Strange Harvest (2025) review – Stuart Ortiz delivers a gruesome mockumentary

Welcome to Knockout Horror. Are you a true crime fan? Are you one of those people who absolutely has to know every gruesome detail of every crime? Well, if you are, you are in luck because today we are taking a look at just that with the found footage mockumentary Strange Harvest (2025).

Why Did You Do This Strange Harvest?

Being perfectly honest here, this movie left me with the proverbial horror blue balls. You know that feeling, right? A film tantalises and torments you with the threat of something legitimately fascinating before leaving you sitting there with your pants around your ankles, unsatisfied and a bit ashamed? That’s what Strange Harvest did to me.

“Being perfectly honest here, this movie left me with the proverbial horror blue balls… leaving you sitting there with your pants around your ankles, unsatisfied and a bit ashamed?”

I was hooked, I was captivated, and I was a little bit grossed out! Even the overwhelming desire to shut my eyes and take a nap after a hard day of work and exercise didn’t stop me. This movie was utterly compelling until it left me feeling just a little bit short changed. We’ll get into that in just a minute, though. First, let’s breakdown the plot.

Strange Harvest comes to you from the director of found footage horror hit Grave Encounters – Stuart Ortiz. I’m an unashamed Grave Encounters fan (go and read my review for proof) so I was really excited to check Ortiz’s next project out.

Rather than going with the hybrid found footage and mockumentary-lite approach from Ortiz’s previous hit. Strange Harvest adopts a strict documentary style format following the case of a serial killer called Mr Shiny. Mr Shiny has returned to San Bernadino to claim more victims after a long absence.

This story relates the details of his crimes as well as the hunt to capture him. It’s all told through the medium of interviews with the police officers on the case, relatives of the victims, and archival footage. Think Lake Mungo and the Horror in the High Desert series and you are on the right track.

Definitely one for fans of horror mockumentaries

Not going to lie, mockumentaries are a big time guilty pleasure of mine. I mean, let’s be honest, us 90s kids were raised on them. Documentaries were everywhere. There’s something about the format that makes information so digestible and stories so much more compelling. When done right, a mockumentary can work just as well as the real thing.

I am happy to report that Strange Harvest is a mockumentary done right… for the most part. Whereas, in my opinion, the Horror In The High Desert sequels fall short in feeling overly padded and full of redundant information. Strange Harvest doesn’t have any of that. Everything feels consequential to the story and necessary.

“Nothing feels redundant or wasteful; every scene is deliberately constructed to build on the story… It feels like an actual documentary and that’s a testament to the care the film has been made with.”

From the deliberately awkward shots of interviewees being mic’d up to the archival footage and strong performances. This feels like an actual documentary and that’s a testament to the care the film has been made with.

The blend of interviews, police body-cam footage, photographs from crime scenes, and expert testimony feels absolutely perfect. Nothing feels redundant or wasteful; every scenes is deliberately constructed to build on the story.

Camera work ranges from aged and a bit shaky right through to the genuinely impressive. The b-roll footage is fantastic and some of the city-scape shots are utterly brilliant. The film very deliberately bounces between lo-fi guerrilla style shots to staggeringly great high end cinema stuff.

Strange Harvest feels like the type of documentary you would catch on one of the larger true crime networks and that is exactly what this movie is going for. Of course, it isn’t going to change the minds of anyone who dislikes this format but it is one of the sub-genres better offerings.

It’s a horror made for true crime fans

True crime fans are going to absolutely eat this movie up. It is structured so well, is so believable, and features such a compelling story that it’s hard not to be completely engrossed. The story is very reminiscent of famous serial killers cases and seems to take a little bit of something from a number of the most well known examples. There’s so much for true crime fans to chew on.

As far as the horror elements go, outside of the obvious nasty implications that come along with an indiscriminate murderer who often claims the lives of children as well as adults. Much of the genre stuff arrives in the form of gruesome imagery and a surprising lean into occultism and even cosmic horror.

It’s quite shocking stuff, too. Strange Harvest tips its hat to movies like Saw, Hostel, and even S7ven on numerous occasions. Clearly Ortiz doesn’t believe in taboo as everyone is fair game, here. Photo and video evidence of decayed and abused corpses of all ages play centre stage throughout. With even the odd action scene thrown in for good measure.

While looking occasionally hokey and definitely pushing the realms of absurdity when it comes to just what a documentary would be happy showing. It’s a generous offering to the horror fans who come along expecting gore and violence.

With that being said, for a movie that is utterly compelling for the majority of its length. It feels like much of what makes it so interesting evaporates in the later stages of the film. About halfway through, it becomes very clear that the killer here is, for lack of a better word, very ordinary. He’s just a guy that’s not particularly intimidating or particularly interesting. He’s on a mission, however, and that mission is where all of the story’s mystery lies.

Almost but not quite

As the final act approaches, it’s the occultism and cosmic horror plot points that suddenly seem to hold all the intrigue. You can push the killer to one side and, instead, focus on the killer’s ultimate goal. Unfortunately, however, this is barely expanded on.

“True crime with Lovecraftian cosmic horror and occultism? You are definitely going to divide your audience to some extent.”

There’s a conclusive ending but there is no major elaboration on why the killer was doing this. Only a vague effort made to tie up loose ends and a disappointing feeling of unfulfillment. I wanted to know more.. I needed to know more! Why was he doing this? What happens when he accomplishes his goal?

I can’t shake the feeling that this movie is setting up a sequel but that doesn’t feel like a good reason for ending the film so unsatisfactorily. There is a story here waiting to be told and the fact that we don’t get to hear it is kind of frustrating. Some of the final scenes only further that idea.

This plays into another potential negative with Strange Harvest. Do the disparate parts really gel together all that well? True crime with Lovecraftian cosmic horror and occultism? You are definitely going to divide your audience to some extent.

I didn’t see the movie going in the direction it went in but I enjoyed the pivot. I just wish it managed to see it through in a more satisfying manner. People who are there purely for the true crime, however, will likely feel a distinct sense of thematic whiplash.