In a dead-end Midwestern town sometime during the 1960s (1963 in the book, if my memory serves me right), an annual fall ritual holds the key to escape. Each year Sawtooth Jack rises from the cornfields and makes his way to the town’s church. Violent gangs of young men await the supernatural being in an attempt to take him down before midnight hits. The winner of the event gets a ticket out of the nothing town (not to mention the town’s respect for bringing about a fruitful harvest for the year)… but you’re more likely to meet your maker by the hands of the pumpkin-headed nightmare. Richie Shepard’s brother actually completed the task and now he’s looking to break out from his shadow and do the same, even though he’s not supposed to because there are rules in place. There’s your usual mixture of asshole jocks and reluctant boys joining in on this year’s hunt. Richie joins up with a new girl who works at the local theater named Kelly. She also wants to escape the place and have some excitement in her life but the tradition is off-limits to girls. But as Richie says “Fuck the rules”. The night hits, and chaos erupts as the starved and riled up youths get to hunting and meeting nasty ends. As usual, there’s a bigger secret at play and our heroes are on a collision course with some dark revelations. Jeremy Davies and Elizabeth Reaser add some class as Richie’s distressed parents and Adam Fuckin’ Brooks shows up as the town pastor… and I’ll never complain about that. Norman Partridge’s Dark Harvest gets a solid adaptation to film and manages to keep the ever-important fall atmosphere front and center for an interesting creature feature with a solid cast.
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