150 Movies You Should Die Before You See - Miller Steve [35]
Forrest Taft: No, not her.
Betcha Didn't Know
Warner Bros. agreed to let Steven Seagal direct this film if he would star in Under Siege 2: Dark Territory.
This is Steven Seagal's only directorial effort to date.
Trivia Quiz
Which of the following facts about Steven Seagal is not true?
A: He owned and operated an aikido dojo in Japan.
B: He is a fully commissioned sheriff's deputy in Louisiana's Jefferson Parish and produced a reality show titled Steven Seagal: Lawman that followed his exploits.
C: He has been engaged in a bitter feud with Jackie Chan for nearly twenty years.
D: He won the 1995 Razzie Worst Director Award for On Deadly Ground.
Answer: C. By allaccounts, Seagal and Chanare good friends.
THE REAPING
Dark Castle Entertainment/Village Roadshow Pictures/Warner Bros., 2007
PRODUCERS Bruce Berman, Erik Olsen, and Steve Richards (executive producers), Susan Downey, Herbert W. Gains, Joel Silver, and Robert Zemeckis (producers)
WRITERS Carey W. Hayes and Chad Hayes
DIRECTOR Stephen Hopkins
STARS Hilary Swank (Katherine Winter), Idris Elba (Ben), David Morrissey (Doug), and AnnaSophia Robb (Loren McConnell).
Katherine (Swank), a former missionary turned college professor-and-professional-debunker-of-miracles is called to an isolated Louisiana village to provide an explanation for a series of events that seem to be mirroring the Ten Plagues of Egypt. Katherine uncovers signs that something supernatural is indeed happening in the town, and it centers on a twelve-year-old girl (Robb). But is she a savior or a destroyer?
Why It Sucks
The Reaping comes across as a fairly standard supernatural thriller. There's only so much that can be done with a script as shallow and unemotionally involving as this one. The story turns on Katherine's loss of faith, but at no time do we get close enough to the character to care. The writers weren't up to the subject matter but were too squeamish to go for over-the-top horror. The result is a mess.
Thumbs Down Rating:
The Crappies The Worst Actress Award goes to … Hilary Swank for playing an already underdeveloped character in such a disconnected way that the only point of interest is how she fills out her tank tops.
And the Worst Director Award goes to … Stephen Hopkins for an over-the-top climax when he finally realized he needed to go full-out B horror film on the audience.
They Really Said It!
Maddie: Are you here for my girl? Are you gonna kill my baby girl?
Katherine: What? No!
Maddie: Why not?
Betcha Didn't Know
Film critic Richard Roeper named The Reaping as one of the ten worst movies of 2007.
Hilary Swank has won two Best Actress Academy Awards (for Million Dollar Baby in 2005 and Boys Don't Cry in 1999).
Trivia Quiz
What television series did Hilary Swank have a recurring role in?
A: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
B: Beverly Hills 90210
C: Northern Exposure
D: The X-Files
Answer: B. Swank appeared in Beverly Hills 90210 as Carly Reynolds in sixteen episodes, from 1997 to 1998.
CHAPTER NINE
KINDA - SORTA BASED ON THE BOOK
Movie producers the world over have a bad habit of taking fiction and “basing” movies on it that ultimately have little to do with the source material. The movies here are not necessarily bad pieces of filmmaking, but as far as adaptations go, they miss the mark in one way or another.
THE BLACK CAT (AKA “THE HOUSE OF DOOM” AND
“THE VANISHING BODY”)
Universal Pictures, 1934
PRODUCER Uncredited
WRITERS Edgar G. Ulmer and Peter Ruric (script), Edgar Allan Poe (original story … although how they got this from it, I'll never know)
DIRECTOR Edgar G. Ulmer
STARS Bela Lugosi (Dr. Vitus Werdegast), David Manners (Peter Alison), Boris Karloff (Hjalmar Poelzig), and Jacqueline Wells (Joan Alison)
Honeymooners Peter and Joan Alison (Manners and Wells) are stranded in an isolated house in a Hungarian backwater. Here, they are drawn into the nets of the evil Satanist Hjalmar Poelzig (Karloff) and the revenge plans of his one-time friend Dr. Vitus Werdegast (Lugosi).
Why It Sucks
The Black Cat