Strange Harvest

Director: Stuart OrtizUSA 202594 min.FSK 18 (unrated)

Ostentor CinemaFri, April 17, 20266:00German premiere

AndreasstadelMon, Apr 20, 20268:30 PM

That is what it is about

After disappearing from the scene for 15 years, a sadistic serial killer is back with renewed vigor, intent on decimating the population of San Bernardino. He calls himself "Mr. Shiny," and his crimes are not only becoming increasingly brutal, but he also clearly has an occult motive. He wants to sacrifice 13 people in agony, then the apocalypse will come upon us, he tells the police mockingly. They desperately try to decipher his bizarre messages in time...

What you should know

Interviews with investigators, witnesses, and friends of the victims, recorded emergency calls, video footage from various sources, all elegantly staged and dynamically edited: STRANGE HARVEST presents itself as a high-quality true crime documentary, as we know them all too well from Netflix—but so explicit and disturbing that it would never be shown there. It lulls us into a false sense of security with its familiar format, until it pushes us over the threshold into a nightmare.

Original title: Strange Harvest

Rights holder: Indeed Film

Language: English

Cast: Peter Zizzo, Terri Apple, Andy Lauer

Film festivals: Fantastic Fest, GrimmFest

Direction

Stuart Ortiz became known as one of the two "Vicious Brothers" with GRAVE ENCOUNTERS, which remains one of the best found footage films ever made. As the writer of EXTRATERRESTRIAL and IT STAINS THE SANDS RED, he explored other typical genre tropes, and now he combines occult horror and serial killer thriller into a mockumentary of a completely new kind. Successful: "92% fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes and the award for best film at the 2024 New York City Horror Film Festival speak for themselves.