The third installment of this mocukumentary/ found footage offers scares, social themes and a scary lore with an atmosphere full of dread.
- Entertainment factor: ★★★★★
- Creepy factor: ★★★★★
- Originality factor: ★★★★★
- Social factor: ★★★★☆
- How shaky is the camera? Not at all.
Horror in the High Desert 3: Firewatch (2024) is the third installment of this found footage/mockumentary franchise that comes up with new scares, new creepy footage and people who have an uncanny story to tell. With an atmosphere full of dread this film expands the universe of this lore with a new glimpse at the creepy not-people entities. It stars Marco Parra, Suziey Block, Laurie Felix Bass, Dakota Hanse Brian Reyes. Directed & written by Dutch Marich.
Duration: 1h 28m
Plot
In the final scene of Horror in the High Desert 2: Minerva (2023) we met Oscar Mendoza who claimed to know something we didn’t. It’s June 2022 when Oscar travels from Mexico to Nevada to find out more behind the mystery of the disappearance of Gary Hinge. Four weeks later he vanished.
Oscar’s cousin Manny Martinez lived in Eagle County and when Oscar visited him, he learned about the disappearance of Gary. He got invested into the story and wanted to find out more about it. Oscar was raised by his grandparents and after his grandfather died, whom he adored as a hero, he lost himself in alcohol and depression. The story of Gary however made him feel alive. Not only was his disappearance under suspicious circumstances intriguing but he also loved the idea of being outside in nature and outside his head.
Oscar has made a cop friend in Eagle County and was told that Gary went missing in Copper Creek Range. So Oscar went to that area and Spook Mountain. That was the last signal of his satellite phone.
Manny became worried and called in the help of Bill Salerno, who also worked for Beverly Hinge. They found Oscar’s phone buried at Spook Mountain. They also found out that he checked out of the motel where he was staying, a week ago. When they put the word out on social media of Oscar being missing, Dolly Broadbent, who owns the Majesty Ranch responded. She met Oscar and told a story about her childhood. As a kid she heard sounds, voices, a tink, tink, tink sound at night and her dad said it weren’t people. Her dad even documented everything, but the government took it all away.
They also get a response from motorcyclist Jonathon Monast who was riding his bike at night. When he saw a man crumpled up on the side of the road, he went back for him. But the man was gone. He started to look for him and came upon a cave where he saw him inside. When he got up to the cave, the man was gone and the cave was very shallow. It looked like he just vanished.
Then they find Oscar’s truck outside Copper Flat on a dirt road. They also find out he has rented a room in the motel. There he had left all his journals, his computer and hard drives.
When they take a look they discover that Oscar went to the Copper Creek Range area to walk in Gary’s shoes. After that he goes to the Reinhold Mining Camp, the place where Ameliana went missing. He stayed there for over a week. He heard voices and a tink, tink, tink sound that he chased, but found no-one. Then as he watched Gary’s footage he suddenly hears something. A horn of a train. That means that Gary was on private Freight Pacific land.
So Oscar goes to the train tracks, waits at a siding to hop on a train. He is bound for Edna. We learned that Oscar had spoken with a train engineer who one night had to stay at a siding near the ghost town of Edna. He and his conductors went exploring. They went through an old tunnel under the mountain that leads directly to Edna. There they saw impossible humanoid entities that looked like people, but didn’t move like people. They got the hell out and now as a joke every time they pass Edna they blow the horn. That’s what Oscar heard on Gary’s video. The train engineer also mistakenly told Oscar that if he wanted real answers, he would find them in Edna.
Oscar walks through the tunnel under the mountain and arrives in Edna at night. There he encounters beings that seem to be shapeshifters and appear like trees. He is attacked and later found at the side of the train tracks, clinging on to life. He was brought to the hospital and survived. But he isn’t ready yet to talk about his experiences.
After that ordeal film maker Daniel Prince gets a call from Dolly who says: “You won’t believe what I have found.”
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Short Review
The second installment Horror in the High Desert 2: Minerva (2023) derived a bit from Gary’s story. Instead it showed that his disappearance was part of a much bigger mystery. Now we continue on Gary’s trail with Oscar.
The film interviews Gal Roberts, Bill Salerno, Manny Martinez and Dolly Broadbent and even Beverly Hinge. It shows footage that Oscar shot and Manny reads from Oscar’s journal, giving the story an extra in-depth dimension. The film also shows some footage of Luke Wald’s body cam. The EMT who went looking for Ameliana. Footage we have already seen, but there’s something pretty scary that we missed before. It also has the body cam footage of motorcyclist Jonathon in the desert at night. And a recorded phone call with an anonymous train engineer.
Oscar wanted to step into Gary’s shoes, survive in the backwoods, and completely immersive himself in nature, while he also wanted to solve Gary’s disappearance. Oscar had a difficult time after the death of his grandfather. He lost himself in alcohol and depression and he discussed this on camera. Again this film addresses an important theme that isn’t talked about easily. Men and mental health are difficult topics and asking for help even more so.
The film also interviews Beverly Hinge who since the first documentary got supportive messages, but also mean ones. Some people blamed her for Gary’s disappearance. The bullying got so bad that she needed to be hospitalized. This was the big theme in the first film and it’s important that it gets addressed again.
Although these themes are important and I’m glad they keep reminding us to be kind to others, you never know who is struggling with (mental) health, we also want some good scares.
Remember when EMT Luke went inside a mill at the Reinhold Mining Camp to look for Ameliana? We all saw a figure standing at the bottom of the stairs, but nobody saw the figure upstairs. Just when his torch went out and fell we see a figure standing a couple of feet away from Luke. It’s such a creepy sight and it’s a fun gimmick to go back to the previous film to keep everything connected.
The encounter Jonathon had in the desert was also very creepy. With his body cam and his torch we have limited vision. That alone makes it scary, but then we also hear foot steps on the gravel and maybe even a voice. The sighting of the man in the cave is absolutely creepy and the idea that he vanished and now could be anywhere is just terrifying. Even Jonathon, who looks like a man who’s not easy to scare carrying a gun, was pretty spooked.
When Oscar is staying at the Reinhold Mining Camp something very uncanny is happening. Oscar hears other people, and a tink, tink, tink sound, just like Dolly heard when she was a kid at the ranch. When he follows it into a creepy old shack, we can hear it very clearly coming from inside. You feel Oscar hesitating, but when he finally goes inside there’s nobody there. It’s a very creepy scene that builds up tension.
The final part of Oscar’s journey brings him to Edna. While there actually are over 600 ghost towns in Nevada, remnants of the 19th century Gold and Silver Rush, Edna itself is a fictional town. The mining tunnels where Oscar goes through are staged as well, but actually feel and look very realistic. It definitely adds to the uncanny atmosphere.
Personally I don’t know what to think of the entities. I found the disfigured man in the first film very creepy as is the idea that a whole group of people-like creatures roam the desert. The idea that they can shape-shift into trees, or maybe that’s their normal form, we don’t know, could be fun, but the first time it can also feel a bit disappointing or too weird, too far fetched. But the story is far from over and maybe we learn more about what they are. Dolly might have something interesting to show us.
Horror in the High Desert 3: Firewatch has a lot to offer. Good scares, different kinds of found footage, important themes about mental health and bullying, and a further exploration of the lore of the desert that started with the disappearance of Gary Hinge.
Read more about the Horror in the High Desert franchise:
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