THE DARK SECRET OF HARVEST HOME (1978)

 

Directed by Leo Penn. Based on the 1973 novel Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon. Originally produced at Univeral as a miniseries for NBC, airing on January 23-24, 1978 at 228 minutes. Later rebroadcast at 3 hours 48 minutes and 3 hours. Also released on DVD at 2 hours.

Starring: Bette Davis, David Akroyd, Joanna Miles, Rosanna Arquette, Rene Auberjonois, John Calvin, Laurie Prange and Norman Lloyd.

When most of us think of Folk Horror, films like THE WICKER MAN (1973) and MIDSOMMAR (2019) usually come to mind. This 1978 TV miniseries shares similar story points with those two feature films: pagan fertility rites, matriarchy, and cultish/spiritual fanaticism.  I never saw the complete TV version, but only the two-hour DVD release that I seem to remember picking up at a flea market years ago. So, I can't speak to the possible richness and effectiveness of the complete version. The DVD version is indeed effective and atmospheric as presented, but the story does have a few loose ends that may have been followed through more thoroughly in the miniseries.

Without giving too much away for those who haven't seen the movie or the miniseries, here is the basic plot. A married couple from New York City, Nick and Beth Constatine (Akroyd and Miles), and their teenage daughter, Kate (Arquette), happen to come across a town in Connecticut named Cornwall Coombe. The family stops to walk around the picturesque village, finding themselves surprised and charmed by the old-fashioned customs and farming techniques. They decide to buy a house from the town matriarch, Widow Fortune (Davis) and start a new life in the village, trying to learn what they are told are "the ways", the age-old practices of the villagers. Beth and Kate grow accustomed to their new surroundings with enthusiasm. But Nick grows increasingly uneasy and questions many things that he sees and hears. He soon learns that asking too many questions is a bad idea. Nonetheless, all of his questions are answered at the village festival known as Harvest Home.

Joanna Miles and David Akroyd

With the prevailing restraints and standards governing television production at the time, there is very little actual violence, although some scenes, especially at the climax, push as far toward the edge as possible. There is a strong, slowly building erotic element to the story, which isn't at all graphic, certainly not by today's standards. Nick Constantine functions as not only an outsider attempting to navigate a world he doesn't understand, but as a detective trying to solve a mystery. He has much in common with Edward Woodward's character in THE WICKER MAN, but without the religious convictions. In the place of Christopher Lee's Lord Summerisle, we have Miss Davis's regal, implacable Widow Fortune. 

By this stage in her career, Bette Davis had become firmly established as an icon from Hollywood's Golden Age, a living legend. Feature film roles were infrequent, so she worked mostly on television. Her name brought prestige to any project she was involved with. As Widow Fortune, she is dressed all in black, a look that can suggest witchcraft as much as mourning, especially considering her association with the horror genre. Miss Davis is her usual powerful, dominant presence, although she is given many lighter, softer moments as well. She gives what I would call her standard Bette Davis latter-day performance, with all of her lines enunciated perfectly in a regal cadence that at times sounds more like recitation than acting. But that doesn't matter. Anyone who loves Miss Davis as much as I do will not be disappointed with her presence here. And anyone who enjoys slow-burn horror films won't be disappointed either.  The top acting honors, in my opinion, go to Rene Auberjonois in the supporting role of Jack Stump, a quirky villager who is called upon to suffer and emote much more than the actor did in all seven years of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and to Akroyd, who has more screen time than any other character. He is at once subtle and intense, making you believe his mounting sense of terror.