[Rating: Minor Rock Fist Down]
One of my favorite TV shows to put on in the background for noise that then turns into actual investment is Forensic Files. Old stories from the 80s and 90s of true crime that sometimes turn into the most outlandish things, always fascinates me! In fact, sometimes I wonder if people get ideas for movies out of these stories, and then heighten the experience. Clearly director Stuart Ortiz drew some inspiration in his latest movie, Strange Harvest that feels like a long form Forensic Files meets a Tubi original found footage movie.
In the Inland Empire of Southern California, San Bernardino detectives Joe Kirby (Peter Zizzo) and Lexi Taylor (Terri Apple) are interviewed about what they know of a serial killer. For over thirty years, the community has been plagued by an unknown killer who only goes by the name of Mr. Shiny. Shiny’s first victims were murdered in 1993, but soon after disappeared!
While the three cases went cold, it took until 2013 for Mr. Shiny to once again claim his dominance and send Kirby and Taylor on the hunt. They both explain that with each new horror, different markings were left by Shiny and different organs were taken from the bodies. Kirby and Taylor realize that as soon as they get close to solving each case, Shiny takes them almost on a wild goose chase in order to hide his true identity.
Soon, Kirby and Taylor race against time as Shiny (Jessee J. Clarkson) now indicates something more supernatural is a stake here. The detectives come to the conclusion that the Shiny’s killings aren’t just random, but all have a purpose to something more “grand” to a man driven insane.
I think my favorite subgenre of horror is found footage. When done right, it really works well to scare the shit out of me. Ortiz is co-director on one of my favorite of the found footage flicks, Grave Encounters, that also freaks me out with every watch. I hoped Strange Harvest was going to do it for me, but I was sadly mistaken. You see, the biggest issue with the movie is—it’s just boring.
I was not expecting the constant interviews of the detectives and that in part, took me out of the movie a lot. I felt like if it wasn’t for the gruesome footage, I could have seen this on the ID channel. It also felt too much like a very sinister found-footage movie, Megan is Missing, that does a lot more to freak out its audience.
By the end of this, I was just left wanting more, but also not really caring about what I had seen. I sadly have to put this in a category of lackluster found footage movies. Sure it’s a big list of cheap movies, but when they really hit, they really hit the terror button in my heart, unlike this one.
Christian Ramos is a classic film fan, having had the dream to host Turner Classic Movies for years now. He also has a large amount of Oscar trivia in his head, remembers dressing as Groucho Marx one Halloween, and cherishes the moment Julianne Moore liked his tweet.
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