The Harbinger (I) (2022) User Reviews

Watchable

[michaelant555 · 5/10 · 3 September 2022]

A family moves to a new town with a seemingly autistic daughter and the people in the neighbourhood start committing suicide. Who's causing it? Who's the Harbinger?

I went into this with very low expectations because no one had written a review and only 115 people had rated it but I managed to watch it until the end.

Low-budget supernaturals usually get switched off after about 20 minutes but I got through the whole two hours in one sitting. There's no backstory. The whole situation is unexplained and gradually unfolds over the course of the movie. The special effects are low-budget but not too cringeworthy.

Enjoyable, sort of.

[fatfil-414-451797 · 5/10 · 6 September 2022]

In my personal opinion, a few things prevented this film from being great. The muddled storytelling, with flashbacks (which I am never a fan of) and characters making ominous, but unrevealing comments. An over ambitious storyline which needed more time to develop and fill in the gaps. And the overall atmosphere of the film felt more like a made for TV movie, or an episode of Scooby Doo, than a horror movie. The acting was okay, but patchy, ranging from wooden to overacting. The actual horror content was fairly minimal, going more for the creepy anticipation rather than jump scares and gore. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but there was just an underlying feeling of, for want of a better word, niceness.

Having said all that, the story was interesting and had much potential, the main characters were acted well and there were some genuinely creepy moments. But overall lacked any impact and was a bit too obvious.

Hallmark Horror

[indy-39 · 3/10 · 18 January 2023]

Imagine the Hallmark Channel decided to change up their usual insipid love stories for horror and The Harbinger is kind of what you might get. It has all the weaknesses of those romances: incredibly over scored, full of tropes strung together like ornaments on a Christmas tree, love with no passion (here its manifests as almost all the horror taking place off screen), played out (fairly well) by stock characters. There's not a surprise to be found in the story and the ending feels tacked on from a totally different film. As the "action" part of the film commenced I was actually embarrassed to still be watching. However, I wanted to review it to prevent others from the same fate, since it was some IMDB reviews that finally pushed me over the edge into viewing this. For horror newbies and, perhaps, Hallmark romance lovers only.

Avoid at all costs

[palmaleandrodaniel · 1/10 · 6 December 2023]

Oh boy this was bad. Terribly bad.

There's a reason why class z movies are called like that, and this film is clear example of it. I can't recall having watched a more bizarre, pointless and erratic horror film in my life, well maybe The Fog could be a suitable contender in this category.

From the way it has been filmed and executed , to the dialogues and photography, everything looks like a tv movie made with 5 bucks and doubtful good intentions.

It's absolutely unfathomable to me what was the story trying to portray.

I hope no one else wastes time on this cinematic atrocity. Avoid at all costs.

This film is maybe not for horror fans...

[josemairing · 3/10 · 9 December 2022]

Sorry, this is a worse horror film which I cannot recommend to watch if you are horror fans

The acting feel soulless and scripted (of course it is scripted but only a good one can make the audience blurred between reality and school drama), too many exaggerating soundtrack, the transition scene feels in hurry, jumpscares are predictable, conversation not in the right place, the horror genre is unclear (why in the middle it turn in supernatural? Fantasy??), even the main villain reminds me some part of wizarding world (whoops, wrong movie...).

The most bothering one, the plot twist even doesn't really help to uplift the entire story...

If you're an avid horror fans, this film is definitely not for you. Someone may like this film, unless me.. Sorry.

Dumb is long...long is the movie

[biffnekkid · 2/10 · 20 April 2023]

I'm learning more and more that positive reviews are so very subjective. I'm not often angry after watching a movie, knowing that I'll never get those 2 hours back, well played "Chicken Soup for the Soul' media (lol). A terrible class project at best, full of low-rent creatures of Diabolical nature, and After Effects trickery.

The one hat tip I'll give is to the main male character. He admittedly didn't seem to have a lot to work with, but gave it the old college try. Even know it was a little "hammy", he seemed to have the makings of good character range, and was mostly believable.

I'd probably ask for a visit from the Harbinger myself before I put myself through the pain of watching this little screen "gem" again...

Adequate enough, but too long...

[paul_haakonsen · 4/10 · 6 September 2022]

When I sat down to watch the 2022 thriller / horror "The Harbinger", I did so without ever having heard about the movie. But I will say that I did find the movie's cover/poster interesting enough to catch my attention. And since I hadn't already seen "The Harbinger", of course I opted to do so.

Writers Will Klipstine and Amy Mills managed to put together a storyline and script that actually was interesting enough for the most of the movie. However, running at nearly two hours, the movie felt somewhat long and as if it needed a more thorough hand in the editing room. There were times when the movie felt like it was running in Neutral and was getting nowhere. But the overall impression was adequate enough.

The acting performances in the movie were fair. I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in this particular movie, but they did carry the movie well enough. However, I just wouldn't go as far as to saying that there were any spectacular and outstanding performances on the screen though.

Visually then "The Harbinger" was adequate in terms of CGI and special effects. Again, nothing outstanding here, but the effects served their purpose well enough.

This is not a movie that I would return to watch a second time though, simply because the storyline just doesn't have the contents to support a second viewing. Nor is it a movie that I would recommend horror fans to rush out to get to watch.

My rating of director Will Klipstine's 2022 movie "The Harbinger" lands on a four out of ten stars.

Boring and sad

[edlc1970 · 1/10 · 4 September 2022]

Already just 3 minutes in the movie, and you can see its a b-movie. Bad acting, bad dialoque, stupid plot and i could go on. This is one of the worst movies this year. And this year has brought several bad and boring movies. This must be in the top 10. The director Will Klipstine, has only made few movies. All of them sucks.

This movie is about a family who moves to a small town where everyone is weird and strange. Then we find out, that the daf sold his kid's soul to the devil. Then the dad goes to the reservation to speak to a healer to set it right. Lame and stupid plot. Watch this crap if you want to lose your money and time. Otherwise, avoid.

Wooden , Shame as there was a film in there somewhere

[jomayevans · 4/10 · 24 July 2023]

Wooden , Shame as there was a film in there somewhere .. This felt like the beggining of a good potential idea but was ruined by a awful cast apart from mum & dad everyone else gave a poor performance and it was just laughable in places it also started to lose itself in some places and become a incoherent plot , like tge writers had a idea but then got all confused stoned on something. There is some OK effects and I can see ideas taken from other films towards the end was kind of reminded of invitation to hell and phantasm.. all so a episode of buffy called hush I think.. The effects and atmosphere didn't gel and it was confusing if this wanted to be scary or a kids horror comedy.. I wasn't able to not watch or give up though I nearly did first 20 minutes or so as the little girl is so unrealistic bad acting it was annoying.. This misses the mark on. Being a unique horror story by being a babbling mess in place and wooden in others. Shame because they're some good supernatural elements.. but this needed more work.

Don't waste your time

[alealvaradom-37350 · 2/10 · 23 March 2023]

I had the opportunity to watch this last week because I won some tickets on Facebook for the premiere in Costa Rica (thank God I didn't waste my money on this)

This is the worst movie I have ever seen.

Nothing interesting happens.

I went to the cinema and many people left, many others fell asleep. Lol It doesn't have any coherence since the beginning. I was waiting the end since the movie started.

I will Give the movie two stars because I laugh when the devil appeared.... but that is all!!

I don't recommend it at all. Don't waste your time, don't waste your money.! Now I understand why it has 3,1 IMDB.

Plot-Heavy but very interesting

[eprice-99212 · 9/10 · 14 October 2022]

This was a compelling story with a fun and moving finish.

The movie is not so much about the girl but rather about how to save her. Her soul is already gone at the beginning of the movie but it later gets explained exactly how and why.

Without spoilers I will say the family has a secret.

But what the family doesn't realize is that the town they have been sent to also has a secret - related to them. I can't and won't say more.

If you're into that type of supernatural mystery, watching it all converge together with relics, mysticism, & magic is very entertaining. I give bonus points for originality. After renting, I purchased.

Subverts the horror genre in a good way

[sjohnston-75068 · 7/10 · 13 October 2022]

Saw the trailer and almost didn't bother...how many more evil kid movies do we need? To say I am pleasantly surprised is an understatement. I refuse to do a spoiler post so I will just say this is not an "evil kid" movie. They go a completely different direction. So damn refreshing to see original material.

The movie makes you think. Keeps you on your toes. Got a little hokey at the end, but it's one of those things where you're either going to be on board or you're not. Not related to quality just a taste thing. I was pushing for the family to get it done so a little hokey is ok by me as long as acting is good, which it was. Overall entertaining.

Something missing

[snowman-70792 · 4/10 · 4 September 2022]

I'm not sure what it is about this movie it seems like most of the parts are there, the story is decent, and the camera work is fine maybe it's the actors. Without trying to sound too mean all of the actors seem ugly, not Hollywood ugly but ugly ugly lol, ( moe from the Simpsons) the main character Daniel just annoyed me for some reason, the little girl seemed stale and wooden although I don't hold that against child actors. Floating Hawk seemed off as well maybe they just didn't have the time to develop her but it just seemed rushed. The first and only native American he meets just happens to know everything and how to stop what's happening. I believe they have a name for that lol anyway it's an ok movie nothing to write home about but passable.

Bad ... intentions

[kosmasp · 4/10 · 24 June 2023]

No pun intended (intentioned?) ... the movie really tries to develop something. And there is some stuff that works. Camera wise especially - unfortunately the acting is not up to the task most of the time. The cinematography is nice and ok - not sure if that is enough for you to decide and say you'll watch it anyway.

That all said, if you are into horror movies and eerie/scary kids ... you could do wrong. Creepy - well it gets at times, but not enough to have a lasting impact (again no pun intended). The movie also had a different title in Germany - once or twice I had an issue and started re-watching something I already knew - because of the new title. Effects are ok - I just don't think this will make too many people .... well happy (no pun intended)

A Rifftrax worthy dumpster fire

[HeyHay37 · 2/10 · 6 September 2022]

If there is anything good to say about this movie is that it is worthy for the people at Rifftrax.

The trailer looked great, but that's where it ends. The acting is ABYSMAL-especially the wife/mother. I tuned out so badly and quickly that I don't even remember most character names

The ONLY positive I can give is for the girl who played Rosalie (the daughter). Even though she is mostly silent-she has a super scary and threatening presence about her that I find believable.

Everything else (acting, script, length of film) is a joke.

This could have been great short film. What a waste of opportunity.

Doesn't get better towards the end.

[deloudelouvain · 3/10 · 14 September 2022]

Sometimes a mediocre movie gets saved by a decent ending but this was absolutely not the case in The Harbinger. On the contrary, the second part was the worst part of the movie, it looked like the writers were a bit bored or out of inspiration there, well good inspiration that is. There are parts of the movie that were okay, surprisingly I would say, but there are plenty of parts that were just bad. The acting wasn't great either, some actors did the best they could, but others were just painful to watch. The child actress Madeleine McGraw wasn't very convincing, the horror genre is definitely not her thing. It all started promising but in the end it was just a waste of time.

This was SO bad...

[jfgibson73 · 1/10 · 9 November 2022]

This wasn't the worst written story ever. With a different approach, this might have been more impactful. But the execution is just about as amateurish as it gets. The tone of this movie is that of a melodramatic soap opera that ran out of ideas decades ago. NONE of the acting is any better than someone who just joined their local community theatre. At the same time, none of the performances are so bad as to be entertaining either. And the worst acting choices came from the performer who is supposed to be portraying the devil--the ultimate evil. He monologues. He throws fits of anger. He berates the protagonist for his failures. What he doesn't do is cause any actual harm to anyone. He just paces around and talks. The ONLY one who approaches their role properly is the child actor, Madeline McGraw (who also stood out in The Black Phone). She's clearly the only actor who will ever do anything significant after this. Also, the obviously fake reviews are very grating. But I have to admit, they got me: the movie had a good score when I decided to watch it. You really have to pay attention to the analytics these day. If I had, I might have avoided this suckfest. I should have known better.

Not too good,but not a total loss

[samirvolt · 5/10 · 5 April 2023]

The first half of the movie is genuinely good, and so is the acting. The second half is "good idea; terrible execution". The writing and dialogue flounders and becomes laughably bad; paricularly in that one scene where the girl tells her parents the story of 'the fly and the cockroach'. Either there was a deadline or the writer got lazy, and the movie takes a nosedive. That said I was still pleased by some of the plot twists that I did not see coming. The special effects and costume are low budget, but not too terrible. The acting during the first half is pretty good; I enjoyed the child actors performance, and for the most part; the acting is good. There are some unecessary scenes, writing issues, and the ending is not good, but other than that; its worth a watch on a friday night at home.

It was ok 👍

[humanpeach · 5/10 · 20 January 2024]

It was ok, could have been better. Acting was good, nice suspense, interesting plot. But the mom ruined it for me. All that being said, I kept watching until the end.

Why schedule playdates and leave your devil child alone with other kids? And then have hurt feelings when they cancel. Makes no sense. Made her less believable which made the whole movie less believable.

Strange old man in hat looks more homeless than scary but nice twist. Daniel flirting with Native American Priestess was odd! Luke floating like count Dracula was funny lol The slow walking demon and Indiana Jones tunnel was a nice touch 👌 Why would the devil kid give him the knife that can vanquish it and place the card and listen to the 😇??

John is a dick even in death LOL The actor playing Luke is tooo good. Love him. I actually liked the twists at the end even though some of it was trite and hammy. Then suddenly Disney musical 🎼

What are you looking for?

[lamanfield · 9/10 · 2 October 2022]

If you want to be scared in a way that you're hiding behind your coat, watch Smile or Barbarian. I would say there's only one or two scary moments in The Harbinger, but that's not what they're going for. This movie is really in its own category. It's different. If different is what you want, it's worth it but don't expect the formula you see in Smile, for example. I think what really shows the greatness of The Harbinger is... if I look at a movie like Smile, which is scary, after it's over I can say, "It's like It Follows and the Ring." Not that original. But good. The entire purpose of those movies is one thing - get people to hide under the blanket with jump scares or the anticipation of them. And I LOVE those movies. But there's room for both if you're in a different mood and know what you're going in to. I can't really compare The Harbinger to anything because it is so different. I haven't seen a movie like it. I don't want to give anything away but you have different mythologies, relics, the devil, a native seer, a sort of possessed girl (This is not a "possession" movie, but I won't say why), all these unexpected twists, it's funny in parts, heartfelt in others, and there's always sort of an overly ominous, creepy vibe throughout. And all of the acting is great, particularly when you look back after knowing the twists. Great watch if your only goal is not wanting to be scared or see gore, which this movie doesn't have. I believe it's PG-13, which would explain the lack of violence and gore. If you want to watch an interesting supernatural mystery to see what happens next, it's worth it. I will watch again.

Creepy ominous intriguing mystery, yes. Horror...depends on your expectations

[regya · 7/10 · 5 November 2022]

I don't know what to say about this. Horror is not the first thing that comes to mind when I think back on it but there is some horror. It depends on what kind of horror you're into. There are a couple crazy moments. This movie isn't trying to be only that. When I say it goes deeper, what I mean is bring a notepad and an extra pen.

I'm giving this a 7 instead of a 6 for a lot of reasons, but top three:

1. Original story. Can't understate. VERY original.

2. I like the bits of humor, the eccentric townspeople and LOVE the guy who plays the devil.

3. Emotional. I found myself invested in the outcome.

Confused for the first 75% but came together beautifully

[cjones-74514 · 9/10 · 6 November 2022]

I was confused for the first 75% of the movie but it all came together in a heartfelt, creative way. I think most people won't have the patience for that but it's my type of mystery with plot you have to pay attention to. I really enjoyed that aspect. I'm a mystery lover. It's hard to beat the twists they have here. I agree it is not "rated R serious horror." It is more heartfelt PG-13 which I like. Life is too short for sad endings in movies. I can see sad things in every day life and in the news. I watch movies for happy endings so I find it refreshing when there is a heartfelt ending. The father & daughter relationship was personal to me.

Takes time to develop but pays off

[rdowney-50446 · 7/10 · 25 September 2022]

Expectations play a large role in reaction to a film. This trailer makes this seem like a very fast-paced film. It's the opposite. The serious horror fans looking for fast-paced 'blood and guts' are now being replaced by people who just want to see a good movie. But even though the pacing starts slow, it is perfect, never once decreasing - every few minutes, it ramps the speed up a notch from slower to less slow, to medium, and so on, until finally intense and emotional at the very end. Rather than going after the low-hanging fruit of graphic gore and endless jump scares, this filmmaker has taken the more difficult road of substance storytelling and pulled it off. Off topic, it also has a unique style, some 'wink-wink' humor and theatricality that I appreciated.

Refreshing, especially the second half

[stevensruss-35296 · 8/10 · 14 September 2022]

I agree with the rotten tomato critic that said they save the best for last. The second half was great. But it needed the first half to set everything up. It takes its time to build the foundation. You really don't see much of that anymore. I loved it.

How do I say without spoilers? Halfway through, it takes an unexpected turn. It was around that point I'm wondering where it's going, because that's where movies usually go south. And then it takes a completely unexpected turn. I love the originality. I love that they didn't get lazy and do the typical creepy kid movie. Can't say any more without giving spoilers other than its innovative, creative, and above all else, original.

On the fence of Meh/Becoming a true fan of this new mythology they created

[rstettman · 7/10 · 13 September 2022]

Don't think I've seen a movie quite like this. I read all the reviews (mostly positive but also said the movie was too long, not total horror, complicated plot, etc). I see all the negative scores here, so I decided to see which way I'd go. Wow. Not sure what to think here. But the tie-breaker is how I feel and the more and more I THINK about it, the more I think the movie succeeded. I'll give this dude credit. It's different. And you definitely need to be on your toes to follow. Good atmosphere throughout. I cared about the father and his relationship with the daughter. And the lore - that's the part that I think is so different. They put a LOT of thought and planning into this. I think I'm buying in. Will def watch again.