Gore Galore: Stuart Ortiz’s ‘STRANGE HARVEST’ (2024) – Movie Review – PopHorror

I happen to find detective shows boring; they just never thrilled me. I have long grown apart from it, but as a kid, I studied a lot about different serial killers. None of it fit my style of seeing real crime scene photos that don’t hold back. With that in mind, Strange Harvest is several stories in one.

Let’s get into the review.

Synopsis

Detectives are thrust into a chilling hunt for “Mr. Shiny”-a sadistic serial killer from the past whose return marks the beginning of a new wave of grotesque, otherworldly crimes tied to a dark cosmic force.

With FX that would impress even Tom Savini himself, the film really grew on me. At first, I was unimpressed, thinking it was the usual cops and robbers type movie. However, the film quickly grabbed my attention. From the first few minutes, I was really excited to watch. The very first crime scene photos were life-changing in a movie or show quite like this.  Strange Harvest became even better as we got further into the film. Besides the dead bodies, the film really did make me feel as if this were a true story. The realism caught me off guard, and oftentimes, I found something to trigger me.

Though there were some really uncomfortanle scenes that broke the unwritten horror rules. The film quickly sucked me back in, however. The entire premise could easily happen to anyone; we already know the big names of serial killer history, but not the ones, such as this, that fly under the radar. They happen every day, somewhere in the world. So we already know the evil minds still exist today. Strange Harvest actually spooked me quite a bit. It was a good thing I watched it with the lights on, because some parts of the movie made me sleep with one eye open, watching the window all night.

The last film that got into my head was the first Paranormal Activity. Strange Harvest not only made me paranoid, but I was also afraid for days. Strange Harvest was one step away from intrusive thoughts; however, the film impressed me with fear. This wasn’t some heavy-footed steps; this was realism, and normally I hate those types of films. It was made for you to feel uncomfortable, but it also doesn’t blur the line between realism and fantasy.

In The End

In the end, I really enjoyed the film. It gave me a new view on detective-related shows and films. Strange Harvest is going into my list of movies in rotation when I work and need a great background noise; a perception that I loved this, but not too many others. I know there are some movies with masked villains chasing someone around with an array of tools and tricks. I easily recommend this film, which you can find on Hulu.

Heed my warning, however, because you are about to enter a new world. A world that should stick to the horror genre forever. Maybe I am hyping it up just a tad, but it doesn’t keep me from being a fan.