Starring - Cidney Meredith (Variant II, Teratomorph), Robin File, and Anthony Leroy
Release Date - 2025
Genre - Horror
Format - Streaming (YouTube)
Rating (out of 5):
Several years ago I befriended artist and filmmaker Joe Meredith on social media after I saw several posts for one of his films. I can't recall which film that was exactly by this point but I do know that I've been fortunate enough to review all of his films up to this point. Well, that was until he released his newest film Harvest Brood for free on YouTube during Halloween. I quickly shared the news on the site at the time but I wasn't able to check it out immediately due to the fact that I had already planned out my October horror binge. However, I did toss it on my watch with for immediately after. I'm glad I did because this one may just be my favorite film of his.
The film is a documentary about a small town in Alabama that experienced a killing spree in 2006 with connections to local lore surrounding a strange family deep in the woods.
Joe Meredith has a style of his own. His movies and art is very unique and instantly recognizable with his movies being some of the most visceral that I've been fortunate to see. Honestly, South Mill District is a film I often recommend to genre fans looking for something on the gruesome side of horror. Harvest Brood did not disappoint. I'm not really a fan of mockumentaries and found footage but this one holds your attention from beginning to end very well without the dull dialogue and pretentious acting. The acting in this one is very well done. We do get some of the acting that you would expect from a found footage type film with small talk and not a lot of emotional depth. Luckily, these scenes are few and far in between. The rest of the film is acted very well with some seriously fantastic performances from a cast with very little experience. The story for this one is the kind of movie that I love with a family deranged mutant living in the woods killing people that cross their paths. I've lived in Appalachia my entire life and any film with that kind of story instantly has my attention. However, there is only so many ways you can spin a story like this so giving it the mockumentary spin to it does make it stand out from the rest. With that being said, it's not as dull and boring as most other faux documentary and found footage flicks that I've reviewed in the past. The film does a great job with the pacing and doesn't leave a lot to our imaginations. Finally, the film is just as gruesome as I've come to expect from Joe and company. We have a lot of fantastic practical effects that looks great. If you've seen one of Joe's films then you know exactly how amazing his effects look and this one is no exception. Honestly, I have no idea why this film is still on YouTube and not flagged. Overall, Harvest Brood is another great film from a filmmaker with a true love for the genre. The film doesn't do anything revolutionary for the genre but it does deliver on everything many of us love about horror. I highly recommend checking it out.
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