The Harvest, a short, Danish production by directing duo Kim Sønderholm and Martin Sonntag, is not to be confused with the recently released Jon McNaughton film of the same name (reviewed by The Movie Blog’s Jim Alexander here). This is a special effects nightmare—I mean this in a good and bad way. The twenty nasty little minutes that comprise The Harvest—which is ultimately a little too amateurish to fully invest in—confirms that shock terror is still alive and well in the horror genre.
The Harvest is short and to the point. A doctor caught up in the black market organ trade has ruined a recently obtained kidney by keeping it on ice a little too long. What’s worse is the kidney needs to come from a “donor” with type O-Negative blood. As the film generously points out, O-Negative blood is found in only six percent of the population. Six percent! That’s not a big percentage. And yet our now nervous doctor, being threatened by the bad guy stuck with the useless kidney (the doc is type O-Negative himself…Get the picture?), uses all of his medical resources to come up with a new kidney for his eager clients.
He surfs the Vampire Sex chat rooms to find a bloody valentine willing to meet for a drink. A drink of what, we don’t know, but we do know he’s found a possible match (so much for the six percent blues) and she’s a cutie, too! Score two for the doctor. But when the new potential victim flip flops the plans on him, he’s left wishing he had just found a hobo instead.
The Harvest uses special effects like a stoner slurping his spaghetti dinner. There’s a lot of blood (check) and a twist ending Miike would be proud of. It’s a messy movie, but seems happy, too. And I wonder how much you can really dislike chopped up bodies. I admire the fun the film has. Vampire chat rooms? Black market organ trade? Successful doctors helping steal organs for no apparent reason? Whatever! Just dice up some bodies and let’s all grab a vomit bag.
If more short films went this route, I’d smile a little wider knowing someone is being grossed out for a short amount of time.
The Harvest (entitled, Høsten, in its native Danish) has already played at the Movie Battle event at the CPH PIX festival in Copenhagen (where it won an award for best special effects), at Weekend of Fear in Nuremberg, and is next to appear on June 27, at the Kultfilmsfestivalen in Alingsâs, Sweden. If you are traveling Europe and looking for a quick, queasy, easy thrill, check it out.
I Give “The Harvest” 3 out of 10
