'The Fields' DVD Review

A refreshingly non-exploitive slow burner that tries to do a bit too much.

In the fall of 1973, husband and wife Barry and Bonnie decide to send their young son Steven to stay with Barry's parents while they sort out their marital problems -- due in no small part to the fact that Barry once held a shotgun to Bonnie's head. Steven's grandparents Gladys and Hiney live in an isolated farmhouse next to a vast cornfield, which Gladys forbids Steven to enter. Naturally, being an 8-year-old, he does, leading to a startling discovery that only serves to fuel the boy's paranoid fear that the homicidal "family" of Charles Manson's followers -- in the news due to his parole hearing -- will set their sights on him. Before he knows it, his childhood fears become frighteningly real, as a dangerous force emerges from the cornfield to menace Steven and his grandparents.

The Fields is an admirably restrained horror movie that succeeds in generating a palpable sense of dread while eschewing the more base and predictable blood 'n guts approach to the genre. Largely because it's based on the childhood experiences of screenwriter Harrison Smith, the story refreshingly focuses on character development -- aided by strong performances from the cast -- and mood -- featuring extended moments of dialogue-free ambient noise and an evocative musical score.

The film does a good job of presenting the plot as perceived through the eyes of a child, but that's part of its downfall as well. Like a childhood memory, the events are hazy, with several moments that are left dangling without explanation (Why did Barry pull a gun on Bonnie? What happened to Barry when he lived with his aunt? What's going on with Bonnie's relationship with her parents?). This, combined with unnecessarily dreamlike visual effects in certain scenes, creates a cloud of confusion over what we're supposed to take away as significant and/or real. Ultimately, there's too much focus on character and mood, leading both to extraneous scenes that add little to the story and to overly long "moody" scenes that beg to be trimmed. These aren't fatal flaws, but it seems the filmmakers could've easily fixed them by editing the movie down from 100 minutes to 80 in order to focus on the meat of the story (i.e., a boy, his grandparents and a mysterious menace) -- which is quite eerie and effective in stretches.

The DVD

Special features include featurettes, outtakes and interviews.

Movie: C+
DVD: B-

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