Dark Harvest: In a small Midwestern town, a deadly annual ritual unfolds when the mythical nightmare, Sawtooth Jack, rises from the cornfields and challenges the town’s teenage boys in a bloody battle of survival.

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Introduction

Dark Harvest is loosely based on a novel of the same name written by Norman Partridge. Honestly, I’ve never read the book yet, but from what I’ve read, there were only slight differences from the movie adaptation. I enjoy watching these kind of horror movies that are set in small communities outside the city, it gives that feel of being isolated and nowhere to run help to. Directed by David Slade (30 Days of Night, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse)

Cannot relate with any of the characters

The characters in Dark Harvest felt underdeveloped, with little insight into who they are or what drives them, which makes it hard to connect with them on any meaningful level. I’m a huge horror fan, and I know that sometimes these movies don’t always focus on deep character development, but even so, I found myself wanting more context for a few of them. One character in particular, Kelly, stood out because her role seemed completely unrelated to the actual story. It felt like she was included more for the sake of representation rather than for narrative purposes, and her presence didn’t really add or take away from the film, it just felt tackled on.

Main plot needs a bit more oomph

The “curse” concept was nice, though it felt like it needed more backstory/lore behind it to support its premise. The transformation effect was enjoyable to watch as well.

Creature and effects

Honestly speaking, the effects weren’t so bad. I mean it was watchable and not cringe. The creature design was great as well, also the transformation is by far the best thing they did in the whole movie.

Dark Harvest’s Sawtooth Jack was definitely unsettling to look at, and the practical effects used to bring him to life were pretty solid, especially during the scenes where he’s on fire, which made for some striking visuals. The design of his old, worn pumpkin head was a nice touch, and his kills were intense, gory, and brutal.

I’m not sure if this was covered in the original book, but the movie does eventually reveal who or what is behind Sawtooth Jack and why he’s attacking people. The problem is that these explanations are rushed through right at the end, with some details even tucked into the credits. The whole thing ends up feeling confusing and poorly explained, mainly because it’s delivered so quickly that it’s hard to keep track of what’s actually going on.

Cinematography

The shaking/trembling of the camera has it’s charm, though the film could do without it, but it’s a good gimmick to convey that mob/maniacal/rage vibe (even though it didn’t make any sense).

There were some shots that are nice, specially when Sawtooth Jack caught on fire.

Conclusion

The ending was good, but I would’ve preferred to see it happen, they went with the “use your imagination” route, not sure if it was as intended or to cut budget. It felt like Purge meets Pumpkinhead kind of a film. Dark Harvest is a good pre-Halloween horror flick to watch, a bit gory, so maybe not with the kids.