Aahana Swrup
David Slade’s ‘Dark Harvest’ is a horror gore-fest film revolving around a small town’s peculiar Halloween traditions that result in a body count. In the Midwest, during the 60s, a mythical monster, Sawtooth Jack, appears annually and wreaks havoc upon a small town on Halloween night. As a result, a ritualistic practice emerges wherein teenage boys are compelled to partake in “The Run,” a brutal, barbaric hunt against the supernatural creature. A year after his brother kills Jack and wins the hunt, Richie Shepard wishes to showcase his own merit and earn a ticket out of the town by participating in this year’s Run.
However, once the fateful night approaches, Richie finds himself unprepared to face the menacing reality behind Sawtooth Jack’s myth. ‘Dark Harvest’ delves into a world of restrictive towns and urban legends, evoking classic horror themes. As such, fans are bound to retain curiosity for the origins behind this story.
Dark Harvest: The Classically Cultish Halloween Film is Based on a Novel
‘Dark Harvest’ is not based on a true story. However, the film’s origins can be traced back to the eponymous horror-fantasy novella by Norman Partridge, published in 2006. The novella similarly revolves around a town’s brutish confrontation with a pumpkin-headed pyromaniac monster who emerges from his grave every year. As in the film, the book’s narrative also harks back to classic horror/Halloween elements to build the tale’s atmosphere.
Author Partridge drew from his own experiences and memories of living in a small town to reflect the reality of such a social environment. At the same time, he also borrowed from literary and fiction conventions surrounding Halloween stories to highlight certain timeless horror elements in his cornfields situated story. “If you’re a writer who loves this kind of stuff, you’ve put a lot of Halloween through your creative filter,” Partridge said in a conversation with Cemetery Dance Publications.
“And, for me, that’s a particular reality that works just fine when it comes to getting a story down on the page. I was watching a lot of [the] first and second seasons ‘Twilight Zone’ while I wrote ‘Dark Harvest.’ Many of those episodes are about perfect little towns with a secret.”
Furthermore, over the years, several comparisons have been made between Partridge’s ‘Dark Harvest’ and the cult classic short story by Shirley Jackson, ‘The Lottery.’ Both horror stories follow a small town’s unconventional annual tradition equipped to ensure a good harvest year for the community. Acknowledging the comparison made between his and Jackson’s work, Partridge has said, “I thought of Jackson’s work more than a few times while working on this one. ‘The Lottery,’ ‘The Daemon Lover,’ ‘The Tooth,’ and ‘The Witch.’ What a fine writer.” Consequently, although Partridge never took direct inspiration, a cognizant thread remains between the two distinct works.
Thus, from the get-go, ‘Dark Harvest’ remains laced with familiar themes associated with its genre. These themes are further underlined in the novella’s on-screen adaptation through visual aids. Slade’s interpretation of Partridge’s work highlights the story’s 60s setting, equipping the narrative tools present in the book, such as cranky, evil sheriffs, recklessly stubborn protagonist, and the mysterious antagonist shrouded in conspiracy and secrets.
Yet, the film diverges from the book in one crucial detail. While Richie Shepard, the brother of the man who slayed Sawtooth Jack in the previous year, helms the film’s narrative, the novel employs a much different protagonist. Within the novel, Pete McCormick, with a dead mother, a deadbeat father, and a younger sister to look after, occupies the narrative center. While both characters occupy similar places within their respective storylines, they still hold significant differences.
Likewise, while screenwriter Michael Gilio harvested a majority of his film’s plot and themes from the tale’s bookish counterpart, he also applied creative liberty as the narrative saw fit to deliver a unique adaptation of the source material. Therefore, the two remain intrinsically connected with the book’s pointed attention to adding classic elements to the tale, significantly informing the film’s sense of genre familiarity. Nevertheless, neither rendition of the story, following the fictional Sawtooth Jack, has any basis in reality. For the same reason, the supernaturally charged ‘Dark Harvest’ remains a work of fiction.
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