Horror in the High Desert

Horror in the High Desert (2021)

Runtime: 82 minutes

Directed by: Dutch Marich

Starring: Suziey Block, Eric Mencis, David Morales, Tonya William Ogden, Errol Porter

From: Luminol Entertainment/Maya Aerials

It is faux documentary/found footage time. Those are still around currently even if the boom that happened after Paranormal Activity has greatly slowed down from its heyday. High Desert was selected as there have already been two sequels made and by modern subgenre standards, the overall rating on Letterboxd is good. 

The setting is the High Desert region of Nevada, around the town of Ely. It is in the middle of nowhere and features more than just sandy areas due to the climate and geography. A survivalist named Gary goes missing; a documentary chronicles the investigation into his disappearance. It’s a movie that came out in 2021; no wonder then that only a few actors are ever seen on camera, and never together in the same scene. The first hour is full of talk as the characters set up the final 20 minutes and we get to know Gary, a loner who possibly was “on the spectrum.” I was never bored but the viewer needs to be patient as the plot slowly unfurls before you; one valid criticism is that more than once, I thought, “Hey, wait a minute now” when it came to story details.

Be that as it may, when the final 20 minutes do hit, it was a satisfying payoff to all the buildup. Let me assuage any fears from you knowing that the Horror in the High Desert has a self-contained story which has a unambiguous conclusion. The setting of the final act and its implementation inspired both tension and scares, finally providing an explanation as to what happened in the Nevada desert miles from civilization.

Don’t expect those reviews anytime soon, but even if it’s years later I would be willing to check out all the sequels in what has become a franchise. I doubt this will become like the Bad Ben franchise, which somehow has SIXTEEN entries (?!)-there’s still intrigue as to how they expend the High Desertiverse.