By George & Josh Bate
True crime has grown into one of the most watched and talked about genres of television over the past decade. However morbid a given true story gets, there seems to be a never-ending level of interest in following a real life murder investigation unfold in a documentary format. By definition, these documentaries are true stories and, as such, are bound to the confines of what actually happened. In other terms, such documentaries may take certain creative liberties in how information is presented, but, ultimately, the filmmakers are restricted to telling a story as it actually occurred, rather than conjuring anything of their own. But what happens if a filmmaker had the ability to conjure their own true crime story and, in turn, maximize the twists and suspense. That’s exactly what writer/director Stuart Ortiz does in Strange Harvest: Occult Murder in the Inland Empire, a new film premiering at Fantastic Fest 2024 that rewrites the rules of what is possible in a ‘true’ crime documentary.
Strange Harvest: Occult Murder in the Inland Empire is a faux documentary styled after true crime documentaries like The Jinx and Making a Murderer. The film follows two detectives’ years-long pursuit of a serial killer named Mr. Shiny, who has plagued California with a series of disturbing ritualistic murders. After vanishing following a string of murders in the 1990s, Mr. Shiny reemerged and continued carrying out his dangerous plan, which included leaving Zodiac-esque letters for police and plenty of bodies in his wake.
Strange Harvest stands apart from true crime documentaries as it is not a true crime documentary. That may sound silly or redundant, but it accurately captures how the film distinguishes itself from the slew of true crime documentaries that came before it. In crafting a story that is fictional, while utilizing the unique narrative and filmmaking elements that are enabled by making a true crime documentary, writer/director Stuart Ortiz creates the perfect true crime story here (a story that just so happens to be not true).
Free of a true story to adhere to, Strange Harvest proceeds as the ultimate murder documentary. The kills are far more numerous (and bloodier) than your average true crime documentary. The investigation takes so many twists and turns, with a plot twist seemingly occurring every few minutes. And the drama from beginning to end is amplified. If this were indeed an actual true crime documentary (that is, a documentary chronicling events that actually happened), it would undoubtedly be one of, if not the, most watched and talked about of them all.
And yet, despite taking full advantage of its status as a faux true crime documentary, Strange Harvest never loses sight of the genre it has chosen to fit into. Great lengths are taken to make everything feel authentic, from realistic news reports to solid performances from the lead actors that never take you out of the movie. And, even when the drama is amplified, it never becomes unwieldy or unrealistic.
How committed Strange Harvest is to feeling like a genuine true crime documentary gives the film a certain authenticity, although it means the film’s conclusion falls short of its immense potential. The way in which the story in Strange Harvest wraps up is very similar to your average true crime documentary, which isn’t inherently a slight, but it brings up questions regarding the filmmakers making full use of their fictional narrative. There are several hints at the supernatural and the spread throughout the film and, at some points, it appears that the faux documentary is heading in a direction that more concretely explores these themes. In other terms, there is a suggestion that Strange Harvest’s conclusion would somewhat abandon the groundedness of its true crime documentary roots to more explicitly incorporate the abstract and supernatural into the film. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Viewers who admire the lengths to which the filmmakers took to making Strange Harvest feel like an actual true crime documentary will likely commend the decision to stay grounded until the very end, but it does mean that the film misses an opportunity to do something really unique.
Part of the reason a more abstract, supernatural ending seemed on the cards for Strange Harvest can be attributed to the way in which the film blends the true crime and horror genres. Most true crime documentaries, due to the morbid nature of their subject matter, lean into the disturbing and macabre, but rarely so into the full-fledged horror genre. Strange Harvest, meanwhile, achieves a rare, masterful synergy of the true crime and horror genres and is likely to satisfy fans of both overwhelmingly. There are more than a few genuine scares in the film that would not feel out of place in an effective found footage horror movie. Those scares take place in the broader context of an unsettling movie that borrows all sorts of horror movie tropes from the slasher and folk horror sub-genres. It ends up being a perfect genre mashup so surprising in its effectiveness that it makes one wonder why there haven’t been more movies like this.
VERDICT: 8/10
True crime becomes fictional in the new faux documentary Strange Harvest: Occult Murder in the Inland Empire, which premieres at Fantastic Fest 2024. The film written and directed by Stuart Ortiz takes full advantage of its true crime roots with a story full of twists, turns, clues, drama, and suspense. Although the ending plays it a tad safe and misses the opportunity to capitalize on various supernatural hints throughout, Strange Harvest impresses in how authentic it feels as a true crime documentary and its excellent blending of the true crime and horror genres. In an era in which streaming services and television channels are overpopulated with all sorts of true crime documentaries, Strange Harvest: Occult Murder in the Inland Empire comes along with a unique approach to using the structure of a true crime documentary for a thrilling fictional film.
Check out a trailer for Strange Harvest: Occult Murder in the Inland Empire below…
