Horror in the High Desert 3: Firewatch

The most impressive thing to me about the Horror in the High Desert saga is the insane handle the creators have on the world building and lore. We've been blessed with the 3rd film in this series, Horror in the High Desert: Firewatch (2024) and I still don't understand what the hell is going on, but I am so fascinated and so spooked and so impossibly immersed in all of it. Horror in the High Desert really succeeds where a lot of found footage/faux documentary seem to struggle a bit, and that is giving you characters that don't appear to be the least bit fabricated. In fact, my own mom thought she was watching an actual true crime program before I broke the news to her.

While this film ends on a hell of a cliffhanger, it does make me more excited and continue to speculate where they might take this story next.

"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.

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.

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.

Unlike a lot of other fans of this franchise, I quite liked Horror In The High Desert 2. I loved the fast pace, the scares, the constant atmospheric tension. I loved the ending of the first one but got bored sick before the final fifteen minutes saved the film.

This one, IMO, combined the atmospheric tension of HITHD 2 with the boring documentary bits of HITHD 1. Plus lots of b-roll footage of desert.

I enjoyed that this film expanded upon the lore and introduced some new places that built upon the suspense surrounding the desert and the creatures.

Besides that, though, it lacked sufficient scares. I was neutral to the main character, I didn't like or dislike him one way or another. I wasn't able to connect with his backstory like I did with Minerva's.

I think this movie series would have been fun as a tv series. It's easy to forget what happened in the previous films and how each is connected because of how far apart the releases have been.

Overall, it wasn't a memorable addition to the franchise and felt more like filler. 5 stars for solid atmospheric tension, especially as it nears the end.