A group of college coeds celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans run afoul of a sadistic Southern family that's plagued by a centuries old curse.

Director Ashley Hamilton relates the enjoyably inane story at a constant pace, treats the silly premise with admirable seriousness, offers a tasty evocation of the Big Easy setting, and tops things off with an amusing sense of playful dark humor. Moreover, it's acted with zest by Lin Shayne as fearsome crippled matriarch Griselda, a bearded Bill Moseley as hearty detective Hollis, Sofia Mattsson as the lovely, but lethal Amelia, Hamilton as smoothie Gar, and Ciara Rizzo as the dim-witted Dolly. In addition, this film earns extra points for the way it becomes extremely grim and nihilistic at the end. A cool little flick.

There are movies that are terrible. Then, there are movies that are so bad that they are worth watching again for entertainment value. Finally, there are movies that are so dreadful that they cannot even be enjoyed for unintentional comedic value anymore. Gothic Harvest fits into the latter category. The movie revolves a group of friends who celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans. One of the ladies gets seduced by a charming young man but doesn't contact her friends again. They believe that something might have happened to her and start investigating.

This movie disappoints on numerous levels. First of all, the story is bland and predictable. It doesn't include any surprises or twists. A horror movie should be tense and keep you on the edge of your seat but this film might rather make you yawn and fall asleep before it has ended.

Up next, the acting performances are wooden and forgettable. It's tough to empathize with the characters since they are all rather annoying than sympathetic. This movie is promoted with the participation of veteran actress Lin Shaye but she keeps being typecast since the success of the Insidious franchise. Her performance is lifeless and she should do herself a favour and stay away from any horror movies for a few years to avoid being typecast into terrible low-budget productions.

Finally, this movie isn't even remotely scary. There are a few weak attempts at jump scares and the movie offers a few bloody scenes but those elements feel half-hearted and uninspired. Even an amateurish film school project would be executed with more intellect and passion.

At the end of the day, Gothic Harvest is really as terrible as its negative reputation indicates. It disappoints with a boring plot, lifeless acting performances and a lack of scary scenes. This movie isn't worth your time as even fans of bad movies for their unintentional comedic value won't find anything remotely interesting here.

I never understand how they mix experienced actors/tresses with people who do not act at all. I was curious as to where it was heading. Then the monologue came and told me everything except what does the yearly sacrifice have to do with the curse. So now I'm just on my phone waiting for the final reveal. So a 4 it is.