Direct-to-vid Pays Homage to Genre Greats

With the edgy look of Tobe Hooper, the imaginative writing style of Clive Barker, and the in-your-face intensity of the young George A. Romero, emerging director Jason Christ seems poised to make his mark in the horror genre as well as the industry as a whole. His feature length directorial debut for Wicked Pixel Cinema, Savage Harvest 2: October Blood teases with a deeply intelligent plot, plenty of gore, and a nightmarish twist on the Hollywood formula. Savage Harvest 2: October Blood rips through the screen to grab the beating heart of the audience and rip it out.

The well-written storyline follows Tyge Murdock (Benjamin Gaa), who had garnered success as a low-budget horror film director as he returns home following the death of an actor on the set of his most recent production. In typical genre fashion however, the nightmares simply follow him to his hometown. The town still reels from a vicious mass murder 10 years prior. The sole survivor of the carnage was Mikki Lomack (Lisa A. Morrison), the older sister of Tyge’s high school sweetheart Ashley (Emily Haack). Ashley and Tyge meet back up while he is in town, Ashley receives a strange tape featuring her sister, and soon the couple and their friends are trapped in a gore-splattered night of demonic awakenings as they struggle to solve the mystery of the tape and numerous inscribed runes before it’s too late.

Christ pays homage to all the greats that came before him in the screenplay – which he penned – the directing, and the cinematography. His keen visual style makes up for the sadly lackluster performances given by his cast. The sole exception is Emily Haack, whose portrayal of Ashley was not only believable, but conveyed the true intensity of the scenes she was assigned. Gaa and Morrison seemed to be struggling along and trying too hard to work the scenes. The script was sharp and vibrant, with enough subtle references and visual artistry to carry the film, but the core group of actors – apparently part of a standing troupe for the production team – simply need more experience. Some had no previous experience and a large group has less than half-a-dozen credits to their names.

Christ himself has nearly a dozen producer credits, as well as several documentary helmings and scriptings. His early work for “The Severed Head Network” in 2000, garnered him a Student Emmy and a Telle for the short Curveball: Pile of Junk. By utilizing the techniques and styles of the masters of horror that have gone before him, Christ looks to become not only a major player in the B-movie horror class, but perhaps could eventually shake the underbelly of the beast with future projects.

Savage Harvest 2: October Blood is a fun filled scream-fest with enough gory story to keep even the most skeptical fan locked in. Watch for the references to classics such as Night of the Living Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and others. Watch for Emily Haack to be the first to follow Christ out of the Indie film and find her niche in the mainstream, but give the others time to learn.