Menu
![](/uploads/1/2/5/5/125508036/449610219.jpg)
With hisfirst directorial effort, the gruesomely effective 1986 cult favorite',' filmmakerearned an instant place in the Horror Hall of Fame. Since then, however, hiscareer, with the exception of the cheerfully lurid sexploitation epic',' has consisted almost entirely of interesting moviesthat never managed to find an audience (the grisly sci-fi thriller 'TheBorrower,' the oddball comedy-drama 'Mad Dog and Glory' and'A Normal Life,' a searing docu-drama in which gives oneof the best performances that you will ever see) and nothing but televisionsince 2001's 'Speaking of Sex.' Now, after more than a dozen years,McNaughton returns to both the big screen and the genre where he first made hisbones with 'The Harvest,' a smart and strong genre work that makes upfor a relative lack of gore and viscera with plenty of tension and suspense anda number of impressive performances. Theopening scenes put one in mind of one of Steven Spielberg's Amblin productionsof the 1980s.
'Harvest Moon' is a song written by Neil Young that was first released on his 1992 album Harvest Moon. It reached 36 on the UK singles chart. Background and composition. The song uses a moon motif, which Young has mentioned is very important to him and has quasi-religious undertones.
In them, Maryann , a young tomboystill reeling from the recent death of her father, has been uprooted to upstateNew York to live with her well-meaning grandparents ( and LeslieLyles). While roaming the neighborhood one day, she comes across a house with asmall corn patch growing outside of a window and decides to investigate. Behindthat window is Andy , a bedridden boy about her age, and shedecides to take matters into hand by literally climbing through the window andintroducing herself. The filmalso benefits from some highly effective casting in the key roles.
![Harvest moon movie free online Harvest moon movie free online](https://newimages.bwwstatic.com/upload11/1140779/files/1.jpg)
Young starsCalis and Tahan may not be especially familiar to most audiences (she was in' and he was in ' and voicedthe lead role in ') but what they lack in star power,they more than make up for with strong and sure performances as a couple ofordinary kids caught in the middle of a situation that they can barely begin tocomprehend except to know that it is wrong. And by casting Samantha Morton, whohas played a number of exceedingly sympathetic characters over the years, andMichael Shannon, whose filmography is filled with performances that might giveHenry the creeps, as he has, McNaughton finds another way of keeping viewersoff-balance while allowing two strong actors to dig into scenes moreemotionally complex that the kind usually found in most horror films of late.' TheHarvest' has a couple of flaws that keep it from being a truly top-notchgenre effort—the screenplay never quite manages to establish why no one believesMaryann when she tries to tell them what she has seen and I wish that the rolesof her grandparents had been fleshed out a little more, though hearing PeterFonda mutter 'Far out!' Is always a treat. It is also true that byemphasizing its horrific elements and McNaughton's reputation in selling thefilm, some gorehounds may walk away disappointed while allowing its moreseemingly natural target audience of thoughtful adolescents to slip awayentirely.
That would be a shame because this is both an excellent film in itsown right and a welcome return to form for a filmmaker who may not have alwaysgotten the right breaks over the years but who clearly hasn't lost any of hisconsiderable talents during that time.
![](/uploads/1/2/5/5/125508036/449610219.jpg)