2007-Oct-12 - How Do You Like Them Apples?
Our latest submission for review is Cedar Street Productions’ Harvest Moon (directed by Brent Nowak).
Ahh the horror genre. What’s not to love about it? If you are a creative filmmaking type with a lack of funds but a lust for blood, you can make a horror movie for next to nothing and, if it’s good, sell it for bazillions. Just look at those plucky joes who started up the Saw machine. (Although I gotta admit, I’ve never seen Saw- too sadistic for me- so if that disqualifies me from reviewing horror movies, so be it…).
Here’s basically what you need for a quality scary flick: a solid story, competent actors, and somebody who’s real good with molasses and red food coloring. That’s about it. Harvest Moon is two for three here which ain’t too shabby now is it?
Often in indie films the acting is somewhere between mediocre and atrocious. Not the case here. All are quite capable, especially Diego Villareal Garcia (as Javy) whose blend of humor and intensity is fun to watch. Brad Ashten (as Adam) stands out as well with his cool, lines-as-second-nature delivery. As for the ladies, I enjoyed the rapport between Jennifer Black’s (as Sam) and Sierra Edwards’ (as Courtney).
For the most part, the film is technically sound as well. The cinematography is the caliber of a production with 10 times the budget: sweeping crane shots and skilled hand-held sequences increase the tonal tension. The location doesn’t hurt either (a sun-drenched, tree-filled valley) and Matthew Boyd (D.P.) does well to capture the surroundings. There is a bit stock footage of some bears crossing the road, though, which is superfluous. Using stock really cheapens a movie. Well they couldn’t afford to shoot this so they jacked it from somebody else is what goes through my mind.
The score/soundtrack begins a bit insipidly, but picks up through the film. A recurring simple yet stirring guitar piece works very well.
While the makeup effects are excellent (on par with studio gore), the special effects are a major cause for concern here. In the past when critiquing indies, I’ve tried to give them a free pass in this department. IF they had the cash the effects would be immensely improved. The thing is, in a film like this where the visual effects are relied upon to a significant degree, it’s exceedingly difficult to overlook them. It was odd- some were adequate but others were almost laughable.
Where I had further problems with Harvest Moon was in the story itself. It follows the clichéd horror equation: frolicsome kids + remote location with a dark secret = hi-jinks, blood & gore!!! However, this is the case with so many horror films (Cabin Fever, Blair Witch, Jeepers Creepers, Wax Museum to name a few) that there’s almost a tacit acceptance of this type of set-up. So let’s let go of that for a moment.
In Harvest Moon the “kids”(mid to late twentysomethings) are comprised of three couples: Mel and Courtney, Javy and Sam, Alicia and Adam. The five former, friends for some time, cruise through the country to visit Adam who’s inherited the Baldini apple orchard after his father’s unfortunate passing (in the prologue the senior Baldini shoots himself after hearing voices in the orchard). The kids, who of course are oblivious to the sinister history of the orchard (Adam’s mother and sister were themselves mauled by wolves), agree to help out for a period of time harvesting the apples. Little do they know it won’t be for long…
Speaking of length, the film clocks in right around 70 minutes, which is great from a movie watcher’s endurance standpoint (I just saw Into the Wild and although I loved it, 2:30 + trailers is grueling). But, in this case I think the movie would have benefited from a little lengthening. The characters and their relationships are a bit under-developed. I would’ve liked to know more about the romance between Alicia (Karen Corona) and Adam (Brad Ashten).
A little extra running time might have allowed for the tying of some loose ends as well. For Example-
Spoiler Alert: There are ghosts at work here, whirling around the orchard. Some apparently warn folks, and others coerce folks to do terrible things. Now, I realize there can be good and bad ghosts in a story, but why is that the situation here? There’s no explanation. Also, the question arises: Who exactly is in power? That wasn’t clear to me.
Despite my story concerns, I still found myself affected physiologically by the movie: you know- increased heart rate, stomach clenching, etc. And after all, isn’t a horror film successful if it does indeed scare you?
All in all, Harvest Moon is a positive effort which could find an audience. It looks good (scenery, easy on the eyes actors, blood) and makes one think twice about visiting remote apple orchards.
BEER RATING: Sam Adams Oktoberfest. Not quite as good as the original but still worth a try.(6 out of 10)
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2008-Jan-28 - Sugar |
| Posted by http://thefilmauteur.blogspot.com/ |
| I agree on one thing, that film was cliche' It wanted so desperatly to be manly but was filled with too much syrup... should have given it a Mike’s hard rating |
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For all of you pencil pushers, cubicle clerks, dock workers, and govt. employees out there, HIT has combined 2 of your favorite things: beer and movies! We will review movies and grade them with beer! Now, some of you may disagree with our ranking system. For example, you might consider Miller Lite to be the best beer. And you may also feel that "Independence Day" is one of the best films ever. Not coincidentally on our scale, "Independence Day" receives a Miller Lite (or 3). So as you see films made in bad taste receive a bad tasting beer for their score. Fun, no?
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