IMDb RATING
4.2/10
1.1K
YOUR RATING
Six friends on their way to a concert break down in the middle of nowhere and encounter a deranged family that lives in the desert killing anyone they come across.Six friends on their way to a concert break down in the middle of nowhere and encounter a deranged family that lives in the desert killing anyone they come across.Six friends on their way to a concert break down in the middle of nowhere and encounter a deranged family that lives in the desert killing anyone they come across.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
Frederick George Stuhrberg
- Warner
- (as Frederick Stuhrberg)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
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Featured reviews
Bizarre and far out there, but oddly enjoyable nonetheless...
Stumbling upon the 2024 horror movie "Desert Fiend" by random chance here in 2025, I believed I was in for a movie in the likes of "The Hills Have Eyes" or "Wrong Turn". I had never heard about the movie, but my love of all things horror made me give the movie a fair chance. I have to admit that I harbored no expectations to the movie, so director Shawn C. Phillips had every opportunity to entertain and impress me.
Writers Ethan Phillips and Shawn C. Phillips put together an oddly entertaining and enjoyable script and storyline. Sure, it was corny, campy and cheesy, but there was just something about the absurdity of it all that worked out nicely.
The character gallery in "Desert Fiends" certainly was something in its own league, and not just the cannibalistic people living in the desert.
I was rather surprised with the amount of familiar faces on the cast list, sure it was B-grade talents, but talents nonetheless. The movie had the likes of Bai Ling, Eric Roberts, Michael Paré, Scout Taylor-Compton, Tom Arnold, Robert LaSardo and Lisa Wilcox on the cast list, which was a surprise. The acting performances were rather over the top from the majority of the 'famous' of the cast crew, which gave the movie an oddly enjoyable cheesy feel. Michael Paré's insanely strange English accent was just laughably bad.
There was a surprising amount of blood and visceral mayhem in the movie. But for some odd reason, then writers Ethan Phillips and Shawn C. Phillips focused a lot of genital mutilations throughout the course of the scene. The effects in the movie were actually fair.
I found "Desert Fiends" to be an enjoyable movie. Why? Well, because it was so far out there, so bad and ridiculous that it actually crossed over a boundary and became a fun movie to watch. But I think it is a movie that requires you to have a fondness for off-beat movies, and thus this movie might not sit well with just everyone in the audience.
My rating of director Shawn C. Phillips's 2024 movie "Desert Fiends" lands on a six out of ten stars.
Writers Ethan Phillips and Shawn C. Phillips put together an oddly entertaining and enjoyable script and storyline. Sure, it was corny, campy and cheesy, but there was just something about the absurdity of it all that worked out nicely.
The character gallery in "Desert Fiends" certainly was something in its own league, and not just the cannibalistic people living in the desert.
I was rather surprised with the amount of familiar faces on the cast list, sure it was B-grade talents, but talents nonetheless. The movie had the likes of Bai Ling, Eric Roberts, Michael Paré, Scout Taylor-Compton, Tom Arnold, Robert LaSardo and Lisa Wilcox on the cast list, which was a surprise. The acting performances were rather over the top from the majority of the 'famous' of the cast crew, which gave the movie an oddly enjoyable cheesy feel. Michael Paré's insanely strange English accent was just laughably bad.
There was a surprising amount of blood and visceral mayhem in the movie. But for some odd reason, then writers Ethan Phillips and Shawn C. Phillips focused a lot of genital mutilations throughout the course of the scene. The effects in the movie were actually fair.
I found "Desert Fiends" to be an enjoyable movie. Why? Well, because it was so far out there, so bad and ridiculous that it actually crossed over a boundary and became a fun movie to watch. But I think it is a movie that requires you to have a fondness for off-beat movies, and thus this movie might not sit well with just everyone in the audience.
My rating of director Shawn C. Phillips's 2024 movie "Desert Fiends" lands on a six out of ten stars.
Great horror comedy!
Great horror comedy movie!!! I hear a sequel is coming to our screens soon. Can't wait to see a part 2. Shawn C Phillips ups his game with this feature film. Fantastic cast all around and they certainly make an entrance. Make sure you watch on all streaming platforms like Amazon prime video or Tubi.
A massively underwhelming and generally unwatchable slasher
Going out to a special music festival, a group of friends, hoping to celebrate a friend's birthday together, run into a series of other factors that are revealed to be due to the inbred, cannibalistic hillbillies running around killing everyone they come across to repopulate the family.
This was an insufferably awful indie slasher without much going for it. In fact, the only really enjoyable factor with this one is the series of strong and generally enjoyable slashing scenes here that provide quite a lot of gore. The attacks here aren't too bad, with the brief stalking and brutal consequences making everything quite fun, with how the creatures come together taking people out in random encounters around the desert. As it grows in intensity throughout the final half, where the mutants run wild against the various participants of the festival, resulting in some graphic setpieces, full of great practical effects, and intriguing enough action to make everything quite enjoyable, it highlights the fun aspects that work throughout here rather nicely. With the great design and intriguing character-work on the mutants themselves, who are somewhat imposing in their true form with their deformed visages and unconventional mutations, this comes off quite well in this one. Beyond that, this was a terrible effort with quite a few major flaws. The randomized storyline is a major issue, featuring multiple storylines that could've worked as a means of keeping the interest going, but are crammed into this for no reason than to give supposed celebrities a chance at screentime, which is itself another big issue. The friends going out to the desert for a birthday party celebration is a decent enough idea, but to mix it in around the sidelines of the company trying to clandestinely destroy a truck abandoned in the area carrying toxic chemicals using woefully inept employees, the woefully lame sidestory about the past-their-prime rock group and manager who want to party with the hip youngsters at the festival, or the conspiracy theorists trying to get in contact with aliens dilutes the focus considerably. It's hard to remain invested in any of these storylines with how random and disorganized they all come across, so it's nearly impossible to remain focused on the movie proper. With the whole thing furthered by the constant interjections and cutaways to different individuals they all encounter along the way, merely for the purpose of getting supposed celebrities on-screen or to highlight someone who obviously paid for a role to be in the film, considering its improvised origins. Since the film makes it so obvious that's the intent by how long it stays on the scene when they have no reason for being in the film. The characters are mostly obnoxious and annoying, and with so many involved in these subplots, it just keeps everything so hard to care about when we're constantly shuttled off to a different set of characters so frequently for brief inserts obligated by their social media payoff to be involved in this. In the end, it just highlights how cheap and flimsy it all is, with a scattershot, jumbled experience that never hides what it really is, which all comes together into being the problematic factors that hold it down.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, and Nudity.
This was an insufferably awful indie slasher without much going for it. In fact, the only really enjoyable factor with this one is the series of strong and generally enjoyable slashing scenes here that provide quite a lot of gore. The attacks here aren't too bad, with the brief stalking and brutal consequences making everything quite fun, with how the creatures come together taking people out in random encounters around the desert. As it grows in intensity throughout the final half, where the mutants run wild against the various participants of the festival, resulting in some graphic setpieces, full of great practical effects, and intriguing enough action to make everything quite enjoyable, it highlights the fun aspects that work throughout here rather nicely. With the great design and intriguing character-work on the mutants themselves, who are somewhat imposing in their true form with their deformed visages and unconventional mutations, this comes off quite well in this one. Beyond that, this was a terrible effort with quite a few major flaws. The randomized storyline is a major issue, featuring multiple storylines that could've worked as a means of keeping the interest going, but are crammed into this for no reason than to give supposed celebrities a chance at screentime, which is itself another big issue. The friends going out to the desert for a birthday party celebration is a decent enough idea, but to mix it in around the sidelines of the company trying to clandestinely destroy a truck abandoned in the area carrying toxic chemicals using woefully inept employees, the woefully lame sidestory about the past-their-prime rock group and manager who want to party with the hip youngsters at the festival, or the conspiracy theorists trying to get in contact with aliens dilutes the focus considerably. It's hard to remain invested in any of these storylines with how random and disorganized they all come across, so it's nearly impossible to remain focused on the movie proper. With the whole thing furthered by the constant interjections and cutaways to different individuals they all encounter along the way, merely for the purpose of getting supposed celebrities on-screen or to highlight someone who obviously paid for a role to be in the film, considering its improvised origins. Since the film makes it so obvious that's the intent by how long it stays on the scene when they have no reason for being in the film. The characters are mostly obnoxious and annoying, and with so many involved in these subplots, it just keeps everything so hard to care about when we're constantly shuttled off to a different set of characters so frequently for brief inserts obligated by their social media payoff to be involved in this. In the end, it just highlights how cheap and flimsy it all is, with a scattershot, jumbled experience that never hides what it really is, which all comes together into being the problematic factors that hold it down.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, and Nudity.
Its not bad at all for a low budget film.
I think it has a cool grind house horror look, and the casting were all decent enough actors, all in all its a pretty cool low budget film. Some of the older veteran actors were a little over used to a degree I think, but atleast it had some veteran actors in it. My only other complaint is its maybe a little too cheesy sometimes, and the story is a bit bland, but it definately had some production value which some low budget films definately lack.
Basically Zero Value
Hooooly god daaamn this is one of the lowest of the low. Down there with Tommy Wiseau, Killer Nerd and Troma movies level of bad. Not in ANY kind of good way though. Worse than even Pink Flamingos.
Tom Arnold and Eric Roberts must have been crying between takes for how far they've fallen. Bai Ling seems to have gone just completely insane at this point. Prolly got $2k each and all the free soup they could eat. The cringe levels are off the charts! Could anyone think a single joke or gag in this is funny?! They should play stuff like this on a loop at GITMO for torture. Anyway, if you attempt a viewing you should spend that time, as I did, questioning your life choices.
Tom Arnold and Eric Roberts must have been crying between takes for how far they've fallen. Bai Ling seems to have gone just completely insane at this point. Prolly got $2k each and all the free soup they could eat. The cringe levels are off the charts! Could anyone think a single joke or gag in this is funny?! They should play stuff like this on a loop at GITMO for torture. Anyway, if you attempt a viewing you should spend that time, as I did, questioning your life choices.
Did you know
- TriviaThis movie was made after Shawn C. Phillips made Mistletoe Massacre and Pay to Die, but released first.
- ConnectionsReferences Friday the 13th (1980)
- SoundtracksSitting on the Toilet
Written by Sethifus
Performed by Sethifus
- How long is Desert Fiends?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $250,000 (estimated)
- Runtime
- 1h 46m(106 min)
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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