Production Companies BTC Productions KG, Icon Entertainment International, MFP Munich Film Partners GmbH & Company I. Produktions KG, Paramount Pictures
Bless the Child is one of several identikit supernatural thrillers released in the wake of The Sixth Sense. It's another attempt to update 70s satanic-child flicks such as The Omen, although the twist here is that the child is a force for ultimate good. One winter night, nurse Maggie O'Connor (Kim Basinger) arrives home to find her junkie sister Jenna on her doorstep, destitute and in dire straits, holding a newly born baby wrapped in swaddling. She takes them in, but shortly after Jenna absconds leaving the child, Cody, in Maggie's care. Six years later, Jenna returns with her creepy new husband, Eric (Rufus Sewell), in tow to reclaim Cody, who has grown into a quiet but precocious child with a talent for telekinesis. They promptly disappear leaving Maggie distraught and desperate to recover her adopted child.
The chief problem with Bless the Child lies in its premise. As the film reaches its denouement and a glowing angelic host attempts to save Cody by snuffing out Sewell's satanic presence, one begins to suspect that this is the Hollywood equivalent of a Christian Rock album, attempting religious conversion by stealth and subversion. That said, the movie rolls along at a cracking pace and features several nice touches: Sewell is suitably creepy as the squint-eyed cult leader; Christina Ricci literally loses her head to the forces of darkness in a blink and you'll miss it cameo; and Cody's horrific waking nightmares put a new twist on what really lies at the end of the bed when the lights go out.
On the DVD: An awkward audio commentary pairs director Chuck Russell with visual effects supervisor Joel Hynek. Russell is keen on spelling out the rather obvious motivations of his characters while Hynek relays the difficulties encountered in realising the film's numerous special effects sequences, but it's hardly the kind of stuff that enhances your viewing of the film. A 10-minute featurette contains the standard enthusiastic cast and crew interviews. The inclusion of a theatrical trailer and seven virtually identical TV spots is simply overkill. The clear picture quality of the main feature shows off Peter Menzies' suitably Gothic cinematography, presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic format with 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. --Chris Campion
(31 votes)
2.
Omens and concepts of good vs. evil have no place in Maggie O’Connor’s (Kim Basinger) well-ordered, practical universe. Her life revolves around her job as a nurse at a busy New York hospital -- that is, until her wayward kid sister, Jenna (Angela Bettis), shows up on her doorstep one rainy Christmas Eve and saddles Maggie with an autistic newborn child named Cody (Holliston Coleman).
Cody quickly touches Maggie’s heart and becomes the daughter she has always longed for. But six years later Jenna suddenly re-enters her life and, with her mysterious new husband, Eric Stark (Rufus Sewell), abducts Cody. Despite the fact that Maggie has no legal rights to Cody, FBI agent John Travis (Jimmy Smits), an expert in ritual homicide and occult-related crime, takes up her cause when he realizes that Cody shares the same birth date as several other recently missing children.
The little girl, it soon becomes clear, is more than simply "special." She manifests extraordinary powers that the forces of evil have waited centuries to control, and her abduction sparks a clash between the soldiers of good and evil that can only be resolved, in the end, by the strength of one small child and the love she inspires in those she touches.
(31 votes)
3.
Mankind's Last Hope Just Turned Six.
In the tradition of The Sixth Sense and The Omen comes this riveting supernatural thriller filled with spine-tingling chills and white-knuckle suspense.
Academy Award Winner Kim Basinger stars as Maggie O'Connor, a single woman whose life revolves around her career as a nurse - until the surprise appearance of her sister Jenna (Angela Bettis) and Jenna's newborn baby girl, Cody. When Jenna suddenly disappears, Maggie is left to raise Cody (Holliston Coleman), an autistic child, by herself. But after Jenna returns with a mysterious cult leader (Rufus Sewell) and abducts Cody, Maggie discovers that the child possesses extraordinary powers, powers that forces of evil have waited centuries to control.
Together with a FBI specialist in occult-related crimes (Jimmy Smits), Maggie races to save the life of the innocent girl who may hold the key to save mankind, or destroy it. Co-starring Christina Ricci and Ian Holm, Bless The Child is a thrilling offering for film fans.
(32 votes)
4.
When Maggie (Kim Basinger of L.A. Confidential and Batman) comes home to her apartment building one night, she discovers her estranged, drug-addict sister Jenna huddling in the doorway. Jenna promptly abandons her newborn baby with Maggie, who proceeds to raise the child as her own, despite evidence of autism. But as the little girl, Cody, gets older, what seemed to be autism starts to manifest itself in more startling ways. At the same time, a series of child murders are sweeping the city--murders conducted by a mysterious cult with supernatural matters on their mind. Bless the Child starts promisingly, with subdued, creepy scenes contrasted with more outrageous moments like swarms of computer-generated rats. Fans of religious horror movies will enjoy its twist on The Omen, with an angelic child instead of a demonic one--only the child is still pretty eerie. The special effects go a little overboard towards the end. Jimmy Smits (Price of Glory) costars as an FBI cult chaser, and Rufus Sewell (Dark City, Cold Comfort Farm) gives a pleasantly restrained performance as the charismatic cult leader. Also featuring Christina Ricci as a cult escapee and Ian Holm as a Jesuit priest. --Bret Fetzer
(31 votes)
5.
Academy Award Winner Kim Basinger stars as Maggie O’Connor, a single woman whose life revolves around her career as a nurse - until the surprise appearance of her sister Jenna (Angela Bettis) and Jenna’s newborn baby girl, Cody. When Jenna suddenly disappears, Maggie is left to raise Cody (Holliston Coleman), an autistic child, by herself. But after Jenna returns with a mysterious cult leader (Rufus Sewell) and abducts Cody, Maggie discovers that the child possesses extraordinary powers: powers that forces of evil have waited centuries to control. Together with a FBI specialist in occult-related crimes (Jimmy Smits), Maggie races to save the life of the innocent girl who may hold the keys to save mankind or destroy it...
(23 votes)
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