Horror in the High Desert 2: Minerva

Horror in the High Desert 2: Minerva (2023)

Runtime: 74 minutes

Directed by: Dutch Marich

Starring: Suziey Block, Solveig Helene, Brooke Bradshaw, Brian McPherson, David Morales

From: A few different independent companies

Did 28 Years Later rip off this movie? During a scene in High Desert 2, a male voice is heard reading Rudyard Kipling’s Boots in a voice that escalates in excitement and agitation. Well, the trailer for Years featured a female voice reading this poem; as Years hasn’t been witnessed by me (although that could change in the next two months…) yet Wiki tells me that’s heard in a scene, it’s funny even if a coincidence.

I viewed the first true crime mockumentary turned found footage film at this time last year & liked it—might as well check out this and the third film before the end of October. From a Letterboxd search, there apparently will be a 4th installment in the future, although a release date is not attached to the entry yet.

The 1st covered the disappearance of a Gary Hinge, a loner coded as being “on the spectrum” who spent days at a time in the remote regions of eastern Nevada, known as the High Desert. The first hour presented the story in a methodical fashion as a few figures are interviewed; the rest is the found footage of what happened to poor Mr. Hinge-it was effective in providing scares. In addition, production was in 2021-no surprise then that only a few characters are seen, and always solo.

Minerva refers to a lady in her 30’s (also known as Minnie) who lived in a trailer and died under mysterious circumstances. Later, Ameliana is covered; she broke down in a car elsewhere in the region and also passes away. The sequel continues the mix of mockumentary and found footage-this time the latter is either VHS recordings, cellphone recordings, bodycam clips, or a dashcam.

Like in the first, the fears of desolate locations and unknown threats, whether someone or something… that is well-realized. The second installment expands upon the first story without necessarily revealing much more about the antagonists or even what happened w/ Gary Hinge. That said, the teases of the third film were that more hints, re: the lore will be presented. I’ll be excited in the upcoming weeks to view the third film in what’s turned into a franchise.