The Empty Acre (2007)

The Empty Acre (2007)
Director: Patrick Rea
Writer: Patrick Rea
Beth and Jacob have a normal life, a healthy son, and a farm with a secret: a field where nothing lives. Cattle that stray too near die. Townspeople disappear in the night. And every day the dead acre grows larger. Then one night, Beth and Jacob's infant son is taken from them. What follows is a frantic search for their child.
'Well made though painfully slow indie horror, A disfunctional couple Beth & Jacob lose their baby son Michael in rural farmyard abduction. Early indications lead you to suspect it could be the mother (played very well by Jennifer Plas who could pass for American Pie's Tara Reids older sister). As there's no trace of anyone entering the house. This leads to a 30 minute spell of more arguing and fighting between the couple whom didn't get on so great before the abduction. Beth starts to hear odd noises at night and has creepy nightmares of baby Michael crying and turning to dried mud. Local police do a manhunt for the missing child but turn up no trace. Slowly the couple stumble onto local story's of towns drying up and cattle dying, then notice that patch of dead ground in their farm is expanding killing everything as it grows I don't want to spoil the whole plot but it does pack a very good little twist to those who can stick with the tumbleweed blowing sedate pace. I sit through alot (and I mean shitloads) of lowbudget films most as we all know are pure dire so its nice when a lowbudget film comes along that's inventive so hell yeah I liked this even with its pedestrian pace, though it did feel a little at times like an over long episode of Chris Carters Millennium if made by Hallmark TV. Recommended to people on the lookout for something creepy to watch who don't mind slower more talky movies'

(7 out of 10)