Savage Harvest

While Eric Stanze would definitely make better movies than this debut feature from 1994, Savage Harvest is probably the indie director’s most accessible film in that it is simply a straight out horror film in the tradition of movies like The Evil Dead and Night Of The Demons – two films from which it borrows fairly heavily.

Starting off as many horror movies are apt to begin, we’re introduced to a group of teenagers heading into the woods where they intend to shack up for the weekend at a cabin, just to get away from it all. As the story progresses, the teens (and in turn the audience) learn of a Cherokee Indian who used to roam the area, practicing black magic and who was eventually killed by his own tribe, but not before he was able to infuse some stones with a little bit of his own personal evil.

As luck would have it, a recent flood in the area has unearthed one of those very same stones from its long dormant resting place, and what our intrepid teenage party goers are soon to learn is that if you touch it, you’ll become possessed of the ancient evil that haunted the grounds so long ago. Of course, one thing leads to another and before you know it, people are getting possessed left, right and center and once that happens, it’s only a matter of time before the demonic hosts are feasting on the innards of the living.

When you think ‘shot on video horror film’ your mind usually conjures up images of amateurish productions filled with horrible acting and really terrible, cheap, Halloween costume effects and masks. Stanze manages to avoid most of those pitfalls with this effort and while there are a couple of moments where the dialogue fails or a particular set piece isn’t perfect, for the most part the movie really benefits from some capable performances and very good make up work.

None of that matters, however, if the pacing is bad or the story doesn’t work but thankfully those bases are covered as well. Yes, the plot is derivative and the influences are very obvious here but that doesn’t mean that the movie doesn’t move along at a fairly quick pace or provide a few genuinely atmospheric moments of dread. Once some of the characters become possessed the movie clicks into high gear and the devil-tongued minions of Hell that run rampant in the woods become the real stars of the show. The first twenty or thirty minutes aren’t necessarily movie history in the making but the set up the plot just fine and make way for the carnage to come.

If the movie has one fatal flaw it’s that the ending feels really rushed and in terms of tying up the story, it doesn’t do the best job of wrapping it all up as nicely as it could have. There is a twist and there is a lot of gore and it could have been a lot worse, but on the other hand it also could have been stronger. Also, in terms of the visuals, the lighting is weak in a few spots which results in a rather muddy looking image that the creative cinematography can’t fix.

That’s the worst of it though – Savage Harvest is a fun little movie that makes the most of its locations and limited budget. Despite its flaws, it’s definitely entertaining and it also benefits from some inventive camera work.

Video	2.5/5

Audio	3/5

Extras	4/5

Overall	3/5