The film follows the disappearance of Gary Hinge (Eric Mencis) who was an outdoor enthusiast and survivalist. He used to blog about his adventures online under the name Scorpion Sam.
The police investigated his truck and found fingerprints but were unable to locate Gary. Billy uncovered a clue on Gary’s computer and discovered that he had made an online friend who was also missing.
What happened to Gary Hinge?
The disappearance of hiker Gary Hinge in Nevada’s High Desert serves as the premise for 2021 film Horror in the High Desert. Director Dutch Marich uses a pseudo-documentary style to construct the narrative and employs recovered footage to create a tense and unnerving story. The movie stars Eric Mencis and is an effective mix of creepy background music, shaky camera work, and eerie infrared imagery. The movie’s final stretch demonstrates the effectiveness of found footage in delivering genuine terror to viewers.
The story begins with a police “missing person” report regarding Gary, who disappeared while hiking in the Great Basin Desert near Ruth, Nevada. He had been trekking toward a cabin he had visited on a previous adventure. When he failed to return home after two days, his housemate and sister reported him missing. After over a week had passed, searchers located his truck in the area and his severed hand still holding his camera.
Despite not finding his body, it was determined that Gary died at the site of his disappearance. It is not out of the realm of possibility that his murder was the result of a supernatural event, as there have been many reports of mysterious and unexplained incidents in this region of the desert. Many of these reports involve a supernatural being, or sometimes a deformed monster.
However, the most likely scenario is that he was killed by a human being. Gary was a popular hiker with a large online following. He was a regular contributor to various hiking content communities. In his early videos, he can be heard discussing his love of the outdoors and often refers to specific locations that he has visited. As such, it is not surprising that his disappearance led to a frenzy of speculation among online users. They theorized that the mysterious shack was filled with Area 51 secrets, confidential military information, and other unknown dark secrets.
Regardless of the exact cause of his death, Gary’s followers were convinced that the mysterious shack was haunted and possessed a demonic entity. They were also convinced that he was murdered by a human being that he had provoked, possibly out of anger or jealousy over his popularity.
Is there a sequel to Horror in the High Desert?
Dutch Marich wowed found footage fans with his debut, Horror in the High Desert. It was a pseudo-documentary that followed the mysterious disappearance of outdoor enthusiast Gary Hinge and built tension with its slow build up to a gut punch ending. The film was a surprise hit and deservedly garnered critical praise from the likes of Stephen King, proving that found footage movies can actually be scary.
In 2018, a string of tragedies unfolds in the desolate high desert of North Eastern Nevada. A woman is found dead and another would vanish along the same remote highway, evoking memories of the unsolved disappearance of outdoorsman Gary Hinge in 2017.
This time, a young geology student named Minerva Sound (Solveig Helene) moves to Cyprus Nevada for her studies. She is placed in a secluded trailer and soon starts to experience strange phenomena such as seeing mysterious shadows and hearing noises at night. As she begins to document her experiences on social media, she begins to notice a pattern in the events.
The film also stars C.R Brough as Detective Thompson, a seasoned police officer who leads the investigation into the disappearances and deaths. She is a tenacious character who shows both determination and skepticism as she investigates the case. Trisha Goulter as Detective Satterfield is the other seasoned cop on the case and adds a strong female presence to the movie.
The film also introduces a new character named Ameliana Brasher. She is a recent graduate who is in town for a job interview at a local mining company. The job seems promising and she has an impressive resume, but something is off about her. She has a strained relationship with her family and is struggling to cope with the recent loss of her brother. Her boyfriend, Simon, is a local business owner and seems supportive of her decision to move to the high desert. They have been together for a long time and seem happy, but the sudden change in their relationship is unsettling. The underlying tension in the movie is palpable and this helps to create some of the most nerve-wracking scenes.
Is Horror in the High Desert a good movie?
A few years ago, Dutch Marich terrified found footage fans with Horror in the High Desert. This pseudo-documentary follows an outdoorsman named Gary Hinge who disappears in the Nevada desert after experiencing a strange phenomenon while hiking there. The film is incredibly effective, and it does a great job of building tension through its use of found footage. However, it is not without its flaws.
One of the biggest problems with this movie is that it isn’t always clear what is happening. The found footage is often shaky and hard to see, and the interviewees are not always engaging. There are also a lot of unanswered questions about what happened to Gary, and the movie ends on an extremely ambiguous note. This is a major problem for a found footage film, and it detracts from the overall experience.
Another problem with this film is that it tries to do too much in its short runtime. While it is important to build a world and create lore that has terrifying implications, this film moves too fast to make it work. It also jumps around from Minerva to another victim of the High Desert phenomena, which doesn’t help the film flow.
The final issue with this film is that it doesn’t really have a hook to draw the viewer in. The story is interesting, but it is not enough to keep the audience engaged. The found footage in this film is also a little too boring, with many of the shots consisting of simple landscapes and close-ups of bushes and trees.
Overall, Horror in the High Desert is a pretty good horror film. Its ominous lead-in and buildup by the interviewees are very effective, and the scenes depicting Gary’s last night are very tense. The final scene is particularly terrifying, and the ending leaves you on edge. It is definitely worth checking out if you are a fan of found footage films. Just be prepared to be a bit bored in the middle, and don’t expect it to be as scary as the first act.
