Horror in the High Desert is perhaps one of the best fake documentaries made lately. A film that shows us the disappearance of a young adventurer and whose ending we do not expect.
Directed by Dutch Marich, Horror in the High Desert was a great surprise. A film that combines well the classic style of fake documentaries and builds a mystery around the disappearance of Gary Hinges with found footage. A young man obsessed with survival adventures in the woods who never returns from his last expedition. For the first time, after the tragic event that occurred in 2017, family and friends talk about Gary and the strange circumstances surrounding this case.
The director shows us only four interviewees: Gary’s sister Beverly (Tonya Williams Ogden); Gary’s roomie and only friend Simon. Investigator William “Bill” Salerno, who is hired by Beverly to find out more about her brother’s whereabouts; and reporter Gal Roberts, who goes all in on this case looking for the truth.
The first part of the film gives us the background on who Gary Hinge (Eric Mencis) is, a lonely, introverted boy who has a taste, bordering on obsession, for survival adventures in the woods. He loves to explore and stay in the middle of nowhere for days at a time, which is why, at first, no one suspects he might be in trouble. When several days pass and Gary doesn’t return, Simon calls Beverly to tell her that something might be wrong. That’s when the investigation that we see in the following minutes begins.
With very few resources, the film manages to take us into this mystery. Between each testimony we have some images of the inhospitable places that Gary traveled and some of his videos, as he loved to publish on the Internet about his adventures.
That’s why Horror in the High Desert combines very well the classic mockumentary style with the new. We have these interviews as a documentary and we follow Gary’s trail with his vlogs. Obviously, along the way we are presented with several alternatives as to what could have happened to Gary. We have several suspects and we get crazy ideas in our heads – could it be ferals, witches, Martians?
Fortunately, he doesn’t go for the easy stuff and gives us a chilling ending. It gets to a point where we think it’s going to turn into a Blair Witch, but director Marich decides to go further, giving us a good final few minutes of tension.
Horror in the High Desert has been a great surprise with a twisty denouement, very well achieved for the few resources. It reminds us that you don’t need big effects or a lot of violence to create a suspenseful atmosphere. A film that will appeal to fans of The Blair Witch Project, Lake Mungo and Megan is Missing.
