Movie Review: The Blood Harvest (2016)

The Blood Harvest (2016) - UK (Ireland) - Horror - Not Rated (Gore)Written and Directed by George ClarkeStarring Robert Render, Jean Paul Van der Velde, Griffin Madill, Alan M. Crawford, Rachael Stewart, Matt McCreary, Liam Rowan, Rachael Galloway, Lisa Marks, Kenny Martin, Benjamin Reid, Courtney Lee, Peter Meehan
Reminiscent of 70s and 80s b-movie horror with a spin on the killer family that is unfortunately also reminiscent of those same movies in the poster art is better than the movie.
Someone is killing people and leaving their bodies scattered over the Northern Ireland landscape. The injuries to every body are identical as well they have been drained of blood. Is a vampire responsible, or maybe aliens? A police detective has his wild theories which don't sit well with his superiors resulting in getting him fired from the force, but that doesn't stop him from his mission to find the killer, whatever it may be.
With a look somewhere between old school AGFA "Eurocolor" film and contrasty video this succeeds in feeling like a 70s or 80s horror film, the likes from which much of its inspiration came. Springboarding from an obvious Texas Chainsaw Massacre influence and running with an unlikely leading man at the helm it proceeds to fall flat on its face. Thank goodness nobody was carrying a chainsaw at the time.
The problem with this film, I mean aside from its lack of originality, is it's filled with many too obvious plot holes. Apparently over 30 murder victims is no reason to be alarmed in Ireland, I presume by the way the movie handles it, as a pair of local cops is more than adequate to handle it. If the killer in this movie is so advanced in intelligence then why leave bodies all over the countryside instead of burying them in mass graves like any normal serial killer?
Even with the weak premise and plot holes this could have been a little better if they had a different core plot. The two lead actors do a pretty good job in carrying this and at the very least keeping an interest going. Instead the film focuses on gore and then devolves into a ridiculous explanation of everything, and even the lead actors seem to have lost interest at this point by just matter-of-factly delivering their lines or hamming it up.
To their credit the ending does have a part with some heart to it and there are post credits bloopers that show the cast in a more fun light, and some of the bumps and bruises they went through, so at least they gave it an effort. The end result of the film though is unfortunately not a reflection of their effort. For horror geeks there may be some saving grace to the references to horror movies bantered about in the film.
My Rating: 2 Fingers. That's 4 out of 10 for IMDbers.
You can buy or rent The Blood Harvest on Amazon Video