Usually an independent film like Stuart Ortiz’s Strange Harvest: Occult Murder in the Inland Empire tours the film festival circuit where it can either get a new life as a theatrical release or get purchased by streaming app. As of this writing Strange Harvest hasn’t done either which is troublesome when you think about the talent behind it.
Stuart Ortiz is one half of the directing/writing duo The Vicious Brothers. The other half is Colin Minihan. These two are the men behind the excellent mockumentary Grave Encounters (2011) and Grave Encounters 2 (2012). Fans have been eagerly awaiting a third chapter to that series and one was even announced in 2015 but was cancelled for reasons that are still unclear.
Fast-forward to 2024 and Ortiz, now solo, premiered Strange Harvest at Fantastic Fest in September. “Strange Harvest is a documentary-style horror film about the investigation of a prolific serial killer who’s been murdering people for about twenty years in the Inland Empire region of Southern California. It focuses on the detectives’ pursuit of the killer and their attempts to stop him,” Ortiz told iHorror just before the festival.
We thought we would have a distribution deal by now because the film was so well received. It currently holds a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. “Ortiz pushes the subgenre forward with a heady and unsettling immersion into the realm of true crime with a distinct horror twist,” wrote Bloody Disgusting’s reviewer Meagan Navarro.
Collider’s critic Matt Donato gave an equally glowing review: “Ortiz pays meticulous attention to the documentary’s composition, which results in believable interview subjects and tight editing techniques. It’s organic, unnerving, and proficiently grounded as a modern criminal nightmare.”
But that’s it. There hasn’t been any more information about the film or where others can see it or when it will make it to the general public. Looking at Ortiz’s social media pages doesn’t offer any clues neither does his website.
We think that companies like, Neon, A24 or RLJE would be good fits. As far as streaming this film would do well on Mubi or Shutter.
We at iHorror appreciate Ortiz’s work whether he is with Minihan or not. We have reached out to him via email to get the scoop on when and where we can all watch Strange Harvest: Occult Murder in the Inland Empire. We will keep you updated once we hear back.
In the meantime, revisit the Vicious Brothers’ Grave Encounters movie or watch Extraterrestrial for the first time. According to IMDb, Ortiz is currently working on a film called Haunted Temple.