Anne Harman I admit I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to fright and gore... so this was an enjoyable watch for me. It interested me on an intellectual level without being completely nightmarish. I don't even watch the nightmarish films, so I can't compare this to them. This was quite a good story, set in a lovely English countryside. I would recommend it for people who like historical Christian fiction.

James Hitchcock Cassie Grant, an American girl visiting England, loses her memory after she is hit by a car. The driver of the car, Marion Kirkman, invites Cassie to stay at her house in the small cathedral city of Ashby Wake. While recovering, Cassie makes the acquaintance of the Kirkman family including Marion's husband, Simon, an art historian who has been called in to examine some strange carvings in a newly-discovered underground Christian church dating back to Roman times. Cassie is troubled by recurring and disturbing visions which seem to be linked to this church, to a scandal from the past involving allegations of child abuse at a local orphanage (which turns out to be the house in which the Kirkmans now live) and to a group of people who regularly appear and seem to be watching her.The point of making Cassie an American was presumably because the presence of a big- name Hollywood star would help crack the US market, but Christina Ricci fits in well and, unlike some Hollywood stars called on to provide the token big name in a low-budget British film, does not play to the gallery or stand out by reason of an obvious "Look at me! I'm a star!" attitude. "The Gathering" is a thriller with a supernatural element, here provided by the legend of The Gathering. (This appears to be an invention of the scriptwriter, but has similarities to the legend of the Wandering Jew). According to this legend, a group of people who attended the crucifixion of Christ out of morbid curiosity were condemned to an unwanted immortality and to wander through the world witnessing disasters and murders for all eternity. It is The Gathering whose faces are carved in the recently discovered church, and their appearance in Ashby Wake presages some coming disaster in the town.Ever since the likes of "The Exorcist", "The Omen" and "The Amityville Horror" in the seventies, supernatural thrillers have tended to rely heavily on special effects, with their human protagonists bravely confronting evil ghosts or demons. "The Gathering", however, can be seen as reverting to an earlier tradition of the horror film in which supernatural perils are hinted at rather than shown in their full gory detail. I was particularly reminded of "Curse of the Cat People" from the forties. Like Irena, the ghost in that film, Cassie (who, it transpires, is herself a member of The Gathering) is a supernatural figure who has done wrong in a past life but who seeks to atone for her wrongdoing by protecting rather than harming the humans who surround her. As with Irena, the person whom Cassie is particularly concerned to protect is a young child to whom she has become attached, in this case the Kirkmans' son Michael. As in the earlier film, the real source of danger is not the forces of the supernatural but a human agent, in this case a half-mad motor mechanic seeking an indiscriminate revenge for wrongs done to him. In keeping with the often grim subject matter, director Brian Gilbert gives the film a restrained, understated and sombre look. I had previously only seen one of Gilbert's films, "Wilde", but that was one which impressed me greatly and I would consider it one of my favourite films of the nineties. "The Gathering" is perhaps not in quite the same class, but it is nevertheless a highly watchable, unusual and intriguing film. It is a thriller with a religious theme which raises some important questions about the nature of evil, sin, atonement and redemption. 7/10 Some goofs. The place name "Ashby", like all English place names ending in –by, is of Norse rather than Saxon origin and is only found in northern and eastern England, in those parts of the country which were settled by Norsemen. "Ashby Wake" is therefore an unlikely name for a city situated in the South-West. (We know it is somewhere near Glastonbury). No Christian churches were built in the 1st century; during this period Christians were a small, persecuted minority who met in one another's homes and had no public places of worship.

taikaelain I found the storyline of this film interesting and different, but still I was disappointed after seeing the film. There were several things that weren't working. Foremost for me was the acting. Christina Ricci and Ioan Gruffud were both a huge disappointment. There was no depth to their characters and acting, so I as a viewer couldn't care less what happened to them in the end. Also the pacing of the film was not really working. There is too much running around and the relationship between Cassie and Michael is emphasized too much, at the cost of for example the relationship between Cassie and Dan. I had a strong feeling that the film was cut too short. Another fifteen minutes could have made a huge difference in ways of adding to the plot and the depth of the characters. One thing that really annoyed me, was the way Cassie every five minutes was calling out for Michael, and the little boy in question wheezing and moaning. Children with asthma have been seen on film so many times I can't even count them, so it annoys that they had to put one in this film, too. And one thing I can't understand is, why Michael first was mute and then all of the sudden started to talk again, and nobody paid any attention to this! So random!I have only seen the DVD-version, so I don't know if the extra 10 minutes made the film any better, but I have to say I'm very, very glad they cut the sex scene off. I hate the "mandatory sex scenes" that appear in almost every film, whether they fit in the story or not.All in all, the Gathering could have been an excellent movie, but as it is, it's shamefully lacking in many ways. Without Ricci, despite of her not so great acting, this film would have been a total flop. Now it is an OK film that you can watch when you're bored, but which doesn't leave any lasting impressions.

Gordon-11 This film is about a young woman having horrible visions of the future, after being hit by a car.I didn't know anything about the film before I saw it, and I bought it only for Christina Ricci. It was long ago that I have been so captivated by a film! The plot is new and interesting, and I don't recall seeing anything like it (that's because I don't watch that many horror films). Weird or scary things happen often enough throughout the film, and to my comfort there are no excessive violence or blood. The suspense is kept throughout the film. The idea of the "gathering" is really new to me and I am surprised that this has not come up anywhere before. I really liked the film!