Happy Halloween? Carter Ink Films and Come About Productions are releasing their latest horror flick, Night of the Harvest, to most digital retailers on September 24th courtesy of Gravitas Ventures. I know this is a stressful time of the year, when you’re inundated with new titles to watch while trying to squeeze in the Golden Oldies like Slumber Party Massacre and Poltergeist. So let me just say this, you should put Night of the Harvest to the top of your viewing list because it effortlessly articulates the essence of Halloween. There are going to be a lot of titles that take place around Samhain, but very few of them feel like you’re in the holiday. Night of the Harvest, written & directed by Christopher M. Carter & Jessica Morgan, is one of the few films in the latter category. And it’s about to be out on streaming platforms early, which means you get to watch it sooner than later!
Night of the Harvest is a good ol’ tale of survivor’s guilt and the past that refuses to stay dead. In this narrative, a young woman is the sole survivor of a brutal massacre and still struggles with the repercussions of those actions a year later. Despite her better judgement and feelings of dread, the young woman accompanies her sister and a small group of friends to an annual Halloween bash in a mostly secluded location. Surprise, surprise – that night a masked psychopath starts picking off the party patrons one by one. Is this new killer related to the old one? You’ll have to watch Night of the Harvest to find out! Also produced by Christopher M. Carter & Jessica Morgan, this slasher fest stars Aeric Azana, Morgan, Brittany Isabell, Jim Cirner, Taylor Falshaw, Ashton Ruiz and Jesse Pickering.
Night of the Harvest has very few issues behind-the-scenes. I mostly have positive things to say. For starters, I love the camera work and cinematography – the overall darkness and picture quality so perfectly fits the atmosphere the directors were trying to create. It gave a palpable nostalgic element to the narrative and accurately fits the tone of the movie. The props, costumes, set design and practical special effects all contributed to a true feeling of realism. From the first piece of dialogue to the end credits – this film reeks of Halloween in the best way possible. I was also very impressed with the number of locations featured throughout the film and I don’t have any gripes with audio and editing. My only complaints are that some acting performances were much better than others, and the pacing/timing needed a liiiiiiiiittle bit of work. Night of the Harvest didn’t pick up for steam until about the 30-minute mark.
As far as the horror is concerned, Night of the Harvest is a traditional slasher and relies on building suspense before diving into the blood & guts. I can safely report that it has a decent to above average body count (ie kill count), which means the gore hounds will have something to taste every few minutes. I think there’s a difference between trying to scare people and trying to entertain people – and this movie did a little bit of both without going too hard in either direction. It helps stay with the 80s/90s horror theme that I felt throughout the entirety of the film. And it’s fun. Without falling into all the stereotypes and cliches in traditional slasher films, Night of the Harvest is one of the best attempts at retro horror in 2024. This is certainly a movie with a high replay value, where you can watch it every year during the Halloween season and get the same Fall feeling that brought you in in the first place.
Final Score: 9 out of 10
