The Harvest

John McNaughton, Master of Horror. The mastermind who brought Clive Barker's twisted words to life in Haeckel's Tale. The man who introduced the world to The Borrower. He reminded us what real-life horror looks like with HENRY, now brings you a all new psychological horror film entitled: The Harvest.

The film stars fan favorites Peter Fonda, Michael Shannon, Samantha Morton, Charlie Tahan (From TV Series GOTHAM) and Natasha Calis. The movie starts off with a incident that thankfully ends up with a blessed outcome. That incident, introduces us to Katherine (played by Samantha Morton) who is caring for her sick invalid son, Andy (played by Charlie Tahan) alongside her husband (played by Michael Shannon). The atmosphere in the film from the get go already has a precursor of things to come.

Like most psychological horror films, there is the slow burn. That being said, the film seems to intertwine between two families and the maelstrom of chaos that unravels.

The unraveling begins with Maryann (played by Natasha Calis), Andy's new neighbor and ONLY friend. She moves into the neighborhood with her grandparents (played by Leslie Lyles and the ever so cool Peter Fonda), after the death of her parents. The two then, form an unlikely friendship. So much in fact that, the caring demeanor of his mother suddenly takes a turn from sweet yet tired to a more domineering almost "Annie Wilkes like persona".

The two friends continue to see each other even at the warnings of both families. As, their friendship grows so does the tension between Mother and Son. Samantha Morton's acting ability truly shows in this film, it's my favorite performance of hers next to "CONTROL". This woman really begs to be hated. Michael Shannon's acting in this film also shows range from his usual bad guy roles. He truly plays the role of a grieving father quite masterfully, so much to where you begin to feel his sadness and pain, it's simply brilliant.

As the tensions rise between both Maryann and Katherine, so does the viewing of this film. It really grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go once you reach the 50 minute mark. John's directing style really adds to the intensity once the film picks up. There is a twist ending that appears, I did NOT see coming!

The Harvest is another example that psychological horror films are not dead. If you are a fan of the genre and enjoy good slow burn with a brilliant payoff ending, then give this film a watch!

The director won't really care what you think of this movie. That much he made clear in his Q&A at the Frightfest Festvial this movie played at. Whatever you think of an attitude like that, it shouldn't matter on your opinion of this movie. Which is really good. It's the script, but also the performances. There are a lot of gray areas that are filled with life here.

There is also a twist here, that you might see coming early on, or be surprised when you see it. Whatever the case, it is very powerful. So it's not when you know, but what you discover that will certainly leave a mark. In a very good way. And though it goes completely over the top towards the end, it still works ...

The Harvest came out of nowhere for me. It's a film about power and deception, which makes for a truly fantastic film. This film gets well under your skin, making it a very effective psychological thriller, NOT a horror. The one thing I truly love about this film is that it gets straight to the point. It starts off fast, there is no filler, every scene has a point and the finally is epic and perfectly paced.

The Harvest really did surprise me. With such low user ratings, I was expecting something overly pretentious or just plain bad; both of these it was not. If there could be one criticism it would be the lack of suspense leading up to the unveiling, but other than that, nothing is at fault.

The girl Maryann (Natasha Calis) has just moved to the house of her Grandfather (Peter Fonda) and Grandmother (Leslie Lyles) in the countryside after losing her parents. She is lonely and misses her former friends and decides to wander around the area. She finds the secluded boy Andy (Charlie Tahan), who lives alone with his mother, the surgeon Dr. Katherine Young (Samantha Morton), and his father, the nurse Richard Young (Michael Shannon), in an isolated house. They immediately befriend each other and she enters in his room through the window to play video game with him since Andy depends on a wheelchair to locomote. On the next day, Maryann visits her new friend again and Richard let her in to play with Andy. On the next day, Katherine does not allow Maryann to visit her son and she goes to the house of her grandparents to forbid Maryann to visit her son. However Maryann insists on visiting Andy when his parents are absent; out of the blue, they return and Maryann is trapped inside the house. She goes to the basement expecting to find a way out and stumbles with a dark secret. What has Maryann discovered about Andy's creepy parents?

"The Harvest" is a great low-budget thriller with top-notch performances, highlighting Samantha Morton. The immediate impression is that there is a flaw when Maryann finds the truth and does not call the police. However, if she is not able to convince her grandparents, imagine the police department of a small town. The plot becomes predictable in a certain moment after the first plot point, but keeps the tension until the very end. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Ameaça" ("The Menace")

Settling in to bed for a movie I did my random pick and mix and was presented with The Harvest which was mistakenly advertised as a horror, I can assure you that it isn't.

Starring modern day Zod himself Michael Shannon it is a well constructed fascinating little mystery that tells the story of an ill child with his overbearing mother.

It's one of those films that I was drawn into but didn't know quite why, however was eager to find out just quite where it was going.

The pivotal reveal turns the tide of the movie, and I mean that in a good way. The story takes shape, the cast do a stellar job and this under the radar movie I'd never heard of actually succeeded in blowing me away.

I can't say much about The Harvest without ruining it, I will merely say this is a masterworks in filmmaking and though not flawless is still a highly impressive little film.

The Good:

Very well written

Performances are flawless

Perfectly paced

The Bad:

A couple of unanswered questions linger

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Michael Shannon has one facial expression, I'm starting to think it's a mask