Harvest of Fear

What a terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, did I mention, terrible movie. You can tell just by the DVD cover not to get this movie, but unfortunately that was not the case for me. Well, someone brought this home for me to watch after they bought it from a local Movie Gallery. They asked if I wanted it over the phone, and I had no idea what it was, and it was in the $1 bin, so I just said get it, and when I looked at it after they brought it to me I just wanted to strangle the person, because they used my one dollar, yes I am upset about that, and should have known I would not like it. I will certainly be taking it back soon, but I might as well tell you all about it while I have it in memory, for I definitely want to forget it.

Without a doubt, one of the worst films I have ever seen. The acting was so horrifically disgusting, as well as the deaths being entirely lame and predictable. I did not even laugh at how bad this movie was, which usually B-movies are good for a laugh if anything else. The plot was ludicrous, and it was very boring because of how poor it was. Lucky me, it is just in my nature to never turn a movie off, so I suffered through it. Do not see this film, shame on you if you are even looking at this movie page, and I have extreme pity for you if you are looking at this movie page, because I bet you thought this would be decent after hearing about it, somehow, and decided to see what everyone else thought. Think again. Final word: Yuck.

EDIT: I still own this movie, but it is still not even laughably bad.

In the intro a couple is out in the woods when a masked killer appears and kills them.

Billy arrives in the small town of Devil's Lake to do his internship in forensics(?). He's following the same path of his father, who did the same. He meets the lovely coroner office manager and they connect immediately. But her ex is a deputy sheriff and has a hard time letting go. More killings ensue. It's the yearly harvest festival and college kids flock to the town to party. We meet some of these kids as they meet their demise at the hands of the masked killer.

The town's sheriff is more interested in keeping the lid on things and is clueless about any possible suspects. He talks to some old townspeople who give some obscure hints. 20 years ago the town was in the same situation with a serial killer on the loose. They caught the guy who killed himself before trial. But these guys at least have their doubts whether he was the right guy.

Killings continue and Billy and the girl have to start investigating on their own. There's also a retired cop who has his suspicions. There are a couple of candidates for killer and a twist at the end.

Harvest of Fear looks, feels, and sounds like an 80s movie. But for the tiny budget it's actually alright. There's no shortage of problems. There is really no main character. Billy starts of as the main character but then vanishes for a good part of the movie and re-appears at the end. There's not any character development either. The only thing that develops is the relationship between Billy and the girl. For a whodunnit there's a complete absence of possible killers, of sinister or mysterious characters. That movie starts out with some great nudity and even though it deals with partying college students doesn't feature any additional nudity. Overall it's on OK movie if you know what you're getting yourself into and don't expect some masterpiece.

I live up in the Portland metro area and heard about the filming so I was waiting to hear about it when it was showing locally. Sure enough I had the chance to see it and I thought it was pretty well done for a low budget film. Special effects were not too bad at all. My favorite character (even though his part was not that big) was that creepy guy who played the son, he was whittling on the porch. I thought he was guilty for sure. Nevertheless I thought he kind of stole the show. I have a knack for spotting undiscovered talent and can see big things on the horizon for him. I've predicted the success of many different actors having spotted them early in their careers.

Clichés galore here: squad car 66 (where's the third 6?) Devil's Lake, etc. Killings took place 20 years ago, killings begin again on the anniversary, for yet another cliché.

What could go wrong at costume party held soon after after two killings, a party held by friends of the deceased? It obviously didn't take them long to mourn their friends' deaths. Killer shows up at party, no one suspects anything is amiss, as it is a costume party. Cops named Barker (Clive?) and Jim (John?) Carpenter investigate. They even go to the town drunk to get answers. Killer almost looks like he is wearing a burlap sack on his head, carrying a Rambo knife. Nonsensical ending, killer is retroactively inserted into storyline.

My critique is admittedly disjointed and fragmented, but that is because the movie is so forgettable that I can hardly remember anything more about it, other than the fact that I was bored to tears by it.

I really liked the bowie knife wielding hillbilly. Where did they ever get someone like that to play this part? LOL. This movie was a lot of fun to watch. Very entertaining. I sure appreciated the low amount of foul language you see so much of in today's movies. Maybe because the setting was a small town and people just speak more respectful in these places. Wonderful surprise ending. Great cast all around and really nailed the editing for surprising effects. Some of the scenes were similar to other slasher movies yet there was a more surprising acting from this group of talent. This movie tells a story just the right way. Good luck to all the talent involved with this production. Hope to see more work from youz guyz real soon. MG