I found my copy of "The Gathering" in a shop in Amsterdam (as the movie was not available in the U.K. at the time) and was truly excited by the prospect of finally watching it comfortably sat at home. Why? Because of the quite exciting premise of course!
A church from the 1st century depicting the crucifixion through an unusual angle (from behind) is uncovered in the English West country. Simultaneously, Cassie Grant, an American drifter gets hit by a car and looses her memory. Settling down temporally with the car driver, her husband and two children, Cassie is assaulted by a series of visions and nightmares while being quite obviously watched by strangers; strangers bearing strong resemblance to the bas-reliefs on the walls of the newly uncovered church. Soon, Cassie discovers that those strangers are The Gathering, willing witnesses of the human tragedies and miseries
Now how's that for promising? And sadly that is where the excitement ends, pretty much.
Where "The Gathering" could have benefited from a more punchy direction, Brian Gilbert, obviously inexperienced in the genre, blandly illustrates his script without much of a spark of passion for its interesting concept.
The results turns what could have been an exciting and unique horror movie into a somewhat run of the mill supernatural thriller (as directors like to call their films when embarrassed by the "horror" tag).
Anne Dudley's score is pretty decent although flirting too much with Jerry Goldsmith's partition for "Basic Instinct" at times.
The whole cast is doing a pretty good job except for Christina Ricci and there lies the main problem. The movie would have definitely benefited from being an all around British production rather than a simple vehicle for its lead actress. Therefore, exit any possibility of subversive or challenging ideas (and considering its original concept there could have been plenty) since the movie is just and ONLY a commercial venture.
In that respect, the final scene where Christina's redeeming her character through that "little-girl-that-once-witnessed-something-terrible" little story is down right ridicule.
Actually, it wouldn't have been that terrible if she had seemed to care about it at all. But Ricci SO obviously doesn't that it quickly becomes embarrassing watching her insipid performance all throughout.
Either that or she's actually not that a good actress.
A church from the 1st century depicting the crucifixion through an unusual angle (from behind) is uncovered in the English West country. Simultaneously, Cassie Grant, an American drifter gets hit by a car and looses her memory. Settling down temporally with the car driver, her husband and two children, Cassie is assaulted by a series of visions and nightmares while being quite obviously watched by strangers; strangers bearing strong resemblance to the bas-reliefs on the walls of the newly uncovered church. Soon, Cassie discovers that those strangers are The Gathering, willing witnesses of the human tragedies and miseries
Now how's that for promising? And sadly that is where the excitement ends, pretty much.
Where "The Gathering" could have benefited from a more punchy direction, Brian Gilbert, obviously inexperienced in the genre, blandly illustrates his script without much of a spark of passion for its interesting concept.
The results turns what could have been an exciting and unique horror movie into a somewhat run of the mill supernatural thriller (as directors like to call their films when embarrassed by the "horror" tag).
Anne Dudley's score is pretty decent although flirting too much with Jerry Goldsmith's partition for "Basic Instinct" at times.
The whole cast is doing a pretty good job except for Christina Ricci and there lies the main problem. The movie would have definitely benefited from being an all around British production rather than a simple vehicle for its lead actress. Therefore, exit any possibility of subversive or challenging ideas (and considering its original concept there could have been plenty) since the movie is just and ONLY a commercial venture.
In that respect, the final scene where Christina's redeeming her character through that "little-girl-that-once-witnessed-something-terrible" little story is down right ridicule.
Actually, it wouldn't have been that terrible if she had seemed to care about it at all. But Ricci SO obviously doesn't that it quickly becomes embarrassing watching her insipid performance all throughout.
Either that or she's actually not that a good actress.