Coming up with a truly original concept is not easy, especially for filmmakers of the horror genre. Eventually there will be so many movies made that it will become impossible to tell an original story. In this respect, Fertile Ground is way ahead of the curve, stealing from so many mainstream movies it's hard to keep track.
Here's a brief rundown: Emily (Leisha Hailey) and Nate Weaver (Gale Harold) are a happy, young New York City couple expecting a child, up until Emily experiences a rather gruesome miscarriage. After learning she can't bear children anymore, the two move out of the city to an old house in the country. Soon, Emily starts seeing ghosts and Nate begins to act increasingly ill-tempered and violent toward Emily. Emily does all she can to find out more about the house's dark history before it's too late.
Is anything about the above paragraph new material for a horror movie? The premise can be recreated by simply copying and pasting the synopses of Orphan, The Omen, The Amityville Horror, The Ring, and The Grudge, among others. And as for Fertile Ground's twist ending, that too is laughably ripped right from a couple other films, but I'll not spoil that part.
But back to the couple: Emily and Nate. This new house that they moved in to belonged to Nate's great uncle from several generations ago, some time in the 1830s. While unpacking things in the new house, Emily spots an old, wooden chest in the basement and brings it up stairs so her husband can help look through its mysterious insides. What they discover are some baby-related items, and very old photos of Nate's family who used to live in the house in the 1830s, and Emily notices that Nate looks identical to his deceased uncle in the photograph. "Hey, he kind of looks like you!" Emily says. "How interesting, I wonder if I'll slowly embody my old uncle," is what Nate should have said.
And Nate does start to embody his deceased uncle, who Emily later finds out was a murderous man who killed his pregnant wife, which only spells trouble for Emily, especially after she learns that she herself has somehow become pregnant again. The pregnancy itself is foreboding, because during the conception a few nights before, Emily looks up at Nate, but instead of seeing her husband's face, she sees the face of Nate's deceased uncle, doing her. This was supposed to be a scary moment, but really it's quite hilarious, because Nate's deceased uncle is just Nate with mutton chops. Out of all the possible facial-hair styles in this crazy world, the filmmakers chose to go with the goofiest one to try and make us tremble.
Visions like these plague Emily throughout the movie, and like all other movies where the lead character sees visions, people don't believe her. Doctors and loved ones write her off as stressed, hormonal, or just plain crazy. The movie poses two questions to its audience: are these visions real, and what do these visions mean? Two questions whose answers essentially negate one another. Lots of movies do this, but Fertile Ground's mistake might be that it answers everything you don't care to know, and leaves out anything you were remotely interested in.
As for production value, it's visually above par, which is great to see for an independent horror movie. However, the audio could have used a lot more attention. Poor sound effects and, believe it or not, the sound of the actors' mics scratching on their clothes will make you cringe more than anything else the film has to offer up.
Apart from routine gags like doors shutting unexpectedly, doors opening unexpectedly, and doors shutting and then locking themselves unexpectedly, you won't find too many scares in Fertile Ground. If there's any chance of you being terrified or finding yourself scared to go to sleep afterward, it's probably due to all of the other great and much more effective horror movies this movie will annoyingly remind you of.
Extras:
There's an audio commentary with writer/director Adam Gierasch, writer Jace Anderson, and lead actress Leisha Hailey. And also a short gallery of some storyboard illustrations if you're interested in how some scenes were visually conceived.
"Fertile Ground" is on sale May 24, 2011 and is rated R. Horror. Directed by Adam Gierasch. Written by Adam Gierasch, Jace Anderson. Starring Chelcie Ross, Gale Harold, Leisha Hailey.
