Dark Harvest Review: A Halloween Horror Misfire
"Dark Harvest's failed potential is a sad case."
professionals
- The design of the film's central monster is surprisingly practical
- Some interesting moments of extreme violence
against
- A script full of plot holes.
- Vague sense of logic and environment
- Disappointing and unnecessarily long ending
The best thing that can be said about Dark Autumn is that it wastes no time announcing what it is. By: Norman Partridge Between the opening images of teenagers being killed by pumpkin horror and the Southern soundtrack that accompanies those images, Dark Harvest makes it clear that there is nothing scary or scary. A Little Blood For the next 90 minutes, the film offers both promises.
But what it fails to do is find the right balance between the heightened magical tone and the already weak sense of logic that the story demands. For a movie that's little more than teenagers having to hunt monsters every year, Dark Harvest surprisingly struggles to fill in a lot of plot holes and falters on its premise. Not only does this weaken the effectiveness of many of the truly impressive instances of violence and mayhem, it also renders the film largely ineffective.
Dark Harvest has a lot in common with horror stories like Shirley Jackson's The Lottery and is set in a small, unnamed Midwestern town in the 1960s where teenagers are forced to participate in an event called The Run every year. Released every Halloween night, contestants are tasked with slaying a deadly monster called "Jack Sawtooth" in order to collect another year of "gift fruit" for their town. In return, Tooth receives the expensive car that Jack died in and lifetime money from his hometown, and the family gets a free place in the new house.
The film follows high school punk Richie Shepard (Casey Love) who gets hit on the shoulder after his football star brother Jim (Brittany Dalton) wins a race the year before. Determined to prove his mettle one last time, Richie sets out on Halloween, defying the orders of the town's sheriff, Jerry Ricks (Luke Kirby) and his parents, Donna (Elizabeth Reiser) and Dan (Jeremy Davis). . . at night to really follow in his brother's footsteps. However, after Richie's dreams of stardom are quickly shattered, he begins to suspect that everything he's been led to believe about racing may not be true.
The twists and turns that occur in the final third act of Dark Harvest should be obvious to any horror fan, even with casual experience. The film's script, written by Michael Giglio, commendably succeeds in making a big reveal with minimal weight, and Leach's performance helps Richie convey the emotionally devastating nature of the big mystery. However, as a commentary on the decline of small-town America and how the traditions of the place blind its inhabitants, the bleak production is completely out of place.
Although the film is full of exaggerated scenes and archetypes, it fails to successfully touch on small-town American culture. Dark Harvest's inner-city story is too vague to be as accurate as the film's reviews demand, and even the sets, costumes, and buildings are nothing more than a half-hearted attempt at a remake. American symbol. Pictures. The entertainer knows what he wants to say about his characters and the world, but he lacks the ability to articulate and convey his thoughts.
As the first film in more than a decade from Candy and 30 Days of Night director David Slade, the film is undeniably disappointing. With experience working on series like Hannibal , American Gods , and Black Mirror, the director has honed his visual style with deep emotion, and Dark Autumn contains many beautiful images. However, the unusual directorial look of the slide further strengthens the surface, as the nature of Gillion's script does not overcompensate for it.
While the bleak production lends itself to excessive violence - at one point we see carnage in the form of a geyser of blood pouring from the entrance to a storm cellar - in short, the story becomes the light, fun horror moment it should be. With his outstretched arms, teeth and pumpkin-inspired face, the Halloween monster figure from the movie is also a real eye-catcher. Unfortunately, as impressive as the elements are, Dark Harvest never brings them together. It's a strange creature to look at, but like Jack the Ripper himself, all that's hidden beneath it are some straws and assorted candies.
Dark Harvest is now available to rent and purchase on all major digital platforms.
