Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Blood Harvest

(1987) *1/2

"At night when the mask is off I look at myself. I may make the world think I'm happy but I can't hide the truth" 
The only and I mean only reason to check out Blood Harvest is to witness oddball musician Tiny Tim in a rare film appearance. Tiny Tim, whom I vaguely remembered as a none-of-my-business children's entertainer with a ukelele, piqued my curiosity after his song Tiptoe Through the Tulips added a deliciously eerie vibe to Insidious. My interest was enhanced by his portrayal of "The Marvelous Mervo" here. I recently learned that Tim was not a novelty act or a "character" afterall. He was always himself - an entertainer whose peculiar personality, look and falsetto vocals made him a late night talk show phenomenon in the 60's and 70's. His shtick became increasingly unfashionable over the years but despite the ridicule, he always made a genuine effort to make the world smile, even when it was at his expense. In this way one might label him... a clown.

Which brings us to the garbage movie in question. Unfortunately Mervo is merely a supporting character in an otherwise tiresome exercise in blandness. He is a wild card in a lamer story about Jill, who returns home from college and finds her parents missing and her home vandalized. The cops are typically unhelpful. Her ex-boyfriend Gary consoles her and assists her in her search for answers but his motives can't be trusted. Mervo is Gary's quirky brother who has dressed like a clown ever since the death of his own parents. Every scene that he appears in is captivating and every scene without him is a painful waste of time.

You can view the whole movie here but I would rather you watch the first 50 awesomely clownish seconds (five times in a row) and then move on with your life.

7 comments:

Octopunk said...

What a delightfully direct, vicious and informative review. It was like a truth bullet.

50PageMcGee said...

in a parallel universe, this film is a huge hit and the trailer for it contains that "in a world..." voice-over guy pointing out that "critics are raving about Tiny Tim's performance. peter travers of the rolling stone calls it, 'the role Tiny Tim was born to play.'"

Catfreeek said...

Oh man, there is no limit to your clown fetish...uh...theme is there? I bow to your greatness, this was a tough, tough theme to tackle.

JPX said...

I always thought Tiny Tim was really creepy. He married a 17-year old when he was 34. This movie sounds like it perfectly suits his creepiness. This clown genre sounds like a tough one, bro.

Johnny Sweatpants said...

Hey, no one accused me last year of having a zombie fetish (which I actually did!)

Whirlygirl said...

Wow, I can't believe all these obscure clown movies you've uncovered. Nice job!

DKC said...

That guy from Lost just married that 16 year old - he's the next Tiny Tim!

Malevolent

 2018  ***1/2 It's 1986 for some reason, and a team of paranormal investigators are making a big name for themselves all over Scotland. ...