THE GIFT
****
Directed by Sam Raimi.
Starring Cate Blanchett, Keanu Reeves, Katie Holmes, Hilary Swank, Greg Kinnear, J.K. Simmons, Giovanni Ribisi.
Horror/Mystery, USA, 112 mins, cert 15.
Released in the UK on Limited Edition 4K UHD & Blu-ray via Arrow Video on 27th January 2025.
Probably the most un-Sam Raimi-like movie in Sam Raimi’s back catalogue, 2000s THE GIFT comes to 4K UHD courtesy of Arrow Video in a new limited edition that boasts a brand new 4K remaster and a slew of special features. Why is this so un-Raimi-like? Well, this is post-ARMY OF DARKNESS and pre-SPIDER-MAN Sam Raimi, so the director was preparing to make his crossover into the mainstream, having also made the action/western THE QUICK AND THE DEAD and the baseball-themed drama FOR LOVE OF THE GAME during this period. It was written by actor Billy Bob Thornton, who co-starred in Raimi’s A SIMPLE PLAN for which he was Oscar nominated. Based on Thornton’s mother’s alleged experiences with the supernatural, THE GIFT provided a totally different vibe than was usual for Raimi.
In the town of Brixton, Georgia, Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett) is a widow with three children, struggling to earn a living since the death of her husband but she does get given ‘gifts’ for doing psychic readings for local folk. One of those folk is Valerie Barksdale (Hilary Swank), whose violent bully husband Donnie (Keanu Reeves) believes Annie is a witch and orders her to stay away from his wife.
When Jessica King (Katie Holmes), the fiancé of local school principal Wayne Collins (Greg Kinnear) disappears, the police come to a dead end in their investigations and turn to Annie for help, even though Sheriff Johnson (J.K. Simmons) is a disbeliever, and Annie must use her gift to try and find the culprit. As Jessica’s dead body gets discovered on Donnie Barksdale’s land, he becomes the prime suspect, but there are a few other townsfolk who also harbour secrets that may reveal what really happened.
So, THE GIFT is a murder mystery from the director of THE EVIL DEAD and DARKMAN but don’t go expecting flashy camera work or hardcore gore as this movie is very much a slow-burning southern gothic, which was very much in vogue during a post-THE SIXTH SENSE world.
However, there is a lot to enjoy here. For starters, the stacked cast all give stellar performances, especially Cate Blanchett as Annie, whose vulnerability and strength both shine through to make the character totally believable. Credit also to Keanu Reeves, who plays a total scumbag so convincingly that you’d wish he’d played more of them throughout his career.
The atmosphere is oppressive and sweaty, providing a feeling of dread throughout, and despite Sam Raimi taking his foot off the gas in order to tell this story, there are a few flashes of his trademark style, most notably in the dreams and visions that Annie has, but also with his establishing shots around the swampy areas of the town and whenever the sun is setting or the moon is out, managing to evoke the feeling of some of his previous works without emulating them.
A steady, deliberately-paced horror/thriller, THE GIFT does suffer from a predictable ending that you can see coming a mile off – or from the first act, anyway – and ensures the movie ends on a bit of a whimper rather than a shock or a memorable moment. It isn’t enough to ruin the whole movie, but it does lend the final act the air of a TV thriller that you might catch on a weekday afternoon, which isn’t really strong enough given the overall story and who is behind the camera.
Nevertheless, it all looks fine thanks to the new 4K restoration, which doesn’t give the movie a massive polish, but the colour palette doesn’t really allow for shiny and sparkly images all over the place. However, the exterior shots around the still waters of the swamps look fantastic, the clarity of the image allowing the glassy surface of the water to offer a little visual stimulation amongst the greens and browns of the rural setting. Extras come in the form of interviews with cast and crew, although there is no new interview with Sam Raimi but he does pop up in the archive featurettes, plus two new audio commentaries featuring critics Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson, and critic Meagan Navarro, trailer, music video, booklet and reversible sleeve.
Overall, THE GIFT may not be essential Sam Raimi but it is an interesting movie, showcasing a director transitioning from cult horror to more mainstream fare, and for the most part it is a solid supernatural thriller, although calling it a mystery is a bit of a stretch as there really isn’t much of one.
Chris Ward