I've seen what lies in the fields, and believe me none of it is as scary as Tara Reid's acting!
What we have here is a movie that tries to be a horror film, and fails utterly. I mean, look at the cover on the DVD wrapper for the UK. I guarantee you, that you will not see one grim reaper character in this film...well unless you consider hippies to be Now, that is not to say that it's that bad, but the blatant mis-marketing is criminal. What this is, is a coming of age story masked under a lot of horror movie trappings. Well, not really even that, we do see a dead body, and there is some suspense, but that's it. I almost feel like i'm cheating by reviewing this as it's not a horror film. I did watch A Serbian Film tonight (Google it!) as well, but that's not a horror movie either, and it would hard for me to review that due to the violent pornographic content...so i'll do my best to cover this.
Steven (Joshua Ormond) is upstairs in his room when his mommy Bonnie (Tara Reid) and daddy Barry (Faust Checho) are fighting. Steven comes downstairs to find Barry pointing a gun at Bonnie's face. Just an aside, Tara Reid's acting here is soooo bad. She doesn't even act like she's scared, angry, or anything else. It just totally pulled me out of it to begin with. So, little Steven is sent to stay with Barry's parents Gladys (Cloris Leachman) and Hiney (Bev Appleton), and is told to stay out of the cornfield! But Steven gets tired of listening to Gladys cuss consistently and runs out into the cornfield and finds...a dead girl! Of course no one will believe a little kid, and it's all because of Glady's monster movie watching habits that Steven is so freaked out.
Life in the country in the 70's can be exciting though, what with all the talk on the radio of Charles Manson and the wierd Eugene (Louis Morabito) that works at the "milkshop". And then there is Glady's sister Tootie (Karen Ludwig) that is in love with a "colored" man Charlie (Brian Anthony Wilson) as Glady's calls him and her other sister that has some ailiment and has passed it down to her children. We find out later that Barry was apparently sent there during a confrontation with his father. So, Steven wanders around and goes into the cornfield a few too many times and then there are the hippies he keeps meeting when he's out with Hiney. And then the family starts getting harrased...stuff thrown through the window. But just who is behind it all, and what is lurking in the cornfield. The answer is about as pedestrian as they come.
Ok, this movie is not a bad drama. I liked Cloris Leachman's performance and especially liked Bev Appleton's role as Hiney. It was just one of those grandfatherly roles that can be acted so well. Steven doesn't say much and his immaturity as an actor shows, but he did grown on me some as the movie progressed. I did find Gladys to be a bit over the top with the profanity...too many F bombs. Eugene and the hippie girls were kind of creepy from the offset, and with the exception of Reid, most of the supporting cast is ok. But Reid, not one scene does she sell...it's really sad to watch...i'm glad she is barely in this, as it would have dropped my score by another 3 or 4 stars probably.
Overall, if you are looking for a coming of age story, with a mystery behind it...this might be up your alley. Most of the acting is decent and Tara Reid only has a few lines to butcher. It's nicely shot, and may give some nostalgic feelings for the past. Although it's not a horror movie, I'm going to grade it on it's merits.
6.5 out of 10
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