Dark Harvest

Rating:
Summary: Many Shortcomings; Succeeds In Spite Of Them
Review: Okay, to state the obvious: on a technical scale "Dark Harvest" isn't exactly the best-produced movie out there, nor did its makers have unlimited resources to draw on. Now to state the more important: "Dark Harvest" is a better, more entertaining, more wathable and more earnest picture than many films with a hundred times its budget and technical finesse Harvest's makers could only grasp at. It scores most of its points on 3 fronts: premise, performers, and characters.

Its premise has a 25-or-so guy inheriting an old, rundown farmhouse and field out in the middle of isolation, and heading out with a group of friends to check it out and see if the place is sellable. It seems the fields of the property were vastly fruitful cornfields during years of drought that turned all the surrounding farms to dust; decades later it is long abandoned and shunned by the nearby town. Alright, step one is taken care of - if that's not a fine opening plot for a horror movie I don't know what is. Next, performers - some are merely competent but several are actually quite impressive. This leads right into step three, characters - the characters seem very real with their own personalities and personal traits that many movies seem to forget to add in. Especially likable is the girl played by Jessica Dunphy, who as a bonus during the pondside scene (which also features some other attractive females) bares one of the most beautiful backsides ever captured on film. To be honest though, she could have still lit up the screen with cute appeal and her character's quietly energetic, bright-and-friendly personality, even if she'd worn an ill-fitting sweatshirt and baggy cargopants the whole movie. I'm glad she didn't though.

The movie does run into trouble with its scarecrow effects. A significant suspension of disbelief is required on the viewer's part to accept these as real. Helping with that suspension, the cast credibly acts as they're facing truly threatening, visually frightening entities.

I would actually love to see a bigger budget remake of this with the same cast but with some more experience under the belts of the filmmakers, and maybe some more accomplished techicians brought in to help out. Don't wait for a remake that's probably never going to happen, though. As it is, with all its bumpiness, this is still a fine movie.

I'd give this at least a seven out of ten, maybe a bit higher; definate four out of five stars rather than three. It's more forgivable for a movie to hit snags due to lack of funds and apparant lack of experience on the part of the well-intentioned filmmakers, than it is to have all the mega-accomplished producers and directors in the world and limitless money and still hit snag after snag and inconsistency after inconstintency due to apparant lack of concern.

Rating:
Summary: 'Dark Harvest' is more low-brow than low-budget.
Review: 'Low budget' is no longer an excuse for incompetent filmmaking. Sam Raimi, George Romero, Toby Hooper, etc., without the advantages of the digital revolution, managed to produce the shoestring horror classics that modern filmmakers continue to plagiarize on a daily basis. When the biggest obstacle facing today's first-time filmmakers is talent and perseverance the producers of 'Dark Harvest' can be credited for perseverance, and little else.

Rating:
Summary: They shoot producers, don't they?
Review: Absolute garbage from the 'git-go'. Not a single frame
of originality in the entire film. One can only pity
the amatuer actors that have to list this film on their
resume.
Even the director/writer thought he could do a 'Hitchcock'
by giving himself a small role in the film. Don't give up
your day job, Mr. Moore. Anything more creatively demanding than a Walmart sales clerk would be quite a stretch.

Rating:
Summary: only the box cover
Review: Actually the box designer ought to have done the movie.I have given up on lions gate.There is nothing good to say about this movie.Sex scenes that have no part in the plot--Lesbian situations placed in it for no other reason than to disgust.Scarecrows that don't look like anything but poorly masked extras--probable the director and producer of the film--.Why distribute such crap? Why don't they just re release Scarecrows an truly scary film? Amazon ought to be ashamed to put this thing out for sale.A person who likes this can endure anything.

Rating:
Summary: Should make a good drink coaster...
Review: As a horror film, (even as a no-budget first-time effort) Dark Harvest is an atrocity on all accounts. It is an endless barrage of poorly scripted and clumsily directed cliches that fail to entertain beyond it's campy ineptness.
In addition to flat and lifeless cinematography, the film boasts an editing style that emulates the pacing and creativity of a 1950's classroom hygiene film. The dialog is abysmally bad and given little credibility by a poorly directed cast of amateur actors. To be fair, the old adage that 'an actor is only as good as his/her script' should be noted -- meaning that the writer/director should be held accountable for the majority, if not all, of this mess.
Even the intellectually challenged and undiscriminating gore-hound will find little, if anything, of value in Dark Harvest, as the special makeup effects are the bloody equivalent to an Ed Wood flying saucer.

Rating:
Summary: Please, No More
Review: Bad script. Weak Acting. Incompetent production. I'd go on but you've already wasted your time considering this one. AVOID at all costs. Craporama.

Rating:
Summary: I Like It!!
Review: Call me strange, but I actually liked this movie.
It is what the movie, "Signs" should have been.
I liked the aliens in it because they were aggressive, nasty, and clever. The tone of the film was sullen, depressing and dark.
I like Stephen Baldwin even if he has "no facial expressions". Maybe it is because he was abducted by aliens in real life, and Billy Zane remind's me of one of my cousin's. haha

I am going to buy this movie, with pride.

Rating:
Summary: I Like It!!
Review: Call me strange, but I actually liked this movie.
It is what the movie, "Signs" should have been.
I liked the aliens in it because they were aggressive, nasty, and clever. The tone of the film was sullen, depressing and dark.
I like Stephen Baldwin even if he has "no facial expressions". Maybe it is because he was abducted by aliens in real life, and Billy Zane remind's me of one of my cousin's. haha

I am going to buy this movie, with pride.

Rating:
Summary: Good for its genre
Review: Come on now, what did you expect? This isn't trying to be the next Ben Hur. It's a chop up the teenagers film and if you go into it knowing that you should enjoy it. Of course, this genre is not for everyone. But, if this is your thing then give it a chance.
Saw it at the Southwest Virginia Film Festival and the intro by the filmmakers prepares you for what they were going for. Without this kind of a lead in, your expectations might be a bit awry. Again, if you like this type of campy horror movie then you should give it a look.

Rating:
Summary: GOOD FIRST EFFORT
Review: Considering that this is a small-budget independent film by a first-time writer/director, I think it is pretty good. The dialogue is, for the most part, crisp and sometimes, humorous. As for the quality of acting, young actors have to get their start somewhere too. At least it was made on film rather than shot on video giving it much better definition. I look for bigger and better things from this writer/director. Copy and spelling mistakes should be attributed to Artisan, which should be better at proofing. I doubt the producers had much artistic control after the film was sold.