Horror in the High Desert (2021) Film Review
The last 18 minutes Dutch Marich‘s Horror in the high desert it might just be the most disturbing footage I’ve seen in the last decade. And I love watching every single piece of footage I can get my hands on. I’m experienced enough to handle the scariest films in the subgenre and have been watching horror movies for over 30 years. However, Marich’s masterful montage of Gary Hinge’s last documented minutes caught my eye. That night I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone knew about inner fears I didn’t know.
The extra 62 minutes of Marich’s film are essential for a film that wouldn’t work without the dramatic background of a guy who goes missing and strange clues start to appear after him. Horror in the high desert is a film shot in a mockumentary format and tells the story of people trying to come to terms with a very mysterious missing person case. Hinge documented everything on his tour and they found the last minutes of footage. Of course, the construction of the film is for the moment when we will see the footage that will surely hide the secret of what happened to the young hiker. I won’t spoil it, but I can tell you it’s insanely disturbing without giving too much away.
Marich is a master behind his own concept and is confident enough to create an entire feature about a fictional concern. Fortunately, it works because it takes itself far too seriously, as found footage should. Without the much-needed conviction that “it’s true,” it’s difficult for a filmmaker to make a film of this nature. Horror in the high desert right down to using the premise to create an ending that makes your blood run cold, and it sounds like you’re not paying attention to the efficient rule that Tshe’s Blair Witch Project. But please give me a chance. You won’t regret it Horror in the high desert one of the few found footage whose entire runtime consists of relevant footage. Again, the main course comes in the last minutes, but you finally feel that Marich is talented enough to create a whole universe out of it.
For some audience members, found footage films can be stripped of their realistic appearance and discarded like horror trash. For others, like me, these are the results of weaponizing movie pieces. Horror in the high desert it’s a very good example of how to do things well, with everything planned to the core and executed and edited with the only real intention of scaring away those trapped by the realism of this sub-genre. I didn’t feel good about it in a good way. My only reaction was to contact the guy who made it, congratulate him on creating a very scary piece of modern horror, and kindly ask for a sequel. I want more, even though I know sometimes it’s just too much for my mind.
Founder of Screentology. Member of OFCS. RT rated critic
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