Blood Harvest

I saw this movie on the Brentwood DVD, included in the Psychotic Tendencies 4-pack. It would seem to be the same cut version described by another user on the single disc DVD. Nevertheless, there is a fair amount of blood and nudity, including full-frontal nudity albeit in a different scene than the shower one.

I thought this movie was pretty effectively creepy. The beginning is disorienting. A clown sings in a high pitched vibrato "Gary and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water, Gary fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after" which he repeats. There's a shot of a pulley raising something, which proves to be a dead man hanging upside-down. Then there's a shot through a rainy window of police arriving and taking a body, and we see a young man looking through the window. Then there's an auction of a farm, and we see the clown without his makeup on looking upset, and there's a quick flash of the hanging man. Then there's a young woman walking down a road, while in voice-over she's having a phone conversation with her mother about arriving home.

The young woman is the daughter of an unpopular banker, unpopular because his bank is seizing farms. When she arrives home, her parents aren't there and her house has been vandalized. The clown is there, and clearly he's not all there. It turns out that he is Mervin "Merv" AKA Marvelous Mervo the clown, and he's the brother of Gary who is her ex-high school boyfriend. She's now engaged to someone she met in college.

Someone is killing people, and hanging them in her creepy barn, which she never goes into. Merv keeps showing up and acting weird. She realizes more people are disappearing. There are some scenes that make for high contrasts, as when she is hugging a stuffed animal, while elsewhere someone is being killed. Or, a scene of her unknowingly being chloroformed in her sleep, posed for a bondage Polaroid, and waking none the wiser being followed by a genuine sensitive lovemaking scene. There are a number of pretty sadistic scenes.

Tiny Tim plays Mervo and he sings to himself or to others a few times throughout the movie. Over the end credits, he sings an entire song "Marvelous Mervo." I rather enjoyed it! The DVD in the set lacks the extras the single disc is supposed to have. I'm curious how Tiny Tim got involved with the movie, which evidently those extras do touch upon. It would be nice if the uncut version were rereleased, or for those scenes to be included as an extra. It does happen sometimes that the director's cut is shorter than the original theatrical or straight to video version.

Extremely odd flick about a young woman (Itonia Salochek) who returns from college to discover that her parents are missing. Her neighbors are none other than preppy Dean West and his brother played by that lovable minstrel Tiny Tim, who may or may not know what has happened. Meanwhile, a masked killer slaughters whoever comes near the woman and just who it is becomes more and more obvious to the viewer past the first thirty minutes. Despite being notorious for Tiny Tim's one and only starring feature, this film is comprised mostly of hopeless time filler. Tiny Tim is fairly decent, however, as the creepy clown-faced weirdo who skulks around the farm. In fact it's his antics, Salochek's abundant nude scenes, and relatively realistic special effects which save this less than thrilling time waster. The only really effective scene is the opening sequence; featuring Tiny Tim squawking a tune in the dark. That's guaranteed to make your skin crawl in any film.

'60s ukulele-playing pop-star Tiny Tim's contributions to horror: that disturbing 'Tiptoe Through The Tulips' song featured in Insidious (2010) to great effect, and this late '80s slasher, in which the falsetto singer dons clown make-up and garb to play Mervo, a crazy weirdo who may or may not be a psycho killer.

The film begins with beauty Jill (Itonia Salchek) returning to her hometown to visit her parents, who have been harangued by the locals on account of her father working at the bank that is overseeing the foreclosure of several farmsteads. When she gets home, Jill's parents are nowhere to be found and the walls are daubed with threatening graffiti; the local sheriff does little to investigate. Old childhood friend Gary (Dean West) tries to calm Jill's nerves, but she feels increasingly uneasy, especially with Gary's oddball brother Mervo hanging around and snooping on her. To make matters worse, other people in Jill's life start to disappear, including her boyfriend Scott (Peter Krause) and best friend Sarah. Is Mervo responsible?

Wisconsin-based horror auteur Bill Rebane fails to keep up the brisk pace necessary for such nonsense, and some stretches are duller than watching wheat grow, but he knows well enough to include plenty of nudity courtesy of sexy Salchek, and some decent gore to keep viewers watching, the blood-letting including some convincing throat slashings (the effects far better than I expected). Rebane also makes the most of Tiny Tim, who proves effectively unsettling throughout, singing a few creepy ditties and generally acting convincingly deranged.

It's far from a top-tier '80s slasher (but then few late'-80s slashers are), but there's just about enough fun to be had to make it of interest to fans of the genre. 5/10.

I just watched this fave old horror movie of mine, Blood Harvest, in its DVD incarnation.

Do NOT buy this DVD, unless you can't get this movie elsewhere.

(And, yes, tho IMDB doesn't show it, Amazon is offering a DVD version of Blood Harvest for around $13 as of today, 9-20-03.)

This is edited in AT LEAST two key scenes. First of all, in the famous shower scene, Jill gets forced out of the shower when a "mysterious stranger" turns off the cold water. In my recorded-from-cable VHS version, an additional short scene shows Jill not only jump out, but grab a towel and flash a brief, but lovely, full frontal - and if you're familiar with the movie, you know the character Jill is especially gorgeous.

That's gone from the DVD. It shows the brief, unrevealing dash from the shower, then cut to Jill wearing a robe in the kitchen.

The scene of her friend hung upside down in the barn, stripped to lingerie, then her throat slit: on the DVD version, the portion where the girl's throat is slit, followed by a brief-but-gory squirting blood shot, is gone entirely from the DVD. Only a brief flash of the dead girl is shone.

There's more missing, but I haven't noted everything because of my extreme disappointment, and because I was too ticked not to get this review out and stop some poor soul from buying it.

Worse, the picture quality varies tremendously from the beginning (almost looks 3rd generation videotape), to almost passable high video tape quality. Nothing APPROACHING typical DVD quality, even for old films transferred.

In the credits, it mentions "International Director's Cut", or some such. What baloney. The film looks like religious censors when after it with hedge trimmers.

You've been warned.

Wait 'til late night cable shows it again, and record it on a good new tape or DVD.

This is a ripoff pressing, and I'm one of the suckers. Luckily, it was low price. But I'll continue watching my uncut, nearly as good picture (and warmer colors) VHS tape of 13 years.

This review DEFINITELY refers to the DVD version.

Basically there are only two reasons to see "Blood Harvest" First, the falsetto wonder that was "Tiny Tim", playing "Marvelous Mervo", a drooling, slack jawed, giggling clown. Second, Itonia Salachek playing a naked girl throughout the film. Forget plot and acting skills, live with the fact that this is not the viscera-stained, sex, sleaze, and horror epic it is claimed to be. What "Blood Harvest" is, is a curiosity, much like a crowd would be drawn to a carnival sideshow, you sort of have to keep watching for the next "Mervo" appearance, or excuse for Itonia to lose her clothes. Certainly watchable, but just barely. - MERK