Colheita Sombria

I did not expect much when this popped up on Amazon on a lazy Friday night. But for those of you that are into 80s-style -creature horror movies (although the plot is set in the 60s), this is for you. Without giving away too much, the story is nicely set up so you do not have that typical slasher movie. There is more to the cornfield killer and it is scary fun to find out. The movie's pace is slow at times, that's kind of a downside. But the dezent production design, the well-designed monster and the kind of graphic kill scenes make up for it. So if you are in the mood of watching a scary Halloween movie, this is for you!

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.

This wasn't the greatest horror I've ever seen but it definitely felt like a 2000s horror and not the generic s**** for 'modern audiences'

I thought this was going to be a 2-3 stsr movie going into it, it had its flaws but I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the ride

The acting was a bit cheesy at times and the story is a little all over the place, what you're left with is a chaotic b movie horror thriller. I'd definitely recommend giving it a watch if you fancy a turn your mind off kind of film.

It's let down by some of the story (reactions to events in the movie mostly) however, I think I'm expecting to much realism for this kind of film.

Felt like Husk vs Michael. Myers.

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.

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.