For the last five years, writer/director Dutch Marich has been quietly building one of the best indie found footage franchises in the history of horror. Presented as a series of documentaries built on missing or deceased characters, Horror in the High Desert creeps up on you with its constantly expanding cosmology and patient storytelling, creating a deeply compelling horror puzzle box, brick by brick.
Now, Marich has surprise-dropped the fourth film in the series, Horror in the High Desert 4: Majesty, and Dread Central was lucky enough to get an early look at the latest piece of the puzzle. Fortunately, we were not let down. Like every other film in the series so far, Majesty is tense, mysterious, and intimate, even as it builds on a story so big it threatens to consume the whole high desert.
As teased at the end of Horror in the High Desert 3: Firewatch last year, Majesty picks up with the story of Dolly Broadbent (Laurie Felix Bass), a local rancher whose father spent years chasing the mysteries of the High Desert in Northern Nevada. A supporting character in the saga so far, Dolly mentioned in Firewatch that her father had collected a box of evidence on what was happening on his family’s sprawling ranch, Majesty, and that box had since gone missing. Now it’s emerged into the light, leaving Dolly, reporter Gal Roberts (Suziey Block), private investigator Bill Salerno (David Morales), and documentarian Daniel Prince (Marich) to investigate its disturbing contents.
The nature of the box and its long history in Dolly’s family allow Marich and company the chance to dig deeper into the past and, visually, go more analog with the horror this time around. Dolly’s father, operating throughout the late 20th century, first used film cameras and later early camcorders to document his findings, lending a grit and low-fi creep to the film that the other installments don’t have simply because they take place later. It’s a nice visual touch that also allows the story to expand backward as well as forward, digging into the recent past well beyond what’s been hinted at in previous installments.
But even as Majesty goes retro with its found footage, the film retains Marich’s distinct storytelling style. As with the previous installments, we’re watching all of this in the context of a faux documentary, and, as with those films, Marich quickly and nimbly falls back into a certain rhythm. We get the talking heads to shape what we’re about to see, then long passages of found footage, usually in the dark, often covering abandoned buildings and old mines in the desert. When it comes to scares, Marich is one of our most patient filmmakers, and while it might take newcomers a little while to adjust to his style, he has lost none of his long take magic. Silent sequences, punctuated only by haunting sound design, reign supreme in this film, daring us to look closer, to squint into the shadows and find shapes lurking there. It’s a deceptively simple exercise in making us lean in and listen until the trap is sprung, and Marich is still finding inventive new ways to use it.
He’s also, crucially, still finding new ways to expand this story, which began as a straightforward narrative of a missing outdoorsman and his mysterious disappearance. The familiar structure of the Horror in the High Desert series – another mystery, another chunk of footage that reveals more pieces of the puzzle – is still here. Still, this time, Marich and company get to build the question of legacy into the larger narrative. Unlike the other protagonists in this series, who were visitors to the area, Dolly’s family is embedded in the High Desert. It’s a generational thing, not just about their land, but about the creeping fear that’s tormented them for decades. There’s something deeply satisfying about that, and in exploring this angle, Marich can ask what it means to carry a legacy of darkness while still taking pride in your home, your history, and your loved ones. It’s perhaps the most emotionally rich installment of this franchise so far, and it hinges on a phenomenal, haunted performance from Bass.
Horror in the High Desert 4: Majesty is proof that this franchise not only still has plenty to say, but plenty to explore even within its tried-and-true format. This film is creepy, well-paced, and deeply compelling. It sets the stage for even greater mysteries to come. It’s everything you could want from a Dutch Marich movie.
Horror in the High Desert 4: Majesty is now available on VOD via Amazon and Apple TV.
Summary
Horror in the High Desert 4: Majesty is creepy, deeply effective, and sets the stage for even greater mysteries yet to come. It’s everything you could want from a Dutch Marich movie.
Categorized: Reviews