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Released by: Wicked Pixel
Released in: 2006
Director: Jason Christ
Cast: Emily Haack, Benjamin Gaa, Eric Stanze, David Propst, Jonathon Baker, Julie Farrar, Anna Knobeloch, Eric Spudic
Year: 2006
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The Movie:
Thirteen years ago Eric Stanze took a camcorder and ran out into the rural areas of Missouri and shot Savage Harvest, a slightly derivative but completely enjoyable low budget independent horror film that was a nice mix of gory fun and genuine atmosphere. Thirteen years after that film was made, and therefore thirteen years after the events that took place in that film, Wicked Pixel Cinema has spawned Savage Harvest 2: October Blood. This time out, Stanze is in front of the camera, not behind it, with the directorial duties handed off to Jason Christ, who previously directed a short on the Severed Head Network compilation and a few 'making of' featurettes for Wicked Pixel and has acted in a few of their more notable films such as Ice From The Sun and the Sub Rosa Extreme release, The Undertow. This being Christ's first feature effort and with Stanze, who has proven himself quite capable, stepping out of the director's chair, you might think you're being setup for a fall but thankfully this sequel delivers and actually manages to surpass the film on quite a few levels.
A low budget horror film director named Tyge Murdock (Benjamin Gaa), returns to his small Midwestern hometown after one of his crewmembers dies on set. He has to come to terms with this and shoulders a lot of the blame. When he returns to his old stomping grounds, whom should he run into but Ashley Lomach (Emily Haack of Scrapbook), an old flame of his from his high school days? This proves to be a bit of an awkward reunion, as Ashley just up and left him ten years ago when she understandably flipped out after a rash of killings that left her a bit of a wreck. Since then, Ashley has been on similar ground to where Tyge now stands in that she too is having to come to terms with the loss of her sister, Mikki (Lisa Morrison, reprising her role from the first Savage Harvest), who has recently killed herself. Ashley and Tyge soon meet up with a local named Zack (Eric Stanze) who turns out to be related to three of the victims from that same mass murder and who is obsessed with figuring out the mystery of the stones that were responsible for turning those unfortunate victims into demonic killing machines years back.
With our three lead players setup and given proper motivation, they set out to try and come to terms with their past but to do so they'll have to snoop around some familiar areas and once they do, the evil from the first film is unleashed once more.
Savage Harvest 2 is a smart enough movie to know that it needs to work with the same premise that made the original successful and it does definitely tread some of that same ground but Christ's film has smarter dialogue, better characterizations, and stronger performances which makes the sequel a better film in almost everyway. The original does deliver more gore than this one, but not by much - we're still privy to plenty of red stuff here but the difference in character development is like night and day and it shows some serious growth for the filmmaker's behind the project. The pacing isn't as fast, in fact it is a lot slower, but the story unfolds with a mysteriousness that adds to the atmosphere and the eeriness of it all. The first Savage Harvest was a balls out in your face 'demons gonna getcha' gore movie, the sequel, rather than blow its wad continually every few minutes, builds tension nicely and instead saves the best for last in a finale that completely delivers with a few solid shocks and some impressive make up effects. The fact that Christ's story makes us care about the characters a little bit makes the finale all the more riveting as we're able to get involved in the story and obviously out that comes the suspense that makes for a good horror movie.
Performance wise, no one is going to be bringing home an Oscar here but things definitely shape up to be a lot better than your average low budget independent horror film. Emily Haack is as solid a female lead as you can hope for and she's able to bring a smart sexiness to her character that makes her interesting to watch. Stanze is decent as well and while he doesn't get quite as much growth he's fine in his part. He's particularly fun to watch when he starts to unravel in the last half of the film. Benjamin Gaa is the strongest of the three, his character is a little too pained in spots but overall he's very good as Tyge and he handles the emotional aspects of his role very well - we understand his feelings towards Haack's character and we understand why he's gotten involved in the events that unfold throughout the film and most importantly, we're able to believe the decisions he makes.
A rare testament to low budget horror movie making done right, Savage Harvest 2: October Blood is smart, gory, creepy and fun. The movie builds to a fantastic and brutal climax but keeps you interested along the way, making the pay off all the more sweet. Rarely can a low budget indy film keep your interest for damn near two hours but this one pulls it off with style and smarts and without losing site of its genre roots.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Keeping in mind that the final version of this DVD could very well look different, the feature as presented here in its original fullframe aspect ratio looks pretty solid. Shot on digital video it isn't too surprising to see some really mild compression artifacts in some of the darker scenes but other than that we've got a clean, colorful image that does justice to the creepy locations and gooey, bloody ending - the reds look nice and sharp and don't bleed into the other colors and the skin tones look lifelike and natural. Some slight aliasing is there if you want to look for it but otherwise Savage Harvest 2 looks good.
Again, this could all change by the time the DVD streets but the 2.0 English language stereo track does a fine job of bringing the action home. Dialogue is clean and clear and the sound effects and background score are well balanced and don't bury the performers in the mix. Bass could have been stronger and a 5.1 mix would have been too cool for school during the last twenty minutes but there are some keen instances of channel separation here that add to the fun.
This pre-release screener contained the movie only - a proper release is planned for later this year and this review will be updated then.
The Final Word:
A solid sequel through and through, Savage Harvest 2: October Blood delivers a smart and creepy horror film with some stand out effects work, slick direction, and nice performances. Christ shows serious potential behind the camera and his inaugural feature holds its own. Good stuff.