Spoiler Alert: Horror in the High DesertFound footagehorror moviesare among the most effective in the genre. It’s probably the horror subgenre that holds a single purpose and has no intention to be something else. They’re films designed with the only goal of scaring you out of your wits. With a few notable exceptions, few stories matter in the universe of the realistic format that will usually drive you to think “this actually happened.” Or at least it will make you feel like that. Because one thing’s for sure, most of them will give good use to that “feature” of being true.
Horror in the High Desertis not simply a found footage film. It’s shot in documentary style, which makes it scarier because it doesn’t deny the facts that you are witnessing.Horror in the High Desertisn’t real. But it’s realistic enough to make you doubt.
The film tells the story of the mysterious disappearance of a young man who was hiking on the Nevada desert. Gary was his name and there aren’t many answers that can help his family understand what happened to him.It’s a mockumentarydepicting the investigation process that slowly reveals there may be more than just a few clues. Something wasfound, and it’s the basis for one of the most underrated scary films out there.
After a few rewatches, we were finally able to watch all of it without covering our eyes, because this one gets pretty heavy. It’s how we came up with a list of some of the film’s creepiest moments for you to enjoy.
10The 911 Call
The film begins with a very notable resource that’s pretty common in films of this nature: The 911 call. It shows a recording of the call made by Beverly Hinge, Gary’s sister, who noticed something could have happened to Gary in the hike. It’s fairly simple, and it’s not as creepy because of what Beverly says. It’s the setting, and the monstrous background of a thunderstorm that director Dutch Marich uses to position us in a Godforsaken wasteland where anything could have happened to Gary.
9The Footprint
The investigation has continued but still no answers. When Gary’s truck is found, they start looking for prints that could belong to a suspect. What they find is bone-chilling: there are prints. But they’re footprints, and they’re not Gary’s. So, think for one minute if it’s logical for someone (or something) to get barefoot on the truck and leave it behind in the middle of nowhere. The plot thickens after this one.
8Reasonable Grudge
This scene in the film has almost no relation to Gary’s case, but it’s still revealing in regard toGary’s strange relationship with his sister Beverly. She goes on camera and says why Gary and her have gone through rough patches: it’s all about the death of their parents. They had gone night fishing and had left a lantern on a part of shore that had no rocks. They would use it as a guide in their return. The thing is Gary, a small child at the time, moved the lantern somewhere, and Beverly implies this caused their parents' death because their boat crashed.
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7Evidence Is Found
After the truck is found, the investigation stalls. However, a group of hikers reports a backpack was left on their campsite. It’s actually Gary’s backpack that has some objects inside. When police open it, they find something that’ll make your stomach drop. It’s actually a couple of objects, including Gary’s hand. It’s been severed clean while it was holding a videocamera that was also among the evidence found. It has a memory card. It has footage. The third act ofHorror in the High Desertis that footage.
6The Sound of Doom
Of course our list continues with moments from the footage. There’s no denying the film’s strongest point, and the reason for its existence. In this scene, we see Gary’s recordings using infrared light. By this point, we haven’t seen anything yet. It’s only the sound of the night that may freeze your blood. There are patterns and… horns? Everyone gets something different out of this one, but we all share something: There was something else out there and Gary was just about to confront it.
5Searching For Gary
We’ll jump ahead in the film’s chronology and put this one before the scariest scenes in the film. In this scene, we see the creature that’s now looking for Gary. It’s actually using fire from a torch that it made. It’s not clear what kind of monster it is to this point, but it’s definitely a humanoid that has fingerprints and knows how to use fire. Yeah, let’s be honest: it looks human.
4Something Moves
This is the film’s “selling point.” The one shot that confirmed Gary was at the mercy of something our imagination could not conceive. The cabin is at the center of the camera’s frame. Gary doesn’t stop recording because he knows there’s something. A few seconds pass until it becomes clear that there’s a recognizable figure. Just as we’re about to say something, it moves. The creature stands up, but Gary’s so frightened he can’t record what exactly it is.
3It Approaches
Gary’s recordings are mostly based on the pitch dark night. However, at this moment, we know there’s something and it has human-like moments. We decided to put this scene in the list, as short as it is, because it speaks about Marich’s insistence on keeping us in the dark; the frame is simply darkness, but slowly we start perceiving a shape. Seconds after, what we can only describe as a monster, is right in front of Gary. This scene canmake your heart stop.
Related:20 Horror Movies Based on True Stories
2The First Attack
There was no question. We had to include the first “attack” by the monster. It’s all about movement and sound effects. Gary is still recording. The infrared camera is his only way to see what’s out there, but it’s definitely not powerful enough. We hear stomping and a second after a horrific monster appears from out of nowhere and seems to attack Gary with a blunt object. We thought this was it, and for the sake of our heart pace, it should have been. It was hard to take more.
1The Last Shot
In the last shot of Gary’s recording, we can see the face of his killer. The one that was never found. As you can see in the image above, it’s hard to describe what kind of creature it is, and if it’s actually human. After you see this one, you will attempt to come up with an answer while your body recovers from what’s essentially a horror experience that you won’t forget any time soon. We know we haven’t.
You can streamHorror in the High Desertfor free on Tubi.
