When rivers turn red, locusts swarm and cows shrivel into scorched beef, you know that either Al Gore was right or you're watching another bad supernatural thriller.

In this case, you are suffering through "The Reaping," a pretentious scarefest, and wondering what compelled Hilary Swank to involve herself in this project.

Frogs, maggots and other familiar pestilences from the Book of Exodus are terrorizing a small Louisiana town. The local swamp is brimming over with blood. And a spooky blond girl with a permanently wide-eyed expression has been seen wading in it. She's Loren (AnnaSophia Robb), whose murder of her brother, the townsfolk of Haven believe, may have cursed the region.

Enter Katherine Winter (Swank), who specializes in debunking paranormal events. The former missionary has lost her faith -- cue flashbacks of a Bad Experience in Africa -- and takes special pleasure in exposing those who see miracles where there are none. Not minutes after she rolls into town, an old priest (a listless Stephen Rea) calls to report that when you put photos of Katherine together, mysterious burn marks on the pictures form the sign of a sickle.

What does that all mean? If only "The Reaping" had the decency to be coherent. Like Katherine, we are supposed to decipher these strange phenomena through a frenzied barrage of freaky images, obvious computer-generated effects and dizzying editing. Audiences that appreciated the mixture of gritty resolve and inner sensitivity Swank brought to better roles will see many of the same qualities here. But this time, her deft gestures and subtle inflections ring false, thanks to a script that forces her to follow the cliches of the genre, not break free of them.

-- Desson Thomson (April 6, 2007)

Contains violence, disturbing images and sexual content.