Stuart Ortiz’s Strange Harvest: Occult Murder in the Inland Empire is presented to the viewer as a true crime documentary. Tapping into all the tropes of the sensationalised documentaries that frequent the likes of Netflix and Prime, Strange Harvest offers a feast for those with an appetite for true crime. Despite its fictitious story, Ortiz presents Strange Harvest in such an authentic manner that it is easy to buy it as the genuine artefact.
The faux true crime documentary chronicles two detectives in pursuit of an infamous serial killer named Mr. Shiny, who terrorised Southern California for almost two decades. Although fictional, the nature of Mr. Shiny’s crimes are heinous and Strange Harvest does not shy away from the grotesque. Ortiz is so artful with the construction of events that the viewer quickly forgets that the story being told is not real and this causes them to squirm when presented with crime scene videos and photography. Whilst in reality these are props made for the film, or actors under make-up, the story sells them as authentic and the audience’s mind connects the dots, which creates a horribly uncomfortable viewing environment. Thanks to Ortiz’s work, big chunks of Strange Harvest are genuinely hard to watch.
As with any true crime documentary worth its weight, Strange Harvest’s narrative is forever evolving. What starts seemingly typical, slowly expands out into some wild directions. This is exactly what makes this type of programming so moreish for audiences. Ortiz definitely captures that ethos. Here the story goes from simple brutal killings to taunting the police, to a conspiracy theory involving supernatural elements. The constant switch ups hit all the expected WTF moments, and whilst one might expect the story to jump the shark, fact is often stranger than fiction, and so no matter how extreme the narrative goes, it still sounds viable.
As the cases discussed get worse, so to do Mr. Shiny’s methods of dispatch. With leeches, eagle flaying, and exsanguination being just the tip of the iceberg, Strange Harvest goes in some extreme directions. Mr Shiny’s preferred victims and methods of capture are equally traumatising. Of all the found footage, faux documentary movies already in the world, Strange Harvest channels that mean spirit of The Poughkeepsie Tapes. Ortiz however, forgoes the gritty and low-fi visuals of that film and dresses a similarly upsetting narrative in true crime fluff. The result is a film that is deviously addictive in spite of its alarming and distressing content.
A bone-chilling faux true crime documentary provides a wicked stage for Stuart Ortiz to get weird. Packed to bursting with graphic gory imagery that taints both the psyche and eyes, Strange Harvest: Occult Murder in the Inland Empire is going to be catnip to those with an appetite for this kind of programming. Ortiz himself is clearly a devout consumer of such content and has painstakingly crafted a film that is almost uncannily realistic.
Strange Harvest: Occult Murder in the Inland Empire
Summary
Featuring some of the most blood-curdling imagery in recent years, Strange Harvest toys with the concept of fact versus fiction with electrifying results.
Strange Harvest: Occult Murder in the Inland Empire was reviewed at Fantastic Fest 2024.
