IR Film Review: STRANGE HARVEST [Saban/Roadside Attractions]
The aspect of a mockumentary is an interesting beast because it doesn't constitute comedy...it is actually more of its own style which tends to constitute a misnomer. "Strange Harvest: Occult Murders In The Island Empire" takes itself quite serious and tries to dot all the is. Like "The Killer" where Michael Fassbender meticulously used storage units, different houses and such, this film shows the progression in documentary style over a 20 year period. It is definitely engrossing. It is also nice to see this film being shown in a major theater which because, at most points, it would be just a link or streamed. But there is something to even seeing this style in a theater. Like "The Blair Witch Project" before it and in a different way, it tries to make the details and the found footage (in this case a lot of police body cam) looks very authentic and real. Even the main investigators come off well. One of them almost seems like one seen in an actual documentary Hulu did on the Wonderland Murders less than a year ago.
The approach does tend to show it is just a matter of perspective of what people believe or not. This reviewer had heard it was a faux fiction documentary but one always looks for the cracks...and with digital imagery available to independent filmmakers it depends how far one can push it. This is the crux of even considering using AI because with the use of older technologies that were shown here, it is hard to blur the lines. The only tell-tale signs was that the local news clips were from stations that didn't exist from the mid 90s on. But only if one had lived in Southern California could one be aware of it. As the story of how this specific serial killer grows and the investigators start bridging certain ideas (especially having to do with the organ harvesting), the mythology begins to take more shape as well as a period of time when the suspect himself goes missing. The final part of the film is what ups the ante and integrates something "beyond". The way it sells it and rachets the tension as the police are closing in is palpable. Again this genre is all its own and actually takes a lot more detail to work on the audience than a normal narrative film which is part of the genius of doing it like this. It is less about style though that figures into it but it is about how to arrange the puzzle. "Strange Harvest" tries something not necessarily new but understands the necessity in keeping the tone specific in terms of sticking the landing. B+
By Tim Wassberg
