Horror In The High Desert 2: Minerva (2023)

Having only very recently dived in to Horror In The High Desert, I thought it best to start making my way through the sequels before I forgot anything about the lore that was established. Unfortunately, I was already too late. It has only been about eight months since I saw that first film, but I'd already forgotten anything that may have been memorable about it. The good news is that this sequel reminds you of the final scenes from that first movie. The bad news is that nothing here matches it.

Exploring a couple of different, and seemingly unrelated, disappearances that happen to have taken place in an area very close to the one explored in the first film. That's really all you need to know. Things are teased, and more things are teased, and it all essentially feels like one shaggy dog story that's been spun out to prepare you for the next instalment in the series, which may or may not be a continuation of the teasing.

While writer-director Dutch Marich does a great job of recreating the documentary format with a mix of authenticity and just the right little details to keep viewers invested, for the most part, he makes a crucial mistake here in leading viewers further away from having one central character to stay close to. The two main characters that we end up spending time with here are two separate individuals who may as well be named "next victim" and "next victim 2". There are some good individual moments, but nothing really feels as if the narrative is moving forward until the very end of the film.

If I didn't already know that this film series was appreciated by one or two friends of mine then I wouldn't be driven to carry on with it. Okay, that's a lie, the OCD part of my brain would insist that I finished what I had started. I wouldn't have any optimism though. But this seems to be a low point, or maybe just didn't work for me as well as it worked for others, and the next instalment, as set up in the last scene here, looks as if it could add some meta-layering that might be enough to draw me further into the dark and twisty storyline unfolding onscreen.

While I didn't hate this, it didn't really work for me as well as I hoped it would. None of the scares were very effective, although there's one moment that resonates with real anguish and trauma in a way that makes it a disturbing highlight of the entire film, I started to lose interest in where the journey was taking me until it seemed to get back on track in the third act, and I feel as if I've been served up a place-holder instead of a proper feature. And if I wanted that feeling I would have revisited one of the Phase 4 Marvel movies released in the past few years. 

4/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share 

Prime Time: Horror In The High Desert (2021)

The good thing about modern technology, and modern distribution models, is that anyone can get a movie made and get it out there. That can also be a bad thing, of course, which is a point I have made many times before. But it's good to finally stumble across a little movie that you've heard about from other film fans, as opposed to something that has had millions of dollars spent on an advertising push that is just trying to ensure some fraction of a massive budget is recouped, and there's quite the lifespan available to gems made by people who have the savvy to add layers of lore and sequel potential to their creations.

Horror In The High Desert is one of those movies, as I was made aware by friends discussing the impact of it, and also how much they had enjoyed the two sequels. I ended up pressing play on this one with less trepidation than I might otherwise have felt, and am happy to say that I can now add my own voice to the many who have already given this some praise

This is the tale of a man (Gary Hinge, played by Eric Mencis) who has gone missing. People are wary of the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, especially when some video evidence reveals some very interesting details from the last time he was seen by people. Writer-director Dutch Marich uses a mockumentary format to present this "unsolved case", presenting testimony from those investigating the case and those personally attached to it (such as Gary's sister, Beverly, played by Tonya Williams Ogden).

As you might expect from this style of film, everything is actually based around some found footage, but Marich does well to avoid using that style throughout the rest of the film. He instead takes time to build up a picture of someone fairly unremarkable, but someone who has become interesting due to the details revealed after their absence. I wouldn't say that everything here helps to build a sense of intrigue and growing dread, but there's enough done to prime viewers for a finale that is impressively eerie and rewarding for those who have been patient.

Everyone plays their part well enough, although neither Mencis nor Ogden are particularly mesmerising in their roles (but they don't have to be, considering the realistic nature of the way they act in front of the camera), and there's a decent central idea that is nicely developed within the runtime, as well as being primed for further development (aka sequels).

Suziey Block, David Morales, and Errol Porter also deserve a mention for filling out the very small core cast, with nobody giving a lesser performance that would easily unbalance something this small and relatively lightweight, and anyone who has enjoyed other films in this vein should find enough to like here. It's far from the best (with many feeling that something like Lake Mungo is at the top of that tree), but it's a well-made slice of faux-realism that leads you down a dark and dangerous path before the end credits roll.

7/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share