Halloween isn't for another several months, and yet this February Friday brings some spooktacular news that HARD CANDY and 30 DAYS OF NIGHT helmer David Slade is set to direct a feature adaptation of the acclaimed horror novel Dark Harvest by author Norman Patridge. The newly-announced project will creep in as the first big screen endeavor from MGM Film Group Chairman Michael De Luca, which has Matt Tolmach and David Manpearl producing via Matt Tolmach Productions. The film is being written by Michael Gilio who will also assume the role of executive producer.
According to Deadline, who exclusively broke the news about Slade's involvement with the Dark Harvest adaptation, the story is set on Halloween in 1963 and centers around the October Boy aka Ol’ Hacksaw Face aka Sawtooth Jack. Whatever the name, everybody in this small Midwestern town knows who he is. He rises from the cornfields every Halloween, a butcher knife in his hand, and makes his way toward town, where gangs of teenage boys eagerly await their chance to confront the legendary nightmare. Both the hunter and the hunted, the October Boy is the prize in an annual rite of life and death. Pete McCormick knows that killing the October Boy is his one chance to escape a dead-end future in this one-horse town. He’s willing to risk everything, including his life, to be a winner for once. 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.
You know what? I think I might have a copy of Dark Harvest somewhere in my collection. I'll have to venture down to my nerd cave after work to see if Patridge's award-winning novel is still floating around among the many stacks of books and graphic novels.
Speaking of awards! Dark Harvest was previously awarded the coveted Bram Stoker Award, and was named one of the “100 Best Novels” of 2006 by Publishers Weekly. Personally, I'm always down for a good horror flick set around the best holiday of the year, Halloween, and my hope is that Dark Harvest will arrive as a fine addition to the Slasher sub-genre. In the meantime, I think I'll give Stan Winston's PUMPKINHEAD another watch, which in my opinion is one of the very best films to ever grow from the rotted soil of a haunted pumpkin patch.
We'll be sure to bring you more details related to DARK HARVEST as they sprout up.