The Harvesting (2018) Movie Review
Written By: FR
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Ivan Kraljevic
Writer: Ben Everhart
Producers: Rebecca Bent, David Gareis, Daniel Shultz, et. al.
Date Released: July 19, 2019
Cast:
Elena Nikitina Bick as Dinah (as Elena Caruso)
Chris Conner as Jake
Jennifer Gareis as Sarah
Greg Wood as Grandfather
Noah Headley as Steven
Accalia Quintana as Michaela
Alex Yurcaba as Jacob
Jack Buckley as Amos
Rating = 2/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
The movie opens up with an angry young Amish man who suddenly grabs an axe and murders most of his family before killing himself. Then, it switches to the present where we then follow a family from the city who decides to go on their summer holiday to the countryside. Jake (Chris Conner) and his wife Dinah (Elena Caruso) have been having marital issues and so hope a break with the kids (Steven and Michaela) will help them fix their problems. However they have chosen a very bad location, the local Amish community seem outright hostile to the four, while the nearby woods seems to contain a powerful evil that from the very outset starts to covertly influence the families minds. They soon got more than they bargain for: summer vacation ends up with horrific battle between good and evil.
Gore Factor
The Harvesting is rated moderate in violence and gore so not a lot of blood and guts. But there is that strange dream where a man high on laughing gas shotguns his family and then himself was effective, if let down by some poor CGI effects for the shell blasts. Then there was the angry young Amish man suddenly grabs an axe and murders most of his family before killing himself at the beginning of the movie.
The Grave Review
The movie is too slow paced. At some level, it is justified to develop the characters in the story. Some of the camera work was pretty good, the soundtrack was also better than the normal at times. It maintains a real sense of mystery while bringing some surprises out, especially with the linking of the two separate plots. Unfortunately, though it can never truly deliver on the suggested horror.
The Harvesting (2018) effectively intertwines the discomfort that can accompany new surroundings and the tension of bringing in the new characters in this kind of setting. It’s a dark picture, and although the overall production may be very restraint, the picture is crisp, the performances are generally commendable, and the scares are far and few in between.
The Harvesting does not have an elaborate setting and awe-inspiring special effects. It was able to produce a handful of slick scares. There is an assortment of memorable performances and an interesting twist and turns coupled with eerie setups and sharp jolts of scare.
Because of the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives The Harvesting (2019) two graves out of five graves.
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