Strange Harvest (2024) Review

The pseudo-documentary is a genre that has delivered a handful of the greats of modern horror, such as The Poughkeepsie Tapes and Lake Mungo. These have been somewhat divisive titles, largely owing to the way the format strips movies of the conventional narrative structure. By observing the events from a third-person perspective, some feel the impact of the horror is lost. I am not such a person, but I do think that this format offers a different point of ingress, and that is the illusion of reality. Sure, we might not be in the middle of the terror like the characters are, but we are given an often clandestine-feeling window into a horrific event that is framed as real life, and in the right hands, that can be just as good.

The true crime genre is at an all time high, and viewers consume real documentary films at an incredible rate, so it’s an interesting time for movies like Strange Harvest to exploit this cultural obsession and bridge the gap between documentary and narrative filmmaking. It tells the story of the investigation into a serial killer known as Mr. Shiny, who has periodically murdered people, from whole families to lone children, over the course of almost two decades, and his methods seem ritualistic. The two lead detectives, Kirby (Peter Zizzo) and Taylor (Terri Apple), are the ones to recount the whole story, from beginning to end, while other law enforcement officers, survivors, family members and witnesses fill in the gaps and give the piece its emotional core, continually bringing the action back to the long-term ramifications of the murders.

What works so well about Strange Harvest is that in a world of slickly-produced documentaries, it doesn’t really feel like a movie. It could absolutely pass as a real documentary. The moments where it does feel like having its cake and eating it too could also be forgiven as unwelcome characteristics of the modern true crime documentary, such as overlaying dramatic music to emphasise the horror. Of course, such documentaries tend to be scripted, and the average person is not the best pretender, so it is often obvious that interviewees are not speaking spontaneously, but the lead actors here do a solid job of giving the impression of spontaneity, even in the context of such a setup. What Lake Mungo did so well was casting actors who could make dialogue feel genuine, and Strange Harvest largely pulls this off, too. A bad pseudo-documentary stands out a mile off when the acting isn’t up to standard, but this one works thanks to its cast.

It gets in some shocking and gory moments, with all the gnarly visuals you would hope for, and although its killer and their motives do veer into the supernatural side of things, the movie wisely sticks to the real world. After all, this is meant to be believed as a documentary, and while cops might admit that there was something not quite right, or things that didn’t make sense, it is their job to maintain a grip on reality. Strange Harvest frames the supernatural elements as simply the beliefs of the killer, but not necessarily what others involved actually think happened. This could all just be the ramblings of a madman, and the movie is right to keep it that way.

By the end, some mystical possibilities have arisen, but the story is still presented as a true crime case that was bizarre, but has now reached its conclusion, with all the basic questions answered. The small asides of whether any of this spooky stuff was genuinely happening are just a nice little treat for the audience to ponder. Because of how closely it adheres to the pseudo-documentary format, it makes for an easily-consumable 90 minutes of engrossing crime investigation, with some solid performances, a compelling villain and a reasonable conclusion.

Movie Rating:

Strange Harvest trailer