The Reaper (aka Backwater) - 06/13/05

Written by: Brandon Boyce, Flint Dille, John Zuur Platten

Starring: Agnes Bruckner, Jonathan Jackson, Rick Cramer, Meagan Good

I got to see this film tonight by accident. In Manhattan, every once in a while, someone will come up to you on a movie line and say "Hey, feel like seeing a movie?"

So, you call a number, request some tickets, and you get to see a movie for free. They're screeners, and at the end, you're usually asked your opinion.

After not being able to see High Tension last week (too many people on line, and the theater filled up fast...), I got a call from the company who screens these movies. They said "Feel like going to see a different horror movie?"

So, I looked up The Reaper.

First off, it's from the director of I Know What You Did Last Summer. Second, it's based on a video game in development. Third, it's produced by none other than the re-inventor of the teen horror film, Kevin Williamson.

Ok, so the second part is a strike against, but hey, the other two... not so bad, right?

Sheesh, ok, where do I begin?

First off, I'm not going to spoil anything for anyone. I don't write spoiler reviews if I can help it, and with horror movies, that's just the worst... when someone spoils the scares for you. And believe me, there are two or three good jumps in this movie, but that is ALL it has going for it.

We were told this was a semi-rough cut, but NOTHING short of a fire will fix this film.

The story is incredibly simple and boring. The film takes place around the swamps of Louisiana, and has to do with voodoo. The premise is ok, but took less imagination than I can say... again, incredibly simple, and the writers decided to give us another cookie cutter example of why people don't take horror films seriously, as a genre.

A good time to introduce the writers. Brandon Boyce. Helped write Apt Pupil, a very good adaptation of the Stephen King short story, and Wicker Park. Never saw Wicker Park, but I'm guessing that since Boyce wrote both those films by himself, he was brought in as a doctor.

Flint Dille. I'm sorry, who? No, you'll recognize this guy. In 1991 he wrote Fievel Goes West. From that... to this. Something fucking weird must have happened to this guy in those fourteen years.

Actually, Dille has been writing the scripts for video games, since 1996. Some pretty cool ones, too. His latest was The Chronicles of Riddick and Constantine. With his videogame experience, it's understandable how he got the job... but being out of the game for so long, I wonder if he understands the movie structure any more... or if he understands what moviegoers, not video game fans, find entertaining, plausible and believable... three things that were severely lacking in this picture.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love horror films. I do. But when the situations and circumstances that evolve in a horror movie move farther and farther away from reality... especially when we're supposed to identify with the characters on some mundane level... well, you not only lose the credibility as a creative writer, but also the respect of anyone being interested in your future work.

Last but not least, John Platten. Things become clearer as we find out that Dille and Platten are writing partners, starting with the Riddick video game. So, clearly, these two got the job, wrote a draft and Boyce came in for some structure and clean-up.

Ugh.

Jim Gillespie. You'll remember him from I Know What You Did Last Summer. I enjoyed that film. It came out when there was a drought of horror, shortly after the first Scream film, and made quite a bit of money in the box office. Add that Williamson wrote the film, and that's a pretty good combination.

Everything that you saw in I Know... you'll see here. You won't find one surprise, at all. Which is a shame, because it's obvious that Gillespie knows how to get a film made, and have it look good, too. But I can't believe that in eight years, he wasn't able to think of any new tricks.

Gillespie was also the director of D-Tox, a film that had some promise, but ultimately became a $55 million dollar straight to video film, starring Sylvester Stallone. It's one of those films you've heard about, but always forget to go to the video store to rent... I'll have to do that, tomorrow.

There is not one performance in this film that is original, or worth mentioning. All of the actors and actresses are people you'll swear you've seen in other horror movies. The character development is awful. Rick Cramer is, actually, the only one worth mentioning. He plays Ray... and does a pretty good job of scaring everyone, even the audience.

I'm not sure whose choice it was to do some of the quick editing... but it wasn't a bad decision in some spots, and just plain annoying in others. Paul Martin Smith has been editing films since 1986. He was one of the editors for The Phantom Menace, Titan A.E., Behind Enemy Lines and the recent Mindhunters. He also did some work with the Young Indiana Jones tv series.

I'm always fascinated how people go from one job to the next... Smith has never done horror. None of his earlier films even look close to this one... it's strange.

This is, by far, NOT a movie to go see in the theaters. Unless you like unbelievable films with bad characters, a flimsy plot, one or two good death scenes, one or two good scares... and a movie that runs about 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Lots of points against this one. Sorry.

I'm not exactly sure why Williamson thought this was a good film to produce, but I find it impossible to believe he's not sitting there saying "Haven't I seen this before?"

P.S. - Backwater, which is the title on the Miramax site, is much better than The Reaper. The Reaper doesn't make any sense, in the context of this film.