Strange Harvest

Strange Harvest had so much promise, blending its true crime element seamlessly into an eerie, gripping story. For most of the runtime, I was hooked with the pacing, atmosphere, and slow-burn tension were top notch. Unfortunately, the ending completely fizzled. There's barely any satisfying conclusion, and not even a clever final twist to leave on a high note. It's such a shame, because the rest was so strong. A 6/10 for me. Worth watching, but the final moments left me more frustrated than thrilled.

I'm a huge fan of found-footage, mockumentary style filmmaking. I really love and appreciate the illusion of truth convincingly told through interviews, first-hand accounts, character exploration etc., and this new independent horror film "Strange Harvest" checks off the boxes I needed to go see it in theatres. It's also the same writer/director who gave us "Grave Encounters", a personal favorite of mine.

Stuart Ortiz's new project centers around a ghostly serial killer with a cosmic agenda and a ritualistic manner of executing his victims. Much like the infamous Zodiac killer he enjoys taunting and mocking law enforcement with cryptic letters while meticulously tracking his victims to make sure they fit his demented criteria. We are told all of this through a series of ongoing interviews with San Bernardino County detectives and investigators as well as friends and loved ones of some of the victims. Overall I felt the acting was really solid and clean, if I wasn't already used to this style of filmmaking I would have genuinely believed these were true accounts that simply went under my radar. I would have assumed there's been a sadistic and disturbed man rampaging through the inland empire.

I've never seen this style of filmmaking on the big screen before, but I'm very glad I did and I do highly recommend this to anyone who loves and wants to support independent horror projects or anyone interested in the world of true crime mystery and lore. (8/10)

I went in completely blind, didn't know much about this movie, other than the few trailers I seen at the theater. I was interested in it, cause it was an indy horror movie, and lately indy movies been turning out better storyline than big budget blockbuster. As soon as the started , man this is true crime documentary and I started to lose interest, then I was thinking this was a docudrama. I was oddly invested in this movie by staying watching it to the end. A serial killer named mr.shiny reeked havoc on a city for decades without being caught and 2 homicide detective doing everything in their power to bring justice to these hurting families. As it turns out this movie was shot in a documentary style, but it is a mockumentry. Kudos to the creative team behind this movie.

The vibes of Fincher's Zodiac combined with Lovecraftian cosmic horror, expertly presented in a found footage/true crime documentary format. It's unsettling, interesting, and compelling, with some great practical effects and an intriguing antagonist. I absolutely love found footage horror, I think it's a sub-genre that, when put in the right hands, can lead to some truly creative filmmaking. This is now a new favorite of mine, and has the potential to become a classic of the genre.

This mockumentary gave me the creeps beyond creeps. This film was so detailed and elaborate that it made my skin crawl. The crime scenes shown in this film were so vile and disturbing that this film will leave you feeling uneasy and looking over your shoulder. This film blends horror with true crime, creating a chilling experience.