Elizabeth Harvest

This movie is definitely something different, it was interesting and entertaining and somewhat engaging. Having just watched the movie I'm not sure how I feel about it yet other than I'm glad that I stuck with it, having been interested at first and then puzzled for a little bit until it started unfolding. They went out on a limb with this one and I think they got most of what they wanted, it is a good movie.

A very young woman marries an older doctor. In their honeymoon he shows his impressive house and explains that everything belongs to her but there is one room she should never get into. As it obvious she did to and things get very ugly.

Explaining more will ruin the many unpredictable surprises after that event. The movie becomes more interesting and engaging even when its pace is it sometimes a bit slow.

The cast is perfect with the calm tone of the movie. Abbey Lee is surprisingly good in a character that needs to generate empathy and sympathy in order for the movie to work. Ciarán Hinds and Matthew Beard are intriguing and mix of good and diabolic as they can be without much effort. The underrated Carla Gugino perfectly handles a mysterious character whose motivations are unclear until the very end.

The only major critics could be; the pace that is sometimes a bit slow and those looking for pure horror will be disappointed; this is mix of science fiction and horror; but overall there are many interesting things to think about that will stay with you after the movie ends.

In brief; far from shallow a movie that deserves to be seen

I am not sure why this movie has received such a low IMDB rating. I got hooked from the very first scene and since then it was a quite intense ride indeed. There was never a moment I felt bored. I especially found cinematography, editing, and score really fascinating. Setting of the movie in an isolated location only adds to the intrigue of the story. Beautifully done thriller all around.

"Elizabeth Harvest" is an intricate indie thriller which does a great job at building up suspense and unease throughout.

We are introduced to Elizabeth (Abbey Lee) a beautiful new bride, being taken to her new high tech home by husband Henry (Ciaran Hinds). She meets the housekeeper, uptight Claire (Carla Gugino) and the blind, flower picker Oliver (Matthew Beard). As she tours the grand home, one room in particular catches her eye to which Henry forbids her from ever entering. Shocking discoveries and dark truths are what lies past the frosted glass door, but will Elizabeth enter?

Abbey Lee has had small bit parts throughout the past few years and so I was surprised at how great she was in the movie, although the British accent falters somewhat (she's Australian), she maintains our interest as the lead character. The rest of the performers are all on fine form too.

Quite a few twists and revaluations happen quick and fast, and these kick off pretty quickly actually (after the first 30 minutes). Overall, I'd recommend this indie thriller.

So this is something of a mixed bag: the girl playing Elizabeth herself is a model not an actress and this is noticeable right from the beginning: she looks pleasant enough standing still but she moves at all times like she's on a catwalk and tends to blow the illusion of whatever scene she's in whenever she starts to talk.

As the movie progresses though, and the first reveal occurs, this starts to seem like it might actually work to the story's advantage. There was another well-known film three years back which I won't mention for fear of spoiling, but it covers some of the same ground and takes one to a similar place but this one doesn't raise any of the same questions or emotional responses, which makes it a much less worthwhile experience.

Ciarán Hinds is good as always, along with Carla Gugino, but Matthew Beard is noticably weakest of all. On top of this there is some odd, clumsy editing, with too many scenes just awkwardly fading to black and slowing down the momentum.

So the film really has one foot in compelling sci-fi and another in bad B-movie drama/ TV soap opera. It's a good premise, though not really original or examined enough to feel groundbreaking, revelatory or even particularly memorable, and after the first twist there's no real point to the story and no interesting place for it to go. It's definitely watchable but largely pointless, and you'll never choose to watch it again.