Is The Farm movie a remake of a certain 1950s film also called The Farm? This graphic horror cinematic event certainly feels as if a vegan rights activist made a horror movie, but did they?
Is The Farm a Remake of Animal Farm 1945?
In my googling frenzy, once The Farm movie was over I tried to find out whether the horror film was propaganda. it certainly seemed like filmmakers wanted me to imagine if humans were used a livestock by their captors, who are dressed as animals.
I stumbled across a few questions and many reviews wondering the same thing. But mostly, people wanted to know whether The Farm is a remake of Animal Farm from 1945. Let me assure you, it’s not.
Animal Farm consists of mostly animals made to speak using CGI. It centers around a farm and its animals who decide to revolt against humans. The animals in Animal Farm are hosting a bid for freedom against ‘the man.’
The Farm 2018 is not even close to touching the political references and plot details of Animal Farm. The latter shows a slow emergence of humanization from the animals as they slowly decide two legs are better than four.
In The Farm movie, if you can imagine, replace dairy animals with people. People who are kidnapped from a local hotel, then you get a small whiff of how this film goes along.
In this place, you’re the main dish
The Farm Movie Summary
- Written and directed by Hans Stjernswärd. I was hoping to find some clues as to who he is. There are no interviews online with him or anything about the movie per se. I do see this is Stjernswärd’s first full-length film as a director and I hope we see more from him.
- Released: The Farm premiered at The Overlook Film Festival in April 2018.
- The Cast for The Farm movie includes Nora Yessayan (Catalyst 2017), Alec Gaylord (A.T 2017), Ken Volok (Genuine 2006), and, Rob Tisdale.
- For another review of The Farm 2018, check out 28 Days Later Analysis which rated it 6.25/10.
Hans Stjernswärd
Not a lot of people know this about me but I once worked in an abattoir. Not in the slice and dice section, in the office… but I got the tour. Gee-whizz was that something I will never forget.
The place I worked for did cattle and it was a fairly surreal place to be. Firstly because of the smell that came from the big furnaces at the site and secondly because I was running the recruitment section. I got to know what each department did fairly quickly.
I am not a vegan or a vegetarian. However, seeing the meat industry up close and personal was jarring.
Once a month the boss would put on a BBQ. I did not participate at the first one. It took me two months to even look at meat. I certainly got over it by the time the second one rolled around.
Each to their own is my motto and the three brothers that ran this particular killing field were very particular about following the rules that govern humane overtures.
For all intents and purposes, from where I sat, nearly everything I heard or witnessed didn’t give me too many nightmares. Knowing where your food comes from is probably a good idea for any carnivore though.
What is the Movie About?
This is probably a good place to refer back to the film. The Farm takes this concept and makes a run for it. With almost no dialogue (because farm animals don’t speak) it’s a situation where certain people who pass through town are kidnapped and taken to this lovely establishment. All the human counterparts on the farm wear masks straight out of ‘You’re Next’ (2011.)
What we have here is a bunch of like-minded individuals who are running a restaurant business. I assume they supply to the lovely truck stop we see early on and also host dinner functions. The women who are taken are used for their milk and the men are caged and killed off for meat.
The Farm has copped a fair bit of abuse on the internet and a lot of conjecture about whether it might be funded by PETA. As I said earlier, I can’t find evidence of this, but I sure see where they are coming from.
Is The Farm Movie A Bad Movie?
Hell’s no. This movie is pretty good for horror with the ingredients it carries. It has characters straight out of any hillbilly backwoods story and the pacing and fluidity and the way it comes together are damn impressive.
Set pieces and props were paid loads of attention. Incorporating scenes that mimic scenarios in real life is as unnerving as it gets. For example, when Nora gets free of her cage she runs past some humans in sheep masks sweeping the floor. They simply watch her run past and continue to sweep, much as an animal would in the same situation (without the sweeping of course.)
For a game of cat and mouse between the caged and the staff working at The Farm, the film manages some swift moves and is unpredictable.
Do the couple escape the clutches of this rouge group of cannibals looking for their next human supplier? You’ll have to watch it and see, but I will say that despite the lack of much gore, it’s still a hard viewing.
There are elements here that are quite difficult to get through; No one ever grabbed a baby calf and killed it against the concrete when I worked at the abattoir. I’m sure it happens though.
Dopey Characters
There is the same construct of many similar movies used here including the dimwitted character who messes things up. Without a role like this though, there would have been no opportunity to have an escape plan in the first place. The place is run pretty tight.
I’m going to have to put this in the ‘recommend’ bucket. If you can handle flicks that like to dance around a theme like this then you might appreciate it too.
If you can also handle knowing that most of the activities within the film are probably pretty factual (except with animals and, not humans) then give it a go.
I always find these types of themes hard to watch.’ The Farm movie’ is certainly a well-filmed, well-directed, and well-constructed movie though. It doesn’t deserve some of the negativity applied to it.
More Movies About Cannibals?
- Long Pigs (2007)
- The Cannibal Club (2018)
- Raw (2016)
- Wrong Turn (2003).
- The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
