Horror in the High Desert

One of the slickest lil indie flicks i've seen in a minute. Tubi wouldn't let me pause for whatev reason so I couldn't google if this was real or not and I was 100 thinking it was until the finale then I was like theres no freakin way this is real hahah.

In a way I could understand the lower ratings this movie/mockumentary gets, that is if you were informed about this being fiction before you started watching it. My wife and I on the other hand thought we were watching a documentary about a mysterious disappearance in Nevada. Until the last fifteen minutes we had no clue at all, so credits to the actors for that. They did a really good job playing the interviewees, it looked very sincere. After that it became obvious this wasn't a true story, but still we had our fun believing it, and there was a good mysterious vibe to it. My wife is from Reno, Nevada so her knowing most of those places gave it a little punch as well. It's only after seeing the end credits that we were 100% sure it was all made up. So for that I score this movie way higher than the rest of the reviewers as we were both entertained and sucked into the story immediately. If you had to recommend this movie to a friend or so I suggest you tell them it's a documentary, it will for sure have a better success. I'm glad we thought it was, the experience was just way better like this.

The first 45 minutes of this film are pretty much a waste. All you need to know is Gary is a guy that likes to go on hikes and he disappears. You learn this in the first few minutes of the movie and then they spend 45 minutes on that. At some point, they suddenly realize this guy has a blog and someone actually thinks to look at it. Things pick up a little, but not really enough to save the movie. They spend another 10-15 minutes just amazed that this guy has a blog and then finally get to his final day. At the end there's a final sequence that starts out pretty tense...and then it just keeps going. Gary and the killer play cat and mouse around a tree for a long time until the killer finally gets him. This is one of those movies where you know they had about 20-30 minutes of movie and then did everything they could to hit that feature length, including plugging a sequel. Just skip until they find the blog, that's about where the movie actually should have started.

Horror in the high desert is a cinematic feat that very few people could pull off. Dutch Marich is the director, writer, cinematographer, producer, and editor of this extraordinary mockumentary horror film based on the true story of Kenny Veach. It's beautifully shot, with acting that is surprisingly impressive for a cast that had relatively no experience in feature films. The dialogue was sharp, and the ending is as tense as it could've possibly been with the budgetary constraints the filmmaker was under. If I was ever going to attempt to get into filmmaking, this is the blueprint I would follow. Marich was able to maintain creative freedom because of the lack of studio interference and the extremely low production costs. Nonetheless, he crafts a stunning film with an abundance of creativity and some palpable suspense and mystique. He deserves all of the credit for this original piece of art that incorporates fright, thrills, and the influence social media has on an individuals ego as it relates to decision making.