(ESP-ENG) Dark Harvest - A curse full of fear and terror!

Hello friends, good vibes to all.

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This 2023 is becoming a year where the catalog of horror films is becoming very extensive and varied with respect to previous years, I have realized that I still have to see a few films and series of this genre and the Halloween season is about to end. As I have always said around here I am a big fan of the genre, I really enjoy it when it is represented with productions that are really worthwhile or at least meet the minimum to be considered worthy of horror. Dark Harvest is a film that for me is an anomaly, a rare film that combines slasher with paranormal fear, I would dare to say a little gem of the season.

When you combine these two branches of horror you have to be careful because the chances of spoiling everything are multiplied by two. On the slasher side in the sense that the deaths are very artificial and false, that everything we are seeing is of low quality and meaningless while on the paranormal side if the story is weak in its context so that it is not enough to instill terror and above all fear, it will not be much to say. Fortunately in this film at least in terms of slasher and use of gore everything is ok and in order, in the second I missed a little depth but there were things that filled that gap that we will talk about. Let's go then and comment on what this strange and dark story is about.

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To know this story you have to go back to the 50's/60's to one of those small towns that are very typical of the United States in the Midwest. It is one of those places where almost everyone knows each other, but in spite of that, that place hides a very disturbing and horrible secret that emerges every year on Halloween. It turns out that every year in that town there is a ritual where the young people gather to hunt a creature of supernatural nature that comes from the corn fields on the outskirts of that place. This strange being is known as Sawtooth Jack, a character with a pumpkin for a head and a human body.

What happens? - Well, all the teenagers want to be the one to kill this creature because it gives status and a juicy prize for the family; besides it is a way to get out of that town that has no present or future. It is here where we will see the very typical disputes between the teenagers to see who is the bravest and strongest of all at the same time they have to start planning what will be the night hunt. Basically, it is a kind of race to see who survives at the end of the night. But there's another aspect and that is that the town hides a macabre secret, which for me, is one of the most important in this plot.

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First I want to talk about everything seen in reference to the slasher it becomes. I think that in this movie this element is very well achieved, the deaths of the different characters surprised me, they were quite graphic and clean, definitely the gore was used in the right measure so that it does not end up being something absurd and exaggerated. There is a good amount of blood in certain scenes that reinforce what I said before, this will always be necessary to give more vividness to the killings, so in each casualty you will see a certain amount of it. There is everything, knives, axes, rakes, guns, everything you can imagine that can inflict damage in a graphic and exposed way to a person.

We already know that the visuals are successful, now it's time to see if the paranormal or supernatural part is the same. For me not so much, the idea is not bad but as always happens in these cases I lacked information and context. A good horror story that has to do with this branch feeds on how good is the background of it, the origins, the why of things and that is not seen here. It is not seen because the story is very simple and flat, easy to understand and goes to the point, I guess they did not need to go so deep because the film is focused on the deaths and not so much on Jack's nature. That's valid, of course, but personally I can always use a little more information unless they are thinking of turning this into a franchise and it's not the last thing we see of this plot.

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The really disturbing part of it all is what the people are hiding, that's where the interesting part is, that kept secret. It is one for me is quite dark, disturbing and even selfish; it tells us about the survivalist nature that people can adopt in critical situations always thinking about their own benefit. This may not tell you anything or you may see that it doesn't have much to do but it does, in that town there is an absurd social struggle that is what leads people to act the way they do. That, my friends, is what is really scary. That's why, given the failure of the supernatural, this fact comes to fill that void, I think this saved a little bit the experience of the film.

The characters are all very basic, I feel that there is little to say because it is not a film to focus on performances, it is more to enjoy other things. In general terms, the performances were a bit exaggerated, I didn't see any naturalness at any time, it was like a constant overacting. You don't have any chemistry or empathy for anyone. This doesn't make the film bad, but the characters don't have any weight here, the balance leans on other aspects that were good. The cinematography at least, one of the best things you will see, that use of darkness with bluish highlights is very top notch. I say this as a photographer and viewer.

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A well-deserved 7.5/10. It's a very good option for these dates, I would say it's a typical Halloween movie. Good visual effects, good slasher and use of gore, you really enjoy those aspects. It lasts an hour and a half and is available on Prime Video. Recommended for all those fans of the genre and for those who are not, I encourage you to watch it. I leave the trailer below.

Well my people that's all for today, I hope you liked it.
¡A hug to everyone, see you next time!