Jenna Boyd in "The Gathering"
courtesy of Lifetime
"The Gathering" (Lifetime)

It is creepy crawly time over at Lifetime. They are presenting an original mini-series this month titled "The Gathering." It has to do with witches and covens and things that go bump in the night. Peter Gallagher, Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Peter Fonda lead a solid cast of performers who bring this chilling tale to life.

Gallagher plays Dr. Michael Foster. He lives in New York with his wife Ann (Kristin Lehman) and their daughter Zee (Jenna Boyd). They are a happy family unit until one morning when Ann disappears. Michael does not have a clue as to where she has gone, but refuses to believe the rumors that she was having an affair with a teacher at their daughter's school.

The police seem helpless to help him so he takes a leave of absence from his job and tries to solve the mystery himself. He gets some assistance from Maggy Rule (Sigler), a teacher of comparative religion at his daughter's school. Maggy thinks Ann might be part of a coven in the city.

While this is going on rich businessman Thomas Carrier (Fonda) is making political deals throughout the city. He hopes to establish a power base that will help him and his kind take over the city and eventually the world. He is helped in this plan by a woman (Susanna Thompson) who has been miraculously cured of cancer.

As the story progresses the plot gets more and more convoluted. It is discovered that Zee has some strange occult powers, and Michael must also protect her while hunting for his wife. Still Zee may be the link that solves thew whole mystery.

The movie is not the best ever made on the subject of witches but it does have enough of the "Rosemary's Baby" type of drama to make it entertaining and worth watching. It is also vaguely reminiscent of the Fred Mustard Stewart thriller THE MEPHISTO WALTZ.

Thompson is the best actor in the film along with Lehman and Boyd. These three draw you into their characters and make you believe they could be doing what they do. Gallagher's character is too befuddled to be successful in solving the crime, or at least that is the way he seems. Sigler is just window dressing until he very end of the movie, while Fonda just poses as Fonda and for this role that is enough.

The movie has enough thrills and chills to delight the viewers who tune in, and for a movie like this one that is the purpose. It does keep you interested from start to finish and actually leaves you wanting more.

The first two-hour part of "The Gathering" airs on Lifetime on Saturday, October 13 at 9PM. The second two-hour part airs Sunday, October 14 at the same time.
 

 

 

 

 

©2007 Jackie K. Cooper

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