"Harvesters" is a thoroughly entertaining mishmash of genres. It starts out as a "criminals on the lam" picture, segues into a home invasion thriller, and finally becomes an outright horror film. The striking Donna Sherman stars as Frankie Falzone, a Gulf War veteran who's become the ringleader of an outlaw gang. While on the run, they carjack a young woman, and force her to drive them to her place. Before too long, they learn that they actually picked the worst possible place to hideout: this family is hiding a bloodthirsty secret.
This viewer had a lot of fun with this one, precisely because it's like three movies in one. While it does NOT really measure up to classics like "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" and "Motel Hell", it's quite enjoyable. Maryland-based cult favourite Don Dohler wore a lot of hats on this one: writer, producer, cinematographer, editor, sound designer, and end titles designer! The director is a man named Joe Ripple, who also co-stars as a Federal Marshal tailing Frankies' gang. He gives the outrageous story great pace; it hits the ground running, and rarely lets up. Dohlers' screenplay may not hold up to a lot of scrutiny, but while the movie is playing out, the viewer may not really mind. The gore and deaths are delightfully nasty, and Dohler & Ripple make sure to include a lot of sex: some of the supporting actresses are quite attractive, and a number of them do show off the goods.
One of the irresistible hooks is that you have a main female character who's not really "good" or likeable at all, but you sure end up rooting for her in the final quarter-hour of the movie. In fact, very few characters in this story are what most people would consider likeable. It makes things a little more interesting.
Granted, a lot of the acting is amateurish. The closest thing the cast has to a "name" is Dohler / early John Waters favourite George Stover, as the father figure among the Harvesters. That said, Sherman and sexy teens Jaime Kalman & Erin Palmisano still manage to be real bright spots: they're fun to watch, especially during the big action finale.
Overall, this is definitely a bit better than a lot of the B genre pictures taking up space on store shelves.
Seven out of 10.
