The Film (3.5/5)

    Bill Rebane could basically be considered the one and only graduate of the H.G. Lewis school of film. He worked with the Godfather of Gore on the film Monster-A-Go-Go and after that one collaboration went off to make his own career in the world of Drive-in, Horror, Exploitation, and Science Fiction cinema. This career would see him make such far ranging cinematic oddities as Rana: The Legend of Shadow Lake (released by Troma under the much more enticing title Croaked - Frog Monster from Hell), The Giant Spider Invasion, and The Capture of Bigfoot. In 1987 he would take fading celebrity Tiny Tim (known for appearances on Johnny Carson, and the song Tiptoe Through the Tulips), and cast him as a central character in his attempt at a a slasher film, Blood Harvest.

    Blood Harvest follows Jill (Itonia Salchek), a young woman who returns to her home town after college to find that it is not the same place she left behind. Massive foreclosures on the local farms have left the town in shambles. When she reaches her home, she finds the house covered in graffiti, and a scarecrow representing her banker Father left outside. On top of that her parents are nowhere to be found, and she cannot gain any sympathy from anyone in town, as her Father having worked at the bank was involved in the downfall of the community.  Of course, foreclosed homes are not the only problem this town is facing, there is also a killer on the loose, and it strongly is suspected to be Jill's ex-boyfriend's bizarre brother the Mervo (Tiny Tim).

    Blood Harvest is an interesting film. It's not exactly a "great" slasher film, but it is a fun one. It has enough scenes of sex and gore sure to please genre fans, and the casting/performance of Tiny Tim just adds this extra layer of bizarreness to the film, that really elevates it to a whole other level.  The film is also notable for being an early film by Peter Krause, though he is uncredited here. He would go from being a victim in this film, to starring in shows like Six Feet Under and 9-1-1.

Audio/Video (4/5)

     Vinegar Syndrome do their glorious Vinegar Syndrome magic and make Blood Harvest look better than ever before The film was shot in 16mm so it's grainy, but naturally so, with a nice stable color palette, and solid blacks. Detail is similarly excellent. If you have seen Blood Harvest before, you have never seen it look quite this good.

    Audio is handled by a DTS-HD mono track in English. Everything here sounds quite solid with dialogue and score coming through crisp and clear with no discernible issues.

Extras (3/5)

     Vinegar Syndrome puts together a solid extras package for their Blu-ray of Blood Harvest. We get a commentary with producer and co-writer  Leszek Burzynski moderated by Joe Rubin, where he goes in-depth about Blood Harvest, but also about his career in general. It's a fascinating track, and well worth checking out. We also get 2 archival interviews with Tiny Tim, and liner notes from Tiny Tim's biographer.

Overall

    Blood Harvest is a bizarre slasher film experience, and it finally has gotten a fully legitimate, and well-restored Blu-ray release, with a solid extras package to boot. RECOMMENDED.