Film: The Reaping

Thousands of years ago there was a series of bizarre occurrences that many believed to have been the Ten Biblical Plagues. No one thought they could happen again. Until now.
What Hath God Wrought?
The rivers ran red with blood. Darkness fell upon the earth.
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Video: The Reaping Trailer
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Plot Summary: Ever since her family was tragically killed in an accident, Katherine Winter (Hilary Swank) has battled against religious faith, including her own. The former Christian missionary has become a university professor and a world-renowned expert at refuting religious phenomena. When Doug (David Morrissey) approaches her to investigate events at a small Louisiana town that appear to have been struck by the ten Biblical plagues, she accepts the challenge. With everyone in the town pointing to a little girl named Loren (AnnaSophia Robb) as the source of the dark forces that threaten the community, Katherine’s investigation turns even more bizarre. As she begins to have difficulty explaining the occurrences with scientific evidence, she realizes that she may have to look deeper within herself and reclaim her faith if she is ever to understand the omens that surround her.
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Released on 4/5/2007 (USA). Filming in Lousiana was interrupted by Hurricane Katrina.
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Video: How Soon is Modred?
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There is alot of interesting symbolism going on in this movie. For example, the symbol of the cult is the astrological symbol for the planet "Saturn." However, with a twist: the symbol is inversed so that it also looks like the number "6." The symbol of Saturn is an upside-down scythe, hence "The Reaping." At one point in the movie, they show a sequence of this symbol, on three different spots quickly, alluding to 666. There is also an allusion to the serpent in the garden of Eden. There is a lace that detaches from the young girl and gets caught high up in a tree. The Serpent is the one who seduced Eve. The crypt where the child sacrifices are done has an ancient Egyptian symbol of the Winged Disk with the inversed Saturn symbol on it.

The movie begins in Chile where a toxic gas has been seeping out of an abandoned oil well causing people to hallucinate. The movie GRINDHOUSE, which also opened this weekend, began with a toxic gas that had been used by the military in Afghanistan. What's up with the gas theme?