The Garden is actor-turned-moviemaker Don Michael Paul’s second directorial venture. Previously he wrote the script to Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man, and more recently he wrote and directed the Steven Seagal vehicle Half Past Dead. The Garden fits neatly into the soft horror-genre slot. It is a direct to DVD film, shot in 19 days and on a modest budget, although it does boast a few fairly big names among its cast: Lance Henriksen, Claudia Christian (of Babylon 5 fame) and Sean Young.

In The Garden, young Jake is picked up by his father from the mental hospital, where he has been kept under observation ever since his parents’ divorce. Jake has a heightened sense of reality, he sees things other people do not, and deals with his experiences through the drawings he makes. After a car accident, circumstances force Jake and his dad to spend several weeks on a farm belonging to a mysterious old man (Henriksen). While his dad is working as a farm-hand, Jake begins to see things, and it would appear that he is drawn into an ancient struggle between good and evil.

The main flaw of The Garden is the script. Although the basic premise of the story is an interesting one, the storytelling is far too muddled to make its actual point. Exposure is given through bursts of too much information at once, and at other times the story appears to take big leaps, which remain unexplained. Also, it becomes clear way too early whether the Henriksen-character (by far the most appealing point of view in the story) is a good or a bad guy. One can only speculate if the script (and as such the movie) would have been better if Paul had picked up the writing credits as well as taking the director’s seat. After all, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man was not exactly a masterpiece. Be that as it may, this script is limiting Paul’s ability to do with The Garden as he pleases.

And that is a pity, because The Garden is well photographed and beautifully lit. Director of Photography Thomas L. Callaway and Paul are a good team. Their visuals lift The Garden above the level one would expect of a film with this budget and production time. Paul has done a good job of mending the film together, doing as much as he can to work around the gaps in the script. The Garden has a distinct atmosphere. Not just a sense of threat, but also in the way the director makes the production design work for him. Although the action obviously takes place in the present, the farm feels like it has not changed since the start of the century. It seems to have been around forever, and that does more for the storyline than any explanation the script may or may not offer us.

Paul has also managed to film his principal actors to full effect. Brian Wimmer as the boy’s father is as bland as bland can be, but it was certainly nice to see Sean Young again. Both she and Christian do well in small roles. And Henriksen is, as per usual, incomparable. He is at times a weird old man, a kind teacher, and a scary fellow. He manages to convey real menace without the help of any makeup effects (although the way Paul puts him in the frame definitely adds to the mystery), but at other moments he is a kind old grandpa. The ambiguity in his performance could have kept the is-he-good-or-bad enigma going a lot longer than the script allows.

The special effects are what can be expected for this kind of production. There is no all out horror gore, but plenty of scary stuff that’s not too nightmarish or unrealistic.

All in all, The Garden is worth a look for people who are in to the straight to DVD, mild horror genre. The way the film is visualised makes up for a lot of the sloppiness and unevenness of the script. As for yours truly, I will be looking with interest at Don Michael Paul’s next project. If he can do this good a job on a small budget and very little time, not to mention a crappy script, his directorial future may have some nice surprises in store.