A clever sequel with an atmosphere full of dread, great scares and very disturbing images that expands the mythology. 

• Entertainment factor: ★★★★★
• Scare factor: ★★★★★
• Originality factor: ★★★★★
• How shaky is the camera? Not at all. 

Horror in the High Desert 2: Minerva is a great follow up to the story of the disappearance of Gary Hinge. With very creepy and disturbing footage, it shows that the desert isn’t safe and that not-people are actively killing and taking people. It stars Suziey Block, Laurie Felix Bass, Brooke Bradshaw, Trisha Coulter, Solveig Helene, Christine Martin. Directed & written by Dutch Marich.

Duration: 1h 14m

Plot

In September 2018 a year after Gary Hinge’s disappearance a young woman, Minerva Sound, was found dead in her locked home on Highway 50. Hours later another young woman, Ameliana Basher, vanished along the same stretch of highway. It was all linked together. 

Gal Roberts, who also investigated the story of Gary Hinge, is now investigating the case of Minerva,. First responder EMT Luke Wells arrived at Minerva’s home and later went to search for Ameliana. They both tell their stories of what they encountered and found out. 

Dolly Broadbent, from the Majesty Ranch, who was also interviewed after Gary disappeared, tells her story about when she was a child and they heard strange noises, sounds and voices, and a tink, tink, tink sound, which their dad documented and was convinced that this weren’t people. 

Cathy Wald, Minerva’s best friend was also interviewed. Minerva was in her thirties when she became interested in geology and went to follow a course at the University where they had access to a still working mine in Cypress, Nevada. Due to an error they didn’t have room for her so they put her in a trailer on a desolated patch of land. The trailer was actually in no condition to be lived in and was supposed to be demolished. First it stood on another patch and there used to be a basement underneath, but they filled it in. 

Other people that were interviewed were Lenny Douglas, the mountain mine property manager and Joseph Sinclair, who lived in a house near the trailer Minerva was put. He felt like he was being watched, heard strange sounds, singing and felt nauseous. 

Because of their different schedules Cathy and Minerva sent each other video messages, which we get to see. When she started living there, she suffered some mental and physical problems. She couldn’t sleep, nor wake up. She was tired, had a headache and felt foggy. She searched for mold, but found nothing.

After she died, Cathy got her belongings, among which her phone and a mysterious bag. On a voice memo she made you can hear her fall asleep, but in the background there’s somebody there. You hear shuffling of feet and a man’s voice that sounds very unhinged.  

In the bag however were strange creepy disturbing paintings and old tapes. On those tapes you can hear a man talking who is holding the camera. He is inside the trailer which stood on top of the basement. He’s looking outside for his “friend” and he is descending the stairs to the basement. In the basement you can hear a poem recited on the radio. It’s the poem “Boots” by Rudyard Kipling. The man’s voice is very intense and becomes more and more insistent. 

Other footage on the tape show a woman whom he is forcing into the desert with a gun and he ties her to a tree. The woman was identified and went missing in the late nineties. Later we see a figure at night in the desert coming for the woman. 

Then he goes down to the basement again. This time there’s a figure sitting with a white bloodied sheet draped over them and they’re shaking violently. 

Hours later Ameliana was driving home from Las Vegas through Caliente to Cypress. This patch of highway is also called the loneliest road in America. You could see no cars for 200 miles and there’s no cell phone reception past Blacktop Mountain. Her family has a rule that you have to call when you get to Blacktop. And if your car breaks down, hide in the bushes. Ameliana’s mother had an encounter once when her car broke down in that area and she was harassed by a man, until her father came to pick her up. Unfortunately Ameliana’s car breaks down, near an old mining camp. She knows that there’s reception and calls home, but stays in the car. Then a figure shows up and when she gets out of the car, she is dragged away. 

Later that night Luke, the EMT goes in search for Ameliana. When he hears a cry of a woman, he follows the sound into an old mill at the mining site. His torch falls and goes out and he is left in the pitch black. A figure is there with him. When Luke reaches out his hand to feel his way about, he almost touches it. 

Both Gary and Ameliana were never found. Minerva died supposedly of hyperthermia, because the heater was too high. But there’s a whole mystery surrounding these suspicious disappearances and deaths. 

At the end we meet Oscar Mendoza who is preparing to leave for Nevada to look for Gary and the cabin and the mystery behind it, because he knows something we don’t know. 

Continue reading below this announcement.

Short Review 

A lot happens in this sequel to Horror in the High Desert (2021). We get reacquainted with Gal and Dolly, which connects this film to the original in a familiar way. We also meet new people who are connected to Minerva and Ameliana. Again the way the story is build up feels all very realistic. Both Ameliana and Minerva become real people with a tragic ending and family they left behind. 

This time the footage we get to see are from different people and different sources. Minerva has video messages we get to see and an audio memo, which is very creepy. Then there are the old tapes back from the nineties with a very creepy man who talks in a very unhinged way. You can feel he is crazy or at least there’s something very wrong with him. It feels like he is worshipping the creatures/entities in the desert. Offering a woman to them to placate them. 

While the original had only the last 20 min of suspense and dread and a very good jump scare, now the scares and the feeling of dread are more weaved through the whole film. And there are some pretty scary things to see and hear. 

First of all, the footage of the basement is very creepy. The way the poem is recited gives off a very disturbing vibe and the second time the man goes into the basement there’s a very nasty disturbing sight, that is so short that if you blink you might miss it. I did, the first two times I watched this film. Only now I saw a figure sitting with a white sheet draped over them, that was bloodied and the person was shaking in a very creepy way. It’s a very disturbing image especially when you just saw what he did to that woman in the desert. 

I also want to add that the trailer and its location where Minerva had to stay is very creepy on its own, even if it wasn’t a horror film. I wouldn’t have stayed there all alone at night in the middle of nowhere. 

The part where the story of Ameliana is presented is also very scary. What happened to her is recorded by her dash cam and that results in some very creepy footage. Her actions feel very normal and that makes it even more scarier. You can see a figure at the rear window and moments later she gets out of the car and opens the trunk. We see the figure again when she is out of the car and the headlights of a passing car show a figure standing not far from her. Seconds later we hear her screaming and she is dragged away.

And the scary stuff doesn’t end there. When Luke goes inside the mill to look for Ameliana, his torch goes out and he has to feel his way about. It is all recorded with his body cam with night vision, so we are up close with the action. When he descends the stairs in the pitch dark, the night vision of the camera picks up a figure standing at the bottom of the stairs. Luke has his hand reached out and almost touches him. It feels so creepy.

Although the film doesn’t continue directly with the case of Gary, it expands the lore by adding more horrifying information, while it does have direct connections with the original. This sequel has a lot of scares to offer, combined with a feeling of dread and terrifying events. The things we get to see and learn are very disturbing and creepy and expand the lore of the story. Now it’s not just a deformed man living in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, but it’s about multiple creatures that look like people, but aren’t people and who take women and others who come too close. And what is even scarier, they are not confined to desolated places in the middle of the desert.

I really love this franchise because it has an original story and lore, that feels very realistic, and knows how to build a good story with disturbing images and a creepy atmosphere full of dread that scares me a lot. 

Horror in the High Desert 2: Minerva continues the story and lore about the disappearance of Gary and two other unfortunate women. This time with even more creepy scares. 

Read more about the Horror in the High Desert franchise:

• Horror in the High Desert (2021) review