filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Justina The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Coventry "Savage Harvest" is pretty similar to another 80s horror/adventure movie called "In the Shadow of Kilimanjaro". In fact, the two would be almost identical if it weren't for the fact that they feature different types of ferocious animal species. Both films are sadly and inexplicably underrated, taking place in black African countries during a long period of drought and tell the absorbing tales of how the animals' regular food sources become unavailable so that they become incredibly aggressive and attack every human in their sight. "In the Shadow of Kilimanjaro" features a rather unusual type of animals, namely baboons, whereas "Savage Harvest" goes straight for the leaders of the animal kingdom: mighty lions! The intro states that this film is based on true events, but I guess the fact were dramatized a little bit. In rural Kenya, Derek leaves his wife and stepchildren in their luxurious country mansion whilst he's away on business. Pretty soon a whole troop of famished and agitated lions enter the estate and trap the family inside. The servants are the first to get devoured, but luckily for them ex-husband/real father Casey comes to the rescue. "Savage Harvest" isn't magnificent cinema, but at least most of the film is suspenseful and there are multiple deeply impressive sequences with professionally trained lions (courtesy of the awesome Joe Camp and Ralph Helfer). Okay, admittedly some parts of "Savage Harvest" are quite bizarre and goofy, including the sight of a lion entering a house via the chimney or witnessing how a besieged family collectively sings a Beatles medley, but what the heck! In exchange for that are the animal attack sequences raw and they can be interpreted as quite shocking, and since the production crew took the costs and efforts to actually film in Kenya, the film is also full of beautiful exterior locations. Tom Skerritt is a fairly convincing hero, but the gorgeous Michelle Philips has very little to do except for looking way too young to depict the mother of a 20-year-old son. Last but not least: fantastic film poster but I sadly never spotted the voluptuous girl with her shirt half open

lolwe I saw the film around 1984/5 on video and had to keep rewinding.As an African I am sensitive to the subaltern roles played by African people in the cast and found some scenes not very convincing.What I found disheartening was the fact that the lions bar one only ate Africans!It was set in that big game safari framework that has long since disappeared and seems to have been made for Western consumption.I worked in the tourist industry in Kenya for some time and there is a sense in which the locals are part of the props!Two scenes that to me were not authentic: the young girl explaining how she got an American accent, and the widow merrily making eggs for breakfast the day after her unsuspecting husband comes out of his Mercedes and the lion pounces on him.Most white farmers rattled along the stony tracks on tinny Landrovers before the chunky 4wheelers came onto the scene and they wore shorts and bush jackets.The Merc would most probably be parked in the city where they'd have a townhouse in a more genteel setting!

arjun-6 I was six when this movie released in 1981. Despite the fact that my folks believed in taking us kids for wildlife movies, they decided to sit this one out for the violence quotient. I had earmarked it though for one of the movies I needed to watch once I grew. And grow I did but could never find the movie until last night. And I sat through the night watching it. First, it realistically conveys the picture of a white family in Zimbabwae (then Rhodesia) or some such place where white can afford to have plenty of black servants. I don't care if this is based on a true story, the movie was a series of howlers from the word go. I am truly amazed at the rave reviews the movie has been getting. First sign of violence, the black panthers, for Chrissake. Two of them surrounding the van when it broke down, so they are supposed to know its broken down eh? And then clawing their way through the metal body to get at the driver? Give me a break.Then the ridiculous scenes with the lions laying siege to the villa, climbing down the chimney I almost cracked my sides laughing. And despite all the shooting, the father son pair never seemed to hit a single lion. And what was the black maid doing using the term 'memsahib'. This was supposed to be Africa not India. Anyway it got so ridiculous that I saw it was pointless wasting my sleep further and switched it off. The same story, a lot of expendable black servants die and the white family escapes. There is of course some token arm wringing over some faithful childhood nurse being dragged away but nothing to lose sleep over.The lions were like overgrown kittens and stole the show with their cute tricks. Sorry they didn't scare me one bit and I feel sorry for generations of people thinking that's how lions behave.My final verdict, want to watch a lot of trained cute lions romping around with their trainers go for this movie. If you want to see a frightening movie about lion man eaters, go for for ghosts and the darkness.I give it 2 mainly because it was nice to see a period film depicting what people think life in white Rhodesia used to be like. Watch it anyway for the laughs and the nostalgia factor, though for some genuine nostalgia go for hatari. Much better movie with far better cast.

dbalaji I saw this movie in a cable TV when I stayed in a hotel back in 1993. I was simply bowled over by this great movie. I have been trying to get hold a copy of this movie ever since. Now I am married and have 2 nice kids and I would like to watch this movie with them. They like movies in which animals are involved. I am sure they will like this movie the way I loved watching it.The scenes where the lions try to enter the house were filmed well. The best scene of the movie is the climax scene in which the family makes an escape by holding a makeshift fencing. The scene that touched me was the one in which the Family's doctor visits the house without knowing the situation. He gets killed by the savage lions. I strongly recommend this movie for a family viewing