MY CALL: A lot like Pumpkinhead (1988), but also its own entity entirely, this movie is solid popcorn fun with good pacing, horror action, and creature effects. I don’t know how this escaped my radar (as something actually worth watching). MORE MOVIES LIKE Dark Harvest: Well, certainly Pumpkinhead (1988). But also things like Nothing Left to Fear (2013), not that I’m recommending it.
Steeped in urban fantasy, this is world where a small 1950s farming town is annually plagued by the supernatural, murderous, pumpkin-headed Sawtooth Jack. And in a seasonal ritual, this demon is hunted and killed, with the winner gaining local fame, financial rewards, and credit for the bountiful crops to come. This folklore fiend is common knowledge to the locals, and only the most radical of conspiracy theorists would deny it. Sawtooth regrows every year, emerges on Halloween, and must be slain to preserve their way of life… which is otherwise completely normal.
After seeing his brother (Britain Dalton) win the hunt, the accolades, and the heart of the town the previous year, Richie (Casey Likes; The Birch) is determined to do the same despite his parents’ (Jeremy Davies and Elizabeth Reaser) resistance. Richie has something to prove. Whereas most of the town’s teens have no interest in being forced to participate. Those who do are locked away and starved for three days to make animals of them, before unleashing them in full Halloween costume regalia on Sawtooth in this twister Hunger Game. Making this odd urban fantasy harder to swallow for me, is that Sawtooth’s regrowth is also part of the town’s rituals. The pumpkin head is carved and placed atop a scarecrow that eventually becomes flesh, and has Halloween candy sewn into its abdomen like a macabre pinata. Does the rest of the world know about this? Certainly not. This curse is rather clearly the town’s legacy dark secret, and this story is meant to exist in a little snow-globe microcosm of storytelling wherein we must simply decide to go along for the ride. But as ridiculous as this sounds… just go along with it. This movie is actually pretty entertaining and, I’m guessing, contains some strong allegory about superstitious small societies and government control.
The hunt turns into something of a Purge Night, during which looting and murder among townsfolk become commonplace. There’s homicidal riot violence over food, and head-splitting murder between rival teens trying to find and kill Sawtooth before he makes his way from the farmlands to the church.
Sawtooth Jack looks like a cross between Pumpkinhead (1988) and a zombified Communion (1989) grey. The monster effects are actually pretty good. Much better than I’d expect given the silliness of the premise. I was very pleased with how much we get to see of Sawtooth, and how often. And even though the gore relies heavily on CGI, it is very tactfully executed and rather creative. So I was never annoyed or rolling my eyes at the effects. Frankly, I enjoyed the kills a lot, especially the jaw-rip. After all, who doesn’t love a good jaw-rip?
This was significantly better than I expected it to be on just about every level, especially the quality of the death scenes and gore. But not those aspects alone—the general filmmaking and photography were hitting above this movie’s weight class. And despite the wildly unbelievable premise, I appreciated how “all in” the townsfolk were about their curse. Considering that I hadn’t heard of this until stumbling across it on Amazon, I’d say director David Slade (Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night, Nightmare Cinema) really knocked this under-advertised movie outta’ the park.