When exactly was it that the true crime genre really took off, huh? Documentaries like Paradise Lost and The Thin Blue Line have existed for decades, but it seems within the last recent decade our darkest interests have piqued and popularized it ad naseum. While not quite mockumentary, Strange Harvest: Occult Murder in Inland Empire finds way to tell an intricately fabricated, documentary-style true crime narrative in an interesting and engaging way. Strange Harvest follows detectives Joe Kirby (Peter Zizzo) and Lexi Taylor (Terri Apple) in pursuit of occultist serial killer, Mr. Shiny (no spoilers!). Crafted entirely with impressively shot news reels and crime scene footage, it took this guy (me) a second to realize it wasn't a real life true crime doc. Strange Harvest premieres at revered genre festival Fantastic Fest September 22, so it'll be awhile before it will be available to the public. However, if you're in Austin, TX check it out! If not, enjoy this interview with writer-director Stuart Ortiz in the mean time to et your fictional true crime fix. Editor's note: the following quotes from Stuart Ortiz are edited for length and clarity.Making a (Fictional) Murderer"I constructed [the mythology] myself. I knew going into it that I was going to need a mythology, and it was important to me to get all the world building aspects. So I worked out a whole mythology with internal logic of the movie that made sense for the killer's (Mr. Shiny) mind. Mr. Shiny is a Frankenstein monster...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Yesterday