The term may be a bit overused in movie reviews and comments, but if there's a word that perfectly sums up "Harvest of Fear", it's "generic". There's just nothing, not a single element, that would make this movie stand out in any way among the countless other low budget slashers out there, or prevent it from being the instantly forgettable experience that it is. Well, at least not in a positive sense. I gotta admit, the rate at which characters are introduced and immediately killed off again actually is pretty remarkable. It reaches a point where I cannot even identify a clear protagonist anymore. I mean, sure, it's not unusual for slasher movies to feature disposable side characters as fodder for the killer, but "Harvest of Fear" takes this way too far. There's a scene halfway into the movie where a group of teenagers discuss the killing of one of their friends, pondering whether they should still throw that party they had planned... and all I'm thinking is "Who the hell are you people and where did you come from?". Ironically, the one character who does get excessive screen time and some development is a spectacularly irritating police officer with some severe anger issues, who spouts nothing but aggressive, overly confrontational insults and one-liners at anyone who looks at him funny. He's the most unlikable person in the entire movie, and of course, he survives up until the end.
Another thing that bugged me a little was that the writers have taken the slasher movie "rules" and conventions, as satirized by films like "Scream", or "Behind the Mask", a bit too literally. Almost every victim in this movie is slaughtered -immediately- after having had sex, or consumed some kind of drug. Flash some breasts, get the knife. Light a joint, get the knife. Have a beer, get the knife, and so on; you get the idea. I don't know if they were intentionally going for a parodic effect, but this repetitive, predictable formula makes the killings almost comical.
There's also a halfhearted attempt at a murder mystery in there, but blah, who cares about "whodunit" if the characters involved are so disposable, one can barely remember their names?
All in all, "Harvest of Fear" is not at the absolute bottom end of the spectrum of low budget horror movies. The direction was okay for the most part and the way the death scenes were filmed indicated that this could have all been a whole lot better, if it hadn't been for this godawful script with its throwaway characters and overly fragmented back story.
Another thing that bugged me a little was that the writers have taken the slasher movie "rules" and conventions, as satirized by films like "Scream", or "Behind the Mask", a bit too literally. Almost every victim in this movie is slaughtered -immediately- after having had sex, or consumed some kind of drug. Flash some breasts, get the knife. Light a joint, get the knife. Have a beer, get the knife, and so on; you get the idea. I don't know if they were intentionally going for a parodic effect, but this repetitive, predictable formula makes the killings almost comical.
There's also a halfhearted attempt at a murder mystery in there, but blah, who cares about "whodunit" if the characters involved are so disposable, one can barely remember their names?
All in all, "Harvest of Fear" is not at the absolute bottom end of the spectrum of low budget horror movies. The direction was okay for the most part and the way the death scenes were filmed indicated that this could have all been a whole lot better, if it hadn't been for this godawful script with its throwaway characters and overly fragmented back story.