A Review of "Bless the Child"

“Mankind’s last hope just turned six.” Christian propaganda, or just a semi-intriguing, religious-themed horror-thriller? Well, I’d be inclined to say its a little bit of both, though it does rely heavily on the viewer needing to be a believer in order for the story to work, and to be sympathetic towards it. Though largely forgotten now, Bless the Child was produced in a brief period of time that saw a film industry fascinated with secret societies and orders, beginning with Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut and Roman Polanski’s The Ninth Gate in 1999, lasting all the way to The Order, starring Heath Ledger, in 2003. In between came others, with the themes shifting from merely secret to those involving religious occultism or Satanism in some way. Bless the Child is not the best of the group, but it might be a worthy investment in your time if you don’t want something too deep. Kim Basinger plays an aunt looking after her sister’s child (Holliston Coleman) who is unable to care for her due to drug addiction. As the years go by, it becomes evident that the young girl has special powers, and actually has been granted healing powers and other God-given abilities. She happened to be born on a special day where an identical star to the one that appeared over Bethlehem when Jesus was born was seen in the night sky. A secret order of Satanists is now searching for her, led by Rufus Sewell, to attempt to kidnap her and turn her holy powers into evil ones. A string of child murders is enacted to mirror the “Slaughter of the Innocents” from the bible as they rule out children born on that same date, and Jimmy Smits is the special agent in charge of the investigation. This film can be tense and entertaining at times, but it also tends to trudge along, and can be rather hokey and predictable (do we always need a happy ending?). Basinger’s acting can be wooden, and there are certain glaring continuity errors that cannot be ignored. The performances tread both sides of the spectrum: Sewell’s acting is chilling and heartless, while Smits doesn’t even act and has all the complexities and character development of a TV cop. Of course, divine intervention saves the day. Also starring Christina Ricci and Michael Gaston. Directed by Chuck Russell. Final Verdict: Doesn’t Suck.

Shared from: https://pictureinparagraph.wordpress.com/2015/03/05/review-bless-the-c hild-2000/