Product Description

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. Cassie begins to have terrifying 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 make you fearful for what happens next!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13706 in DVD
• Brand: WELLSPRING/GENIUS
• Released on: 2007-01-30
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 92 minutes

Customer Reviews

THEY'RE WAITING AND WATCHING
Yes, THE GATHERING is another religious horror movie, but this one has an intriguing premise. It opens with the discovery of a buried church and a bas-relief of the crucifixion. There are several inconsistencies in this find and there starts the fun in this film. Adding to the mix is Cassie Grant (Christina Ricci), a girl who has been taken in by a family after being hit by a car and losing her memory. She has no idea why she was coming to this little village, but soon begins to have horrible visions that something bad is about to happen to the good folk in this town. She also shares a kinship with the small boy, Michael, in the family that she is staying with, and she is fiercely protectively of him against the horrible future that she sees for him.

THE GATHERING doesn't have a lot of gore. It relies more on atmosphere, and (GASP) an intelligent plotline for the viewer involvement and I think the film was successful in this. THE GATHERING was another one of those movies that I'd never heard of, one that Hollywood sank straight to DVD with little or no fanfare. I think it's so sad that they don't ever try anymore to market these films to any audience anymore. After all, we desperately needed DUKES OF HAZZARD. There was an entertainment feast I couldn't live without.

THE GATHERING is worth your time. It has chills, suspense and a good story to tell, one that just might stay with you for a while. I know I won't forget it so easily.

THE ENDING REVALATIONS, WILL GIVE YOU CHILLS UP YOUR SPINE...
Fare Warning, anyone who can't stand to sit through a movie that builds up the suspense slowly, and isn't in your face from the word go, will likely turn this off before getting to reap the rewards of the eventual revelations of this film.

But for those who like their movies to slowly build up, to a great and thought provoking reveal, that will have you and your friends talking about it, even after the film ends, then, "OH BOY", is this film for you.

Also, if you're into films like, The Da Vinci Code, where Christian doctrines are put to the test, then this is also your type of movie (although to be fare, this film doesn't so much test Christian doctrines, as much as it adds a new mythology to it).

I'd love to go into the plot and such of this great film, but that would spoil the wonderful surprises that this film holds in store for anyone with the curiosity to look beyond the negative reviews (as I did) and give this movie a try.

I think you may be pleasantly surprised, at just how good this film really is.

In the tradition of classic Hammer horror films...
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.