Halloween is usually a good season for some new horror movies. Sometimes low-budget films from fledgling filmmakers pop up and surprise people. That’s the case with Night of the Harvest from new filmmakers Christopher M Carter & Jessica Morgan, who wrote and directed it.  Morgan also stars in it as Aubrey. 

On Halloween, a group of friends,  Joyce, Jacob, Audrey, Dane, William, Riley, and Jacob and one of their siblings, Madison, who is grappling with a trauma from the year prior all agree to go to a party at a location picked by Joyce. When they get there they start to be hunted one by one by Scarecrow, a psycho killer. There is a twist right in the middle of the movie that completely subverts all expectations. 

There are a lot of horror films that have a hook that makes them stay tethered to a realistic story or idea. This one has a superstitious backstory that ties all the killing together as well as flashbacks that give it the glue it needs to make complete sense. Most of these types of stories are fictitious, but some are grounded in reality. This is one of those movies. I was surprised at how much sense it made. In the context of this world and the Halloween season.

The filmmakers Carter and Morgan used a cinematography style that gave the film a Grainy look similar to a 70s horror movie. The 70s and early 80s had a style that remains today. Fans still harken back to that time as the greatest era of horror films. Most horror filmmakers are usually inspired by Halloween, Friday the 13th, and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It seems that’s the case here as well. The Grainy look is fantastic for this movie.

I loved the real story this film uses as its basis. It’s called Samhain -pronounced “Sow-in” is the ancient Celtic festival that originated on Halloween. The filmmakers wrote this legend into a modern-day slasher movie which is so grounded. The stories in horror films are rarely so good, especially coming from new filmmakers like these. I applaud such brave risks the team behind this film took. They are going to be remembered in years to come when they get bigger and better chances with budgets. They made the most of every cent they got to make this movie.

A lot of the time low-budget horror films have casts of unknowns. That’s the case here as well.  The cast of this film is full of people I don’t know, but surprisingly they do a solid job. Morgan, who is one of the writers/ directors, is good, but the actress who plays Madison, Brittany Isabell, is a revelation in this movie. I cared about every word she said and the things she did in this film. I genuinely cared about her well-being even though she has questionable morals at times.  She is one to look for in future horror films in the future.

Night of the Harvest was a pleasant surprise to me as a skeptic regarding horror movies. I don’t get scared so they rarely surprise me. This one had a good story grounded in horror lore. The filmmaking style fits the story. The acting was pretty good with Morgan and Isabell as the standouts. These writers/ directors are one to watch in the future. The twist was pretty cool, but overall this was a pretty good low-budget horror film.

4/5 stars

Dan Skip Allen