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. A film by David Slade, starring Casey Likes, E’myri Crutchfield, Luke Kirby, Jeremy Davies, Elizabeth Reaser, Britain Dalton, and Dustin Ceithamer.
DARK HARVEST
David Slade
(2023)
A fantasy horror film adaptation of the novel DARK HARVEST written by American author Norman Partridge, which won Bram Stoker Award for Best Long Fiction in 2006. The story is set in a remote hamlet where its young men must confront a creature each year in the hopes that they will win a desirable prize.
The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented annually by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for “superior achievement” in dark fantasy and horror writing. The Awards were established in 1987 and have been presented annually since 1988, and the winners are selected by ballot of the Active members of the HWA. They are named after Irish horror writer Bram Stoker, author of the novel Dracula.
On Halloween night of 1963, masked teenage boys, clutching weapons, race through a cornfield outside of town, pursuing a supernatural entity. A charred body is discovered, supposedly scorched by the entity’s menacing power.
The boys chase the supernatural entity as it advances on the town. Jim Shephard (Britain Dalton) attacks and kills it, then reaches inside its body and gouges out its flesh to eat. The other boys cheer him on, and soon they are all feasting on the entity’s flesh.
The Harvester’s Guild announces Jim as the winner of this year’s run, awarding his family a new home and a substantial monetary prize, while Jim himself receives a brand-new Corvette and permission to leave town. Jim’s younger brother Richie (Casey Likes), begs to go with him, but Jim bids his brother farewell, promising to write letters. Jim departs alone in his new car.
One year later, a group of teenage boys gathered in the school gymnasium, listening intently to Officer Jerry Ricks (Luke Kirby) as he briefs them on the town’s annual ritual, The Run. Each year, teenage boys are locked in their rooms for three days without food or drink, prior to the fateful night when the supernatural entity returns. Then, they are released to hunt down and kill the supernatural entity called, Sawtooth Jack before it reaches the town’s church at midnight. Failure to do so will result in catastrophic events for the town and its crops.
The boys speculate that the Sawtooth killing is rigged, which agitates Richie to the point of initiating a fight. Officer Ricks intervenes, pointing out that Richie does not belong here. (The film later reveals that the rules forbid members of previous winners’ families from entering The Run.) Richie is furious, feeling the need to prove himself to his parents and demonstrate that he is as good as, if not better than, his older brother Jim.
After a heated argument with his parents about participating in The Run, even against their rules, Richie receives a letter from Jim urging him to stay put and look after their parents. Frustrated, Richie steals a car and attempts to flee town, but is intercepted and knocked unconscious by Officer Ricks. Richie remains unconscious for three days and awakens on the night of The Run.
Most horror fans have likely surmised, even without reading the novel, that Jim never leaves town, but instead becomes Sawtooth Jack and perpetuates the vicious demonic cycle as previous winners have done. Despite this predictability, it remains intriguing to see how Richie will attempt to break the cycle.
However, several scenes are illogical, such as how one officer is able to prevent everyone from leaving town. As the film depicts, at least one man was able to escape, so it is not as if there is a curse or magical barrier preventing the townspeople from leaving. Despite its illogical flaws and unrealistic CGI in some scenes, the film succeeds in creating one of the most captivating monster designs and inventive kills in recent memory.
The film squanders an opportunity to delve deeper into the darker realm of its premise. The ending feels simplistic and conventional, failing to allow evil to triumph and thus generating even more unanswered questions.
DARK HARVEST had its limited released in the United States on 11 October 2023. The film was released digitally on 13 October.
