Halloween Horror Movie ‘Dark Harvest’ Receives R Rating

MGM’s feature film adaptation of Norman Partridge’s Halloween horror novel Dark Harvest has received its official rating from the Motion Picture Association.

The MPA has rated Dark Harvest R for “strong horror violence and gore, language throughout, and brief drug use”.

Casey Likes (The Birch) and E’myri Crutchfield (Fargo) star in the film, along with Dustin Ceithamer (The New Mutants) as (the soon to be iconic) Sawtooth Jack. The cast also includes Jeremy Davies (Lost, The Black Phone), Elizabeth Reaser (The Haunting of Hills House, The Handmaid’s Tale), and Luke Kirby (Halloween: Resurrection, No Man of God)

Special effects makeup artist Vincent Van Dyke, who worked on both Halloween 2018 and Halloween Kills, is serving as prosthetic creature effects designer for the film(!).

David Slade (30 Days of Night, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch) will direct the movie adaptation of Norman Partridge’s 2006 novel from a script by Michael Gilio, who co-wrote Paramount’s forthcoming Dungeons & Dragons film. Matt Tolmach and David Manpearl are producers through Matt Tolmach Productions, which is currently hot off the success of the last two Jumanji movies and Venom, which combined have grossed over $2.6 billion.

The book is set during Halloween of 1963 in a small Midwestern town where teenage boys eagerly square off with the butcher knife wielding October Boy, aka Ol’ Hacksaw Face aka Sawtooth Jack. Both the hunter and the hunted, the October Boy is the prize in an annual rite of life and death. One teen, Pete McCormick, knows that killing the October Boy is his one chance to escape a dead-end future in the one-horse town. But before the night is over, Pete will look into the saw-toothed face of horror – and discover the terrifying true secret of the October Boy.

The film’s official synopsis: Every fall in a small Midwestern town, a supernatural specter rises from the cornfields and makes its way toward the town’s Church, where violent gangs of teenage boys hungrily await their chance to confront the legendary nightmare in an annual harvest rite of life and death. Richie Shepard (Likes) lives in the shadow of his big brother who won last year’s Run and earned his ticket out of town. To prove himself and join his brother, Richie pairs up with Kelly Haines (Crutchfield), a restless dreamer who will do whatever it takes to escape this dead-end town. Against the rules and the odds, Richie and Kelly decide to hunt down the legendary nightmare to win the Run and their freedom, together.

Dark Harvest is still officially scheduled to arrive in theaters on September 9, through MGM’s joint distribution company, United Artists Releasing; however, that date could be pushed back, as this is the first sign of any marketing. Another possibility, considering that Amazon purchased MGM amid the film’s production, it could be released still this Halloween season but as a streaming exclusive for Amazon Prime Video.

We will keep you posted with any additional release information as soon as it is confirmed.

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Matt Artz

Founded Halloween Daily News in 2012 and the Halloween International Film Festival in 2016. Professional writer/journalist/photographer since 2000.