The Dark Secret of Harvest Home Movie Review 204

The Dark Secret of Harvest Home is a TV movie/miniseries directed by Leo Penn(father of Sean Penn) and starring Bette Davis,David Ackroyd, Rosanna Arquette and Joanna Miles. It is based on a book called Harvest Home written by Tom Tryon.

The story begins with a family- Beth Constantine(Miles) her husband Nick(Ackroyd) and their daughter Kate(Arquette). Beth has been left money by her father and they come upon a beautiful house in the middle of Amish country. They buy it and move in. Nick is going to write a book about the Amish and their way of life so he goes around talking to them and taking photos of them. They meet the Widow Fortunes(Davis) and she seems to be the boss of everything. She knows all about what is going on and she is friendly to them. The family set about doing up the house and a local boy called Worthy(Michael O' Keefe) helps them. He likes Kate. 

Things get weird when a local strange man called Jack Stump(Rene Auberjonios) says he saw a ghost.

 Meanwhile, Nick and Beth get to see the local traditions and how the Amish go about their lives. Nick talks to Worthy and discovers that the young man wants to go to college and leave the village. This is frowned upon by his family. Kate has an asthma attack and the Widow is on hand to give her a local cure making Kate and Beth think that she is a miracle worker. Nick isn't so sure about the weird Widow and he gets suspicious of her. Worthy talks to Kate about leaving town, but Kate has been sucked in by the Widow and her locals and she doesn't think he should go.Worthy discusses it with Nick. Nick sees something like a ghost while out on a stormy night. He tells Beth, but she tells him he imagined it but Nick is not so sure. He begins to investigate the disappearance of a local girl and discovers things that he doesn't like.

Nick tries to get the cops involved, but they don't want to know about it. He sees some ritual being performed with young women and he worries about Kate. Finally, Worthy decides to leave town and Nick gives him some money. Nick wants to talk to Jack Stump, but finds that Jack's tongue has been cut out. He is being taken care of by the Widow. When Worthy sends Nick a letter telling him how he is, it is opened by the locals who find Worthy and bring him back. The locals gets pissed off at Nick and they  lock him up. Beth is pregnant and the Widow points it out to her. Kate and Beth have been completely taken in by the locals and their weirdness. Nick escapes from his cell but gets caught by the locals. The movie ends with Beth and Kate happy and cheerful. Beth is pregnant and glowing. Nick is sitting in a chair, blind......

This is an entertaining movie. It has very little blood or gore in it, so if you are looking for that, look elsewhere. This is more of a thriller and it is well acted and well written. I enjoyed it and it is perfect for a Sunday afternoon!!!It gets a 6/10.