Strange Harvest

As of this writing there are currently two very good scary movies out right now. Weapons and this little known movie that had good word of mouth sparking my interest.

Strange Harvest and Weapons are well worth your time. Both are scary but where Weapons is the larger budget, mainstream movie, Strange Harvest is equally if not slightly more intriguing.

This one plays out like a "mockumentary" creepy little hidden gem. The two detective characters here are convincing enough with a formidable hidden villain that quite honestly had me uneasy and freaked out. No spoilers here but just a good time to throw your money at. Stick around for the end credits after a terrific third act that will stay with you for a minute.

True-crime programs on TV wish they could be this good.

Like Grave Encounters (2011) before it, Strange Harvest dissects a type of TV program and creates an imitation even better than the original. This is Le silence des agneaux (1991) as an episode of Forensic Files (1996), a sinister episode of New York district (1990) taken to its horrific logical extreme.

I saw Strange Harvest at the Nevermore Film Festival. It's a simple, low budget portrayal of a straightforward premise (at least until the end), yet masterfully executed. Peter Zizzo and Terri Apple are quite believable as average suburban police detectives pursuing what they uncover to be an extraordinary crime spree. By telling the story in chronological order, the audience knows what the detectives knew at the time and share their confusion in trying to make sense of the crimes, the lack of evidence, and their frustration in trying to identify the perpetrator and track him down because he disappears like a ghost. Each crime is different, and one in particular in a swimming pool is as diabolical as the traps in the Décadence (2004) movies.

Le projet Blair (1999), the mother of all found footage films, used its documentary film style to seem totally real. Strange Harvest creates a similar fake reality that makes the audience feel like they're learning about an incident that really happened. The story's simplicity and its streamlined portrayal make it all the more convincing. I've watched a lot of big budget horror movies that aren't nearly as compelling as Strange Harvest.

There's an extra scene after the credits, be sure to stay for that.

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.

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.

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.