BLOOD
HARVEST (1987)Director: Bill Rebane
Retromedia
BLOOD
HARVEST (1987)Thanks to wonderful world of DVD,
everyone can now own the only "starring" feature film, of the late,
great 60s singer.... Tiny Tim! BLOOD HARVEST (also known as NIGHTMARE) was produced
and directed by Bill Rebane, the man who gave us THE GIANT SPIDER INVASION and
other "classics." His brilliant idea of putting the eccentric Tim
in clown make-up as a mentally-challenged 50-something year-old man, is enough
to give anyone the willies.
Shot in 1985 in Wisconsin, BLOOD HARVEST tells the tale of a town that was once a prosperous farming community, now hit by hard times and foreclosures. The Robertson family head the local bank and have become the victims of hatred throughout the town. In the mist of this, their cute daughter, Jill Robertson (Itonia Salchek) comes home from college only to find her folks missing and her house intruded upon. She confides in an old boyfriend, Gary, and his brother (Tiny Tim), otherwise known as Mervo the circus clown. Mervo and Gary are the most unlikely brothers since Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito.
Anyhow,
in typical 80s slasher fashion, everyone around Jill ends up missing and mutilated
in the nearby barn to the sounds of a Cascio, and the killer is revealed towards
the end. Tiny Tim's Mervo is very creepy, always around when he's not wanted,
always singing (yikes!) and always uttering rubbish. Although Tim is no actor,
he's the best performer here, as the cast is made up of people who never did
anything else, except for maybe one cast member. Redeeming things a bit are
the nice amount of nudity that non-thesp Salchek displays and some cut rate
Savini-esque gore effects. 
A straight-to-video release when it first premiered, Retromedia has presented BLOOD HARVEST with a decent full frame (intended ratio) transfer. Shot on what looks to be 16mm film and edited on video tape, there is some grain in the picture, but despite the extreme budget limitations of the production, the DVD transfer is more than acceptable--nice colors and consistent throughout.
A featurette titled "The Tiny Tim Sideshow" is actually better than it sounds. It shows rare footage of Tiny Tim as a Pied Piper-like kids show host of a proposed TV series (scarier than anything in BLOOD HARVEST), and an interview done with him shortly before filming began. Further in, we see a new interview with director Rebane, some behind-the-scenes footage, and the gracious Tim on the set. A still gallery is also included. The ultimate Tiny Tim DVD! (George R. Reis)