Dark Harvest (2023)

“To a violent world with me.”

Loosely based upon the 2006 Norman Partridge novel of the same name, 2023’s Dark Harvest is a decent little thriller that blends stories such as The Lottery with supernatural horror like Night Of The Scarecrow and Pumpkinhead. It tells the story of a small Midwestern town wherein a sinister creature with a jack-o’-lantern for a head rises from the fields outside of the city limits and makes its way to the local church. Terrible things await the residents of the town if the supernatural beast enters the church, so the teenage boys of the town go on a deadly Halloween run to try and kill the creature before it gets to the church. The boy who slays the beast is given a large check and a fancy car….and the opportunity to leave the town.

In 1963, one year after his brother, Jim, successfully kills the beast called Sawtooth Jack, young Richie Shepherd decides that he wants to make the run himself. The only problem is that once a family member defeats Sawtooth Jack, the rest of the family is exempt from the run. As Richie pushes boundaries, takes abuse from his peers, and falls for the new girl in town, the members of the Harvesters Guild pressure his parents to stop him. When Sawtooth Jack arises to make his way to the church once more, a gory hunt begins. How does it end? Watch Dark Harvest to find out!

I went into this film with low expectations, but was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it. I wasn’t aware that it was based upon a novel and, as is usually the case, found out that the novel has a very different ending from the film. I actually prefer the film ending and hope that a sequel comes to fruition. I figured out rather quick that something was amiss with the Harvesters Guild Halloween Run, but that didn’t deter me from enjoying this movie.

The film is carried on the shoulders of its impressive young leads, Casey Likes as Richie and E’myri Crutchfield as Kelly, the girl he likes. The rest of the teens in the film don’t have much to do but get murdered by Sawtooth Jack. Despite a small role in the film, Britain Dalton does well as Richie’s brother, Jim. The rest of the cast is rounded out with a number of strong character actors like Elizabeth Reaser (Twilight, Easy), Jeremy Davies (Saving Private Ryan, Helter Skelter), and Luke Kirby (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), all of whom do outstanding jobs.

The story isn’t perfect by any means, but it’s interesting enough that I could look beyond its shortcomings. The blend of CGI and practical effects that gave life to Sawtooth Jack are done very well. While the film isn’t necessarily scary, it has tons of atmosphere. I also like the fact that there are references to the Misfits, from direct quotes from songs to the masks that some of the boys wear bearing the skull of the Fiend. Of course, if you’re a fan of serials, you know that the Fiend is actually the Crimson Ghost from the serial of the same name.

Is Dark Harvest worth checking out? Yep, if you enjoy Halloween and/or harvest-themed horror. It’s a fun film with some very good acting and decent creepy moments.

Thanks for reading my review!