Dark Harvest: Not Your Run of the Mill Horror

It’s that time of year again! As fall settles in, the yearly trove of spooky, horrifying and strange films cascade around us. Much of the streaming content is generally lower budget, low quality, poorly acted and written, bottom of the barrel films that leave you wondering “how did this get made?”.

But Dark Harvest, directed by David Slade, challenges the status quo on what can be done with a lower budget. Perhaps not the best horror ever made, but has plenty that stands out as truly unique and turns the tables on the boring cliche horror tropes .

The yearly cull

Set in the early 1960’s in a rural, mostly white, midwestern town, the story centers around the town’s yearly “tradition” on Halloween. The town has a “curse” on it and a creature known as Sawtooth Jack (Dustin Ceithamer), roams the cornfields and town, mercilessly killing off the teenage boys that are sent out to stop him from getting to the church by midnight.

The town treats it as a yearly game of sorts, where the one who kills Jack gets 25,000 dollars, a new Corvette and is the new hero of the town for saving all of their lives. The film only mentions the reasoning behind this tradition, is to save the town and crops from a dark plague of sorts that, long ago, destroyed everything.

Last years champion, Jim Shepard (Britain Dalton), big brother to Richie Shepard (Casey Likes), won the money for his family, and took off in his slick car to start a new life elsewhere. Richie gets occasional letters from him but is plagued with feeling “second best”, because he feels he has not lived up to Jim’s achievements.

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This year, Richie is determined to not only win the competition, but also stop the curse from happening for good, to prove that he is also worthy and capable of being a hero. He also questions the odd life that he and his family are living and wants to break free from all of it.

When he meets the lovely Kelly (Emyri Crutchfield), seemingly the only African American in the white, racist town, and falls for her, his plan of escape becomes unavoidable if he is to get the money and freedom he needs to pursue a life with her.

As the evening progresses, Richie learns more and more about the insidious “curse” and the horror that encompasses Sawtooth’s annual return. Will Richie and his friends survive the night, putting a permanent end to the grisly “tradition” in this town, or are they all doomed to relive it to the town’s demise?

in all honesty…

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Dark Harvest is an unexpectedly entertaining and enthralling horror, that continues to hold your attention even through its weaker points.

Given the fact that this is an early 1960’s white male film, the overall execution of it was quite surprising. Those of us who are old enough to remember the countless films that take place in the 50’s and 60’s about white boys or men from the 1970’s on, know that this particular subject has been DONE in just about every way possible.

This film isn’t unique in that sense, but the twist of the story and the brilliant filming, color, lighting and special effects sets it apart from average films of this sort. I’ve watched films of all kinds for decades and found that the stylized way Dark Harvest was filmed added a layer of intrigue that I couldn’t dismiss.

The story itself isn’t outstanding or unparalleled, but it does end with an fascinating twist that made me wonder about a myriad of potential metaphors it could represent. The message behind the film, if there was one, alluded me, but I enjoyed toying with the possibilities.

Emyri Crutchfield’s performance was absolutely captivating. She played a Kelly that is a precocious, charming, intelligent and welcome addition to the paper white, mostly male cast. I hope to see her in many films to come.

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Sawtooth Jack himself was nothing unprecedented, but I appreciated that he was made with more practical effects instead of CGI, and, had a couple impressive surprises up his sleeve. The scene of him burning down a building was nothing short of spectacular. As a lover of Halloween it was absolutely thrilling and fun.

If you’re looking for a little Halloween lore and gore this film won’t disappoint. It was so refreshing to finally see one of the lower budget, horror streamers exceed the usual, abominable expectations. The artistry, eye for unique shots and love put into this was happily received.

Have some fun this season and Happy Haunting!