Dark Harvest(2023)

Pooper:
Richie wins the run by killing Sawtooth Jack (actually his brother Jim). The Harvester’s Guild then successfully sacrifices Richie despite his efforts to escape. When Sawtooth Jack is conjured out of Richie’s body the next year, Richie’s dad encourages his former son to destroy the entire town.

Long Ending:
The film takes place in the 1960s in a very successful farming town. Every Halloween, a demonic entity with a Jack-o-Lantern head named Sawtooth Jack (Dustin Ceithamer) emerges from the cornfields and tries to make it inside the local church. Nine years prior, Sawtooth Jack completed his journey, resulting in a huge dust storm being conjured that destroyed all the crops and killed various townspeople. To prevent this from ever happening again, the leaders of the town (members of a group called the Harvesters’ Guild) have developed a defense mechanism. All the 18 year old boys in the town are armed and charged with killing the demon in a contest called the “run.” Whichever teen kills Jack wins the run. This includes winning $25,000.00 and a new car, their family is given a palatial home, and the winner is directed by the Guild to go out into the broader world as an “emissary.” The Town also is blessed with wealth and fortune whenever Jack is destroyed.

The prior Halloween, a teen named Jim kills Sawtooth Jack. Since then, Jim has only sent sporadic postcards to his family, with few details as to where he is and what he’s doing. Despite their newfound wealth, Jim’s family – father Dan (Jeremy Davies), mother Donna (Elizabeth Reasor), and brother Richie (Casey Likes) – begins falling apart. Richie is also often bullied by the older teens, as well as the sadistic sheriff Jerry Ricks (Luke Kirby). Desperate to leave the town, Richi decides to enter the run early despite his parents’ pleas for him not to participate (since Jim won, the rules of the run state no other kids in the winner’s family need participate). Richie also grows closer to a girl named Kelly Haines (Emyri Crutchfield). Her parents came from the town, but left after her father served in World War II. They died young, and Kelly was forced to return to the town to live with her Aunt.

Halloween arrives and the run begins. Richie and his friends participate and are the first to find Sawtooth Jack. The demon quickly overpowers and kills most of them. Richie is saved by Kelly, who has also decided to enter the run (despite the contest being limited to white boys, and she is an African-American girl). She and Richie work together the rest of the night. During a subsequent encounter, Richie has a chance to kill Jack, but he can’t bring himself to do it. Something about Jack gives Richie pause. He returns home and interrogates his mother for details about what really happened to Jim and more info about the run. Donna doesn’t give him much information, but instead asks him to “end it all” before killing herself.

Richie goes to the church where he finds Dan. After he tells his dad what happened to Donna, Dan tearfully reveals the truth. The Harvester’s Guild conjure Sawtooth Jack each year, knowing that his death will continue to assure their own wealth. The Guild lies when they say the winner will go into the world as an emissary. In fact, the Harvester’s Guild abducts and sacrifices the winner (using the winner’s seeming departure from the town as an excuse for their disappearance). Sawtooth Jack is conjured from the body of each year’s sacrificed winner. Dan sadly confirms that the Sawtooth Jack being hunted this year was born from Jim’s body (and appears to retain some of Jim’s mannerisms and memories, which is why Richie couldn’t kill it). It is also revealed that anyone who leaves the town is hunted down and killed in order to protect the town’s dark secret and to ensure nobody leaves with potential run participants (and Sheriff Ricks later admits he hunted down and murdered Kelly’s parents after they left).

Intent on honoring his mother’s request and avenging Jim, Richie finds Sawtooth Jack and helps him reach the Church steps. However, Sawtooth Jack is mortally wounded by another boy before he can make it inside. The demonic figure pleads with Richie to kill him, which he does (making Richie the winner). Knowing his life is now in danger, Richie and Kelly try to sneak out of the town together. They are tracked down by Sheriff Ricks. Richie decides to confront the officer, telling Kelly to flee to freedom without him. Richie manages to kill Sheriff Ricks, but is then himself subdued and sacrificed by another member of the Harvester’s Guild.

The following Halloween, a Guild member awaits the birth of the new Sawtooth Jack (born from Richie’s body). As Sawtooth Jack emerges, Dan comes out from a hiding place and kills the Guild member. He walks up to the newly born demon and encourages Sawtooth Jack to “end it all.”