Dark Harvest review.
Based on the novel of the same name, Dark Harvest has some neat tricks up its sleeve. Redefining itself as the story unfolds…but missing the final turn that would have elevated it to greatness.
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Dark Harvest
Directed by David Slade
Written by Michael Gilio and Norman Partridge
Starring Casey Likes, Emyri Crutchfield, Dustin Ceithamer, Alejandro Akara, Ezra Buzzington, Elizabeth Reaser and Jeremy Davies
Dark Harvest Review
Dark Harvest’s best attribute also proves to be its undoing. That’s stated too harshly. This is a perfectly good movie. A better way to say it would be that it misses out on capitalizing on an opportunity that could raise it from good to great. What you get is still a worthwhile time investment…but it will almost surely leave you thinking about what could have been.
The movie opens in 1962 on Halloween night. The evil entity known as Sawtooth Jack rises from the cornfield to make his way to the town church. If he crosses the threshold before midnight…the town crops will be destroyed. If someone can kill him before that…they will be rewarded with life changing riches. Sawtooth Jack doesn’t make it to the church on this night…he is killed by Jim…brother of our soon to be main character.
To say that Dark Harvest has an original premise would be an understatement. It’s also quite silly on paper. In practice…it works. The setup leads to bloody violence and who doesn’t love that? The movie is based on the 2006 Bram Stoker Award winner of the same name by Norman Partridge. The bulk of the story takes place one year after the opening scene. Richie (Casey Likes) is not allowed to hunt down Sawtooth Jack (they call it “The Run”) because his brother won the year before. The family has already reaped the benefits from Jim winning. Jim, we learn, has skipped town to avoid the fame associated with his victory.
Richie is obsessed with proving himself and is determined to enter The Run anyway. All the other 18-year-old boys are forced to participate. They’re locked in their room and starved for days so that they emerge hungry and ready to fight for their lives. Richie runs afoul of some bullies, the town lawman, and we are introduced to a potential love interest in Kelly (Emyri Crutchfield). All the pieces are in place for a straightforward horror experience.
Dark Harvest is not a straightforward horror experience. That is its best asset. The more we learn about the ritual and the town’s past…the more the movie shifts into something else entirely. Sawtooth Jack is a pumpkin headed alien looking creature that kills quickly and efficiently. We see some good slaughter during the initial minutes of The Run. Richie sees his friends taken out quickly and ends up face to face with Sawtooth Jack. This is the first moment where the story begins to shift.
Richie runs away from the encounter and ends up joining forces with Kelly (she too defies the rules to join The Run). As they begin to uncover town secrets…the purpose of the ritual comes into full focus. The narrative shift that follows breathes new life into the story. It’s not the only time that the movie will pull that trick. Which is its biggest negative. It ends in such an interesting place…with an obvious path for a fun finish laid out before it. It leaves that to your imagination. Had it followed through fully with the final twist…Dark Harvest could have been an instant classic.
As it stands…Dark Harvest is a good movie. One that leaves you feeling like you watched “just” a good movie. It gives you the standard three act structure…but introduces a fourth act that would have blown the first three away. A tease for a sequel? It’s possible. It’s also an unforced error. MGM sat on Dark Harvest for two years before dumping it onto Video on Demand. There’s no follow up in the cards barring a wild turn of events. At least not one with the production quality on display here.
It is worth noting that Dark Harvest is a well-made film. That shouldn’t be a surprise given it was helmed by David Slade. Slade carries his fine resume into this solid production. He doesn’t skimp on the gore when the time comes for the slaughter of the innocents. The town’s children are let loose on each other as much as their scarecrow demon. The high quality of the production overcomes some of the slower moments…and the whole package is elevated by a story that changes course unexpectedly. We can’t get into what the story becomes…but it changes as the exact right time. Just when you’ve had your fill of The Run as you understand it…it morphs into something new.
Then it morphs into a final form…something more interesting and potentially entertaining than anything we’ve seen. And then it stops. Leaving us at a point where we are more interested in what comes next than at any point before. Expertly built for a bloody, vengeful payoff that isn’t coming. It can’t help but take something away from your overall enjoyment of Dark Harvest. The film knows what you want to see…walks you right up to the line…and pulls the plug as it is set to deliver. It’s a bummer. Especially for how close it comes to being a thrill.
Scare Value
Dark Harvest is a good movie that flirts with becoming a great one. Production values are high…performances are strong…the story shifts a few times to keep things fresh. Then it ends…crying out for another twenty minutes of action. It leaves you wanting that final chapter, unsatisfied with just the tease of what’s to come. For a story that finds success in redefining itself multiple times, excising the most fun shift is an unexpected miss.
3/5
Dark Harvest Links
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