Indie horror director Charlie Steeds is back with his second release within a month with the Halloween-themed folk horror Night Harvest.
Taking its cues from Pumpkinhead, Halloween (score-wise), a dash of Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Firestarter, this is a melting pot of ideas which largely holds together.
On one hand we have the ancient evil Pumpkinface Judd, who is back after being killed off in the opening reel, then we have a group of twenty-somethings and one of their younger siblings who stumble upon this cursed land.
Steeds really lets the blood fly in this retro-flavoured slasher and recalls films such as Friday the 13th Part 7, The Strangers: Prey At Night and Firestarter in some sequences.
The telekinesis of one character adds a unique angle to what could easily have been a stalk-and-slash standard affair.
Another jarring part of Night Harvest is the fact a lot of the action takes place in the middle of the day, which feels intentional, but doesn’t take away from characters getting dispatched creatively.
The film may lack the social commentary and deeper themes of Steeds’ other recent effort Lord of Wolves, but this was never the intention with Night Harvest feeling like a looser and gory fun time.
Matt Akers’ Halloween-esque score is a welcome addition, and the ensemble cast is down for whatever which makes this a fun watch that you don’t need to think too hard about.
Night Harvest is now available to stream on Amazon Prime.
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