Strange Harvest

Press & Media Kit

About the Film

A routine welfare check in the San Bernardino suburbs leads to a gruesome discovery — a family of three has been bound, bled and posed below a strange symbol written in blood on the ceiling. Detective Joe Kirby and Lexi Taylor recognize the symbol as the calling card of a killer from 15 years earlier who has seemingly returned to continue his murder spree.

It's not long before "Mr. Shiny" begins leaving horrifying new crime scenes in his wake; one victim is trapped in a swimming pool with live leeches while another is ritualistically flayed and displayed in a public park.

It soon becomes evident the case is anything but routine and that the murders, and their perpetrator, may be part of some sinister, otherworldly agenda involving cosmic phenomena and evil forces from beyond.

Release Year 2024

Runtime 134 minutes

Rating R

Genre True Crime / Horror / Found Footage

Director & Writer

Stuart Ortiz - Known for his innovative approach to found footage horror and true crime aesthetics.

Lead Cast

Peter Zizzo as Detective Joe Kirby

Terri Apple as Detective Lexi Taylor

Critical Acclaim

"Ignore the film's marketing, which seems intent on positioning it as a run-of-the-mill masked maniac movie; this is a fascinating and neatly realised horror riff on the 2020s' most popular genre."

— The Guardian / Catherine Bray

"Ortiz pushes the subgenre forward with a heady and unsettling immersion into the realm of true crime with a distinct horror twist."

— Bloody Disgusting / Meagan Navarro

"Stuart Ortiz crafts a phenomenal, disturbing, and creepy pseudo-documentary with 'Strange Harvest: Occult Murder In The Inland Empire'."

— Dread Central / Mary Beth McAndrews

"Ortiz's bone-chilling effort is easily the found footage horror standout of 2025"

— Daily Dead / Rocco T. Thompson

"Strange Harvest is a brutal, well-crafted descent into depravity that walks a tightrope between realism and horror fantasy."

— Film Threat / Tom Atkinson