An opinion-splitting horror that had people convinced it was real bakes in the arid heat of reassessment

It’s very rare these days that horror can hoodwink audiences into believing what they’re seeing onscreen genuinely happened, especially when online culture has come a long way since The Blair Witch Project‘s groundbreaking viral marketing campaign. And yet, Horror in the High Desert managed to accomplish a feat that’s becoming more impossible with each passing year.

Written, directed, produced, shot, and edited by one-man filmmaking army Dutch Marich, the unnerving pseudo-documentary finds friends, family, and loved ones assembled in an ambitious combination of talking head doc and investigative crime story about missing person Gary Hinge.

Venturing off on a lone hike to a remote area of the Great Basin Desert, the experienced outdoorsman was heading towards an isolated cabin, but failed to return. From there, found footage elements begin to creep in as Horror in the High Desert slowly puts its cards on the table, revealing the ruse in jarring fashion.

Critics were generally split on the film’s merits, although that may have something to do with found footage fatigue more than anything else, because there aren’t many titles you can name off the top of your head that dared to be as different as Horror in the High Desert.

As you’d imagine, gorehounds and supporters of all things spooky were much more receptive, with a Reddit thread finding the vast majority in agreement that the atmospheric, unsettling, and constantly inquisitive nature of the completely unique flick has done more than enough to propel it headlong towards underrated and unsung status.