police uncover the remnants of a church built in the first century after a young couple discovered it and were killed for their troubles in a freak accident. During a rainy day, a mother (Fox) accidentally runs into Cassie Grant (Ricci), an American backpacker, with her car. Surprisingly, the young woman has only minor injuries and the guilt-ridden mother takes her in to her home in the small village of Ashby Wake.

Christina Ricci does a fine job as an inquisitive woman plagued by nightmarish visions and she certainly fares better here than in the flawed Hollywood horror film, Cursed, playing a strong, proactive character who we join in piecing together the mystery of this long-buried church.

Screenwriter Anthony Horowitz, a veteran of British television (including several episodes of Poirot and Murder in Mind), takes an old chestnut of people refusing to leave unpleasant things well alone (especially when it pertains to ancient evil) and conceptualizes it in a fresh, new way. There are lots of spooky premonitions, creepy townsfolk, atmospheric English countryside and a dark, secretive history that are staples of the British horror genre but they are presented by director Brian Gilbert (responsible for such fine fare as Tom & Viv and Wilde) in a straightforward way reminiscent of the classic Hammer horror films directed by Terence Fisher.

At times, The Gathering does seem to be channeling The Omen, complete with a demonic looking dog and carefully orchestrated gruesome deaths brought on by the supernatural but where it deviates is in its intriguing concept. What happened to the people who witnessed Christ being crucified? Not the ones who looked in horror or sadness but with morbid curiousity? What if these people were condemned to spend eternity being present at other horrific moments in history? The Gathering takes this notion and runs with it in an entertaining and engaging way that sets it apart from most of the other horror films that have come out in the last year. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of just Subtitles in both English and Spanish.

www.Weinsteinco.com





...Archives