90% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 41 reviews)
Runtime: 94 minutes
Directed by: Stuart Ortiz
Starring: Peter Zizzo, Terri Apple, Andy Lauer, Matthew Peschio, Allen Marsh
From: Several different companies
This film did live up to its title.
Yesterday the plan was to see two movies theatrically, back-to-back. However, that did not come to fruition. When I entered the auditorium for the second picture, the sound was only coming from the front speakers for the pre-show & it did not change once the first trailer played… almost certain that would be the case for the film. Because I have the AMC A-List app, not that bit a deal just to leave. I’ll explain what I planned on seeing at the end of the review.
It was NOT Weapons; I wasn’t doing a horror movie double-feature. Most will vehemently disagree w/ this opinion but Barbarian started off good before completely soiling the bed in the final act, leading to a horrible conclusion. Maybe one day far in the future it will be given a shot—not now. As has been made clear by my reviews for years, horror made in the past 10 to 15 years is mostly not for me-what’s made before that is far more enjoyable for my tastes.
Strange Harvest was selected due to my reading that it was a horror mockumentary styled after a Netflix sort of true crime documentary. I did not know until today that it was from Stuart Ortiz, one of the people responsible for Grave Encounters.
Apparently, I knew more than most of the audience at the screening-there were no less than 5 people that walked out! Besides the format, the unflinching look at extremely gruesome images of corpses might have been too much for them. The story follows a serial killer known as MR. SHINY; Shiny performs ritualistic killings riff w/ symbology for occult purposes. I’ll reveal no more; those people left before the plot became arguably rather outlandish.
There were bizarre mistakes and odd moments; seeing modern cars in footage dated 2010 or 2011 (when most of this is set) is one thing. Why did one news chyron state the temperature as 74 degrees Celsius instead of Fahrenheit?! From hearsay, when this screen last year at some festivals, AI images were seen… but those were removed between here and now.
The movie was indeed strange, featuring unexpected elements. That said, it was still a compelling journey filled with unforgettable imagery, including the disturbing as F mask Shiny wears. Don’t expect every question answered yet it was effective in alarming the viewer; several moments will never be forgotten.
As for the failed second half of the double-header, mainly for the 3D aspect I was to see Jurassic World Rebirth. As all the other Jurassic World films were various shades of atrocious, I was more miffed that this is a concern I’ll have at any screening at AMC Disney Springs (where I usually see films) rather than missing a movie that could have been an insulting waste of time.
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