I'm trying. Trying really hard. Still trying. Yet no matter what, I can't think of a single positive thing to say about this movie. I know it hasn't been a particularly good time for movies as of late (as opposed to 1999, which was sheer bliss for a movie lover), but Bless the Child is lacking and scraping the barrel even more modern blockbusters. Rehashing the same tired clichés that popped up in the likes of STIGMATA and END OF DAYS to exploit the pre-millenial tension, BLESS THE CHILD is yet another film that offers nothing new to the genre with a weak plot that is predictable at every twist and turn, pointless scenes of action which add nothing to the story, and a dragging pace that makes the hour-and-a-half seem boring even when the film is pretty short for a modern cinema flick.It's hard to even call this a horror film as there are about three scenes of real horror and a couple of dodgy moments of special effects, otherwise it's more of a thriller story onto which the supernatural elements have been clumsily grafted. Sure, there are a few unexpected moments, but 99% of this film is run-of-the-mill fare. One such moment comes when the ever-weird Christina Ricci gets decapitated on a subway station by a gang of crazed Satanic thugs. There's something you don't see every day, which may be worth the value of seeing the movie alone. The film also seems bizarrely obsessed with showing people getting hit by cars and thrown into the air - not once does this happen, but twice, both done in exactly the same way. The first time was shocking, the second time just a pathetic repeat and expected.It's hard to believe that Kim Basinger was receiving an Oscar only a few years before this movie. What happened? Here she's wooden, unconvincing as the would-be mother, an inactive and frankly dumb heroine who causes more trouble than she's worth. I hate the recent influx of films centred around child characters and this is no exception. Holliston Coleman is irritating and far from cute as the central autistic kid, her sole acting talent being to scrunch up her face to display some emotion or other.Rufus Sewell (with his exceptionally creepy eyes) is well-cast as the smooth-talking villain, but he seems nonthreatening and his character underdeveloped. He doesn't get much chance to shine or show anger or hatred. Aside from Christina Ricci's cameo, Ian Holm pops up as a wheelchair-bound purveyor of good in one of his numerous instant "take the paycheque and run" cameo appearances, and Jimmy Smits - by far the most convincing and likable character in the movie - is wasted in support as an investigating cop whose character bears more than a nod to Fox Mulder.All of the clichéd supernatural effects are present and correct, from candles mysteriously lighting themselves to a swarm of rats and weird demon bats circling in the skies, to black-clad Satanists running around on a mission of destruction. A shot of an undeveloped character getting knitting needles shoved into his eye sockets just seems gratuitous and unnecessary. The CGI effects are cheap-looking and very poor, whether it be the rubbishy demon bats (already used up in BLADE) or the swarm of rats (STUART LITTLE this ain't!), or the horned demons which briefly make their unwelcome appearances. The movie just plods on to an expected fiery climax. Boring, clichéd trash, not worthwhile even for the genre fan; and there's not even much to make fun of here.

There's nothing really about this film that hasn't been seen or done before,but certainly has been done better.It's a familiar good vs evil scenario. With the return of the Christmas Star,hanging in the night sky,Kim Bassinger returns home from work to find her drug addicted sister holding a new born baby girl.Sister promptly dumps the child and disappears leaving Bassinger to care for the baby. Skip forward several years and we find the child being brought up quite nicely and attending a Catholic school for special needs kids.The girl apparently has a form of autism but in reality is extremely gifted in ways nobody yet realises.........except for the Devil/Occult worshippers apparently hunting for any child that was born on the date the Christmas Star appeared years before.Getting the picture?.... Yep and so begins the battle to save mankind from the Devil......again... There's nothing particularly bad about this movie.It's just,well....average. There's very little or no tension from the story and the actors just seem to be going through the motions just to get payed at the end.Even Rufus Sewell,normally pretty good at playing bad guys tends to nibble the scenery rather than chew it!! Jimmy Smitts investigating FBI agent doesn't seem overly concerned or have any urgency about the fact that young kids are being kidnapped and turning up dead,and Bassinger just doesn't show her character any conviction to be believable.If anything,what really lets this movie down is the particularly bad special effects (just see the rats and you'll know what I mean).The movie could have probably done without them.I can look past average acting and overly familiar plots,but bad effects stick out a mile and do this movie no favours. That said,this movie is still watchable.There was nothing here that made me want to switch it off,but if you've seen the likes of The Omen,Excorcist,Rosemarys Baby etc,then you've probably seen the best of this genre out there and will want to give this a miss.

What the hell happened to Chuck Russell? He made the most entertaining of the Elm Street sequels, did a cracking job on the '88 remake of The Blob, and gave us the excellent The Mask (which in turn gave us Cameron Diaz)—films that were pure unadulterated fun. But after churning out silly but entertaining Arnie actioner Eraser, his promising career seems to have slowly disappeared down the pan, a situation helped in no small part by this dire, end-of-the-millennium biblical horror. With Bless the Child, it seemed as though Chuck had forgotten everything important he had ever learnt about film-making.Unlike his previous movies, Russell fails to inject any originality or charm into proceedings, and the result is a lifeless and heavy-handed horror with woeful CGI, a movie designed for undemanding mainstream audiences; in short, it is the epitome of bland 90s popcorn horror. The plot is a weak rip-off of The Omen and the central performances are terrible: Rufus Sewell hams it up as an occult leader who tries to turn a supernatural little girl into a tool for Satan; Kim Basinger is unconvincing as the child's concerned guardian; and Angela Bettis proves thoroughly annoying as the girl's junkie mother. Christina Ricci, who is also fairly high up the cast list, is wasted in a completely pointless minor role.3.5 out of 10, generously rounded up to four for Ricci losing her head and some dude getting knitting needles in his eyes.

Bless The Child is an excruciating experience, to go through. There is no suspense to be found, and the actors are often slumming it, and to be honest I didn't blame them. Bless The Child often feels like a straight to video production, featuring an A-list cast. Kim Bassinger can be a credible actress, but here she is overwhelmed with crappy material. Are we really supposed to believe That Basinger's fatal gunshot wound in the end, can be healed by an angel, just like that?. I believe in god, but that was too far fetched for my liking. It's also very slow for the most part, I often found myself having trouble, paying attention to the silly plot. Bless The Child was a movie, I avoided for years, due to all the bad reviews, but I needed something to rent, so I thought why not?. I also found the kid abuse to be extremely unpleasant. Dangling a kid off a high roof, is supposed to be invigorating?. Bless The Child is one of the worst Horror/Thriller's i've seen in recent memory.Performances. Kim Bassinger is OK, but often looked bad, due to the terrible script. Her character doesn't give us enough information, nor does it have enough development, to make us care. For her age, she certainly looks good, though. Christina Ricci gets 1st rate billing, but is barely in the film. Jimmy Smits is OK as the cop, but has done this part, before. Holliston Coleman is the best actor in the film, and that's pretty bad. For her age, she gives a remarkably steady performance, I was quite impressed. Rufus Sewell gives an amusingly hammy Satan worshiping, performance. Angela Bettis is OK as Jenna, but overdid it in some scenes. She did good in looking strung out, though. Bottom line. This movie certainly needed some blessing, because I was bored senseless with this movie. It's as bad as you've heard, believe me. Not recommended, there are much better films of it's type out there.1/10