Harvest Brood (2025) (USA)

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Nearly two decades ago, a series of gruesome killings weighs heavy on a small Alabama town. Interviews with the police working the case and the audio of the brief but horrifying 911 call showcase an October night that erupted into a brutal massacre, seemingly with no reason behind it. There’s local folklore pointing at a long, dark history of humanoid monsters roaming the area and that may explain the masked slasher running around and mutilating whoever it comes across. The local Harkin Chemical plant was behind a spill decades earlier and anyone familiar with the filmmaker’s EonCorp series will know that shady corporations definitely have some very dirty hands when it comes to any and all current awfulness. The always intriguing Joe Meredith (South Mill District) retains his inventive and handcrafted splatter but manages to be more focused than his prior experiments in lo-fi repulsiveness. That’s a boon. Coming off like a true crime documentary shot for the SOV market which somehow bled into a forgotten slasher film that just so happened to be filmed on a cursed videotape, Harvest Brood is an incredible mutation of analog horror and backyard insanity that pares remarkably well with the creepypasta aesthetic. Add in Meredith’s usual very wet special effects and an unsettling soundtrack and sound design to make for something that feels out of its time while also feeling like it belongs to no time at all and successfully hypnotizes the viewer for its brief runtime.