‘Strange Harvest: Occult Murder In The Inland Empire’ Is A Pitch-Perfect Found Footage Film [Fantastic Fest 2024 Review]
Stuart Ortiz is no stranger to the world of found footage. As part of the Vicious Brothers, he made Grave Encounters 1 and 2, which are pivotal pieces of contemporary found footage in how they both adopt genre tropes and subvert them to create something uniquely terrifying. Now, Ortiz is back with his new pseudo-documentary Strange Harvest: Occult Murder In The Inland Empire which is perhaps the best pseudo-documentary since Lake Mungo in how it builds terror, never holds back, and features two incredibly realistic lead performances that make you question whether or not the events are entirely fictional.
Ortiz frames Strange Harvest like it’s a true crime documentary you would find on Netflix or Hulu—it’s sleek, cinematic, and even features that melodramatic music always used to punch home the emotional beats. Here, we’re learning about a series of murders committed in the Inland Empire (located in Southern California) by the serial killer known as Mr. Shiny. Our main characters are Detective Joe Kirby (Peter Zizzo) and Detective Lexi Taylor (Terri Apple), partners who have been investigating the case for almost two decades.
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These murders are grisly, ritualistic killings that Ortiz isn’t afraid to show. Instead of blurred images or small glimpses at crime scene photos as seen in typical true crime documentaries, here we see every gory detail. But then he doesn’t just show photos; we also see video footage of Mr. Shiny’s crimes. Ortiz crafts an elaborate puzzle of footage, whether it be interviews, archival news broadcasts, photos, or eyewitness video, to build a world that feels so lived in and real. Everything builds to a wild, cosmic conclusion that I only wish had gone a little further. To say any more would spoil the experience of watching Strange Harvest and witnessing firsthand its wild twists and turns. But let’s just say it’s a daring take on cosmic horror I’ve been waiting for.
Successful pseudo-documentaries, like Lake Mungo and The Poughkeepsie Tapes, are able to almost trick their audiences into believing they’re real. They make that boundary between horror fiction and reality more porous, which is a strange, destabilizing experience for the viewer. Strange Harvest accomplishes just that and crafts a narrative that feels like Saw meets The Poughkeepsie Tapes, only less like a snuff film. While there’s gore a-plenty, it never becomes exploitative and instead skirts the line in crafting a harrowing story about one man and a bunch of leeches.
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The incredible cadaver design seen throughout Strange Harvest was done by Josh Russell, who was the mind behind the terrifying creature in The Ritual. There’s such attention to detail just within the crime scene photos, with Russell and Ortiz working together to craft the most gruesome images imaginable without going overboard. They strike a balance between nauseating and ridiculous, which in turn results in some of the grossest and most upsetting images you’ll see all year.
Strange Harvest is the sleeper hit of Fantastic Fest, a film that flew under most radars but should be on any found footage horror fan’s most anticipated list. Ortiz demonstrates a mastery and love for the technique and the genre, which you can feel in every frame. Zizzo and Apple’s performances are the cherry on top of this cosmic horror sundae, playing supremely convincing cops that never once feel contrived or cheesy. This is how you do a good, scary pseudo-documentary.
Summary
Stuart Ortiz crafts a phenomenal, disturbing, and creepy pseudo-documentary with ‘Strange Harvest: Occult Murder In The Inland Empire’.
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