Dark Harvest

What about mixing movies like Jeepers Creepers, The Purge and The Children of the Corn?... The result is Dark Harvest, a missed opportunity.

First, it looks like director wanted to do something different but copying ideas from other movies. The result is not as good as it could have been. Bland cast, predictable script and lame ending. To add, it is based on a book that looks like to be far better. Didn't know it.

Second, Fx's are good. Nowadays, I always expect the worse, but I enjoyed here the creature, aka Piñata, his moves and skills. A shame they do not show it more killing people.

Last, the script is full of plot holes and overall it makes no sense. A shame, because with a more risky script/story it could have been the beginning of a great horror franchise. The killer Piñata!! Lol

Anyway, the movie is watchable but if you're a fan of the genre is not as great as it want to be. For example, Jeepers Creepers (2001), is a masterpiece compared to this one.

I have not read the book with the same name by Norman Partridge that this movie is based on, but I have heard the book is good and the premise was intriguing to me, which got me to watch this movie. I think the movie Dark Harvest (2023) could have been better if I did read the book it is based on, because I thought this movie was standard with promising ideas and cool things that could work, but there were things in the movie that were not fully explained, which made certain events that happen seem confusing. I am not going to say it is the movie's fault, because this stuff might have been in the book it is based on, but since I have not read the book, there were things I did not understand.

The acting is not bad or anything, but the characters were questionable with either the teenagers in the town, the police, or the teenager's parents; the premise involving teenagers being forced to go out and kill this entity known as Sawtooth Jack that appears every Halloween from the corn fields, which seemed like a creepy idea, but most of the movie does not set it up that well other have everyone talk about it as a build up to the day. Most of the time on Halloween is just teenagers running around wearing masks either killing each other or destroying things in town which I was wondering why they were doing that when they have been making a big deal about hunting Sawtooth Jack and stopping him killing people, but instead they are distracted the whole time.

The entity known as Sawtooth Jack did look disturbing with not bad practical effects to have him walk around killing people, and at certain points when catches on fire making some cool camera shots; the idea of him having this old looking pumpkin head was interesting and how he killed people was brutal and bloody. I do not know if this was in the book or not, but there is something that reveals who is making Sawtooth Jack and who is this entity attacking people, but the movie goes through it quickly during the movie's ending along with some of it as a in the credits, but all of it was not making sense because certain things were not explained well and the way it was executed was hard to follow because of how fast it goes by.

If you have read the book Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge, then you might like this movie mor than me and understand it more; the movie Dark Harvest (2023) had an intriguing premise with a cool enough entity that can be creepy when needed to be. Certain events needed to be better explained in the movie to understand it better, and some of the characters can be dumb or will do things that are different than what they are supposed to do that involve the plot. As someone who has not read the book, I thought the movie was standard, but I am sure people who have read the book might like this more than me and will be able to follow it more than me.

Plot

In a small Midwestern town, a deadly annual ritual unfolds when the mythical nightmare, Sawtooth Jack, rises from the cornfields and challenges the town's teenage boys in a bloody battle of survival.

Cast

Written and directed with chaps with a lot of experience and starring Jeremy Davies (Who is excellent here). The rest of the young cast are very middle of the road for what they bring to the table here.

Verdict

I had no idea what I was walking into, it was movie night and not wanting to sail through an ocean of movies to make my choice I went with the first horror movie with interesting cover art and the rest is history.

The first thing I noticed was the incredible cinematography, they nailed it here. Even though it's mostly in the dark it looks the part, so very very impressive. Next the premise took me back, though not unique it's fairly original and I appreciated that in a world of generic horror movies. And the third thing? The kills, bloody, brutal and impactful and I appreciated that as all I see lately are terrible cut-away deaths which are just pitiful.

So the film looks the part, the writing is perfectly passable and the movie consistently delivers the thrills, the spills and the engaging plot. It's downside? The finale could have been better, it's not awful but it does let the film down as it's definitely a lower tier of quality to the rest of the movie.

Rants

See, isn't it great when we get something original? Something that's not a remake, a reboot, a unnecessary sequel, part of a franchise? I love it, let's see more of this. Prove the nay sayers wrong who insist the industry is in its death throes due to the lack of imagination from modern day writers.

Breakdown

Fantastic plot Incredible cinematography Impressive kills Well constructed Some of the cast could have done a better job Weak finale.

It's doesn't give you much more than that in terms of its own thing.

The acting is decent. The effects are good. The gore is fun and plentiful. But I am just not entirely convinced by the experience as a cohesive whole. It does just seem like a bunch of ideas around a period in time that just don't gel for me. And I think a lot of it has to do with the bleak Manitoba filming location. It just seems off and disconnected.

And the "twist" was pretty obvious fairly early in the film.

I did like that that a lot of the participants dressed up for the event. Suits and ties didn't make any sense from a practical standpoint but I like the sentiment, especially given the old-fashioned year.

It had rocking oldies on the soundtrack though.

Within the opening few minutes, I noticed the stunning photography and visuals. Since I enjoy attention to detail and a director's effort to make a film look good on screen, 'Dark Harvest' already won me over within the first couple of minutes.

Every year just before Halloween, a scarecrow named Sawtooth Jack (not sure why the synopsis says October Boy, as this is never mentioned in the film) comes to life to kill teenagers. Days before, teens taking part in The Run are locked in their rooms and starved for three days. Thereafter, they go out hunting Sawtooth Jack. The winner receives money and a luxury car, and his parents receive a big house. This 'sacrifice' ensures a good crop for the rest of the year.

Richie's brother Jim won The Run the previous year, received his car and is believed to be traveling the world. He hasn't been seen or heard of since. This year, Richie is determined to do the Run. His parents tries to forbid him, and their actions convinced me there was more than meets the eye to this annual event.

There's a great deal of gore in the film, with kill scenes swift and unexpectedly. The make-up effects are really good. The film is atmospheric and as mentioned earlier, this film looks darn amazing! I've seen many scarecrow movies over the years, but I think this is still one of the scariest looking scarecrow villains. In fact, Sawtooth Jack reminded me a bit of a younger Pumpkinhead.

There are twists almost until the moment the credits roll, and when it does, some viewers might be disappointed at the outcome, and some might be excited with the prospect of a sequel or even a franchise. I enjoyed this very much.