“HENRY’s” John McNaughton returns to horror with “THE HARVEST”

Posted by Michael Gingold Dec 12, 2012

It’s been way too long since the man who gave us HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER did a theatrical horror feature (or any kind of feature), but now he’s returning to the genre.

Variety reported yesterday that John McNaughton is helming THE HARVEST for Elephant Eye Films. TAKE SHELTER’s Michael Shannon and COSMOPOLIS’ Samantha Morton star as a married couple whose son (FRANKENWEENIE’s Charlie Tahan) has a medical condition that requires him to live in a controlled environment. When a new girl in town (THE POSSESSION’s Natasha Calis) befriends the boy, it gives him hope for a better life, but it’s threatened by his mother’s overprotective impulses. Stephen Lancellotti scripted THE HARVEST, which also stars Leslie Lyles and Meadow Williams and is being produced by Williams, Kim Jose, David Robinson and HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER’s Steven A. Jones. “This is the first horror script I’ve been interested in in 25 years, so it’s kind of cool to return to the genre,” McNaughton tells the trade. “I got the script a few years ago and loved the story, which is dark and has a great twist. It’s like a cross between ‘Hansel and Gretel’ and WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF.”