Horror in the High Desert 3: Firewatch

The way in which this series has transcended from a horror to thriller to mystery and back again while weaving its own distinct style, full of rich characters, has my full attention. I will be seated for every entry to come. I have just come from reddit where the theories on what is taking placing within the narrative are rampant and it's difficult to not rack my brain coming up with my own. The wait for this one to come out had people in a fervor, the kind of attention and following that money can't buy these days so I hope Merich and his team don't sell out to Hollywood execs and make the franchise paint-by-numbers schlock. Eagerly awaiting Part 4.

I absolutely fell in love with part 1 of this series. It met its hype and it was the first horror to scare me like that in a long time. Part 2 came along and didn't hit those same heights but still knew how to dial the tension to 11. The long awaited part 3 demonstrates that the filmmakers, clearly with a lot of skill, are still able to create an atmosphere of dread. The story is moved forward somewhat and some dots are now definitely connecting which is good. Again it looks good with the setting perfect to create that atmosphere. Sound production again is solid with you questioning every small noise.

It's not perfect. I think the biggest issue it suffers is that with the story, with what is known has happened to others in previous installments ,is it really plausible the main character would do all the things he does without backup etc? I seriously doubt that. Most of the cast are still very good and so well to make you believe this could be real. Only one takes away the believability, and I found this part quite distracting but as it's relative unknowns and this character was only a brief feature, Ill let it slide. I also predict that some will find the less is more approach to scares somewhat frustrating with little more in the way of reveal of who or what this is in part 3, but for me this isn't too much of an issue.

There is a big job at hand for the filmmakers to start really bringing this together in the next two parts, but I can honestly say, after another nerve shredding entry, I'm definitely in for that journey.

One of my favorite things to do is to have people watch these movies and not tell them they aren't true. Did it with my husband on the 2nd one and my mother in law on this one lol. I thoroughly enjoyed this film and the series so far. The last 20 minutes had me on the edge of my seat and I'm not proud to say I screamed at the top of my lungs. Scared everyone in the house including the dogs haha.

I love the ride these films are taking us on. Such creative story telling. Creating an eerie feeling without special effects and all that stuff. Just good old spooky story telling.

Can't wait for the next one!

"Viewer Discretion Advised"

For what?!?!

This is more like the first movie than the second. I wish I liked these movies as much as the people on here. It doesn't help that I'm not the biggest fan of found footage horror. The only one in this series that I've liked so far is the second because it wasn't nearly as boring. This one goes back to the format of the first where there's very little scares until the very end.

Much of the movie is a retread of old material. The acting is hit-or-miss with a lot of overexplanatory dialogue, including segments where the interviewees spell out the moral takaways for us. Although the ending of the first movie does not make the rest of it worth watching, at least it had a somewhat unnerving reveal. The reveal at the end of Firewatch is hilarious. I get that they're building the world and the mystery of it all, but it's simply silly as the final scare. I felt robbed.

I'm sure most of my friends on here will enjoy this more than I did but I was severely disappointed.

This is a divisive series, even among found footage fans, who are already used to having this genre crapped on, even by other horror fans. Those people who crap on found footage will absolutely find some ammo here.

The typical complaints with this movie is that very little happens most of the time and then something very creepy happens at the end but by that point, most people have already tapped out. Even I, when I heard this was coming out, hoped the director would switch it up this time. Not only does the director follow the same exact format though, he actually DEcreases the already low amount of actual horror in the movie. There are a couple of genuinely tense scenes, hence the two stars, but those sequences go absolutely nowhere. The trademark "final" scene where we're finally supposed to get the payoff? It's laughable. Insulting, even. I don't know what the director was thinking with this but he's completely killed my enthusiasm for a part 4 and the positive reviews are obvious shills.

Another reviewer called this one of the biggest disappointments of 2024. I have to agree. Every hyped found footage this year, including Late Night, has been a disappointment, but none bigger than this one. I'm stunned.