Gary Hinge was an outdoor and survivalist enthusiast who loved building model trains. He was also very intelligent and a bit of a thrill seeker. He would go on survivalist trips with a bare minimum of supplies.
Horror in the High Desert is a pseudo-documentary film that follows the disappearance of Gary Hinge in Nevada’s high desert. The movie mixes made-up talking heads and the found footage narrative technique to create an eerie atmosphere.
What Happened to Gary Hinge?
When Gary Hinge disappeared in the Nevada desert, police were quick to start searching. They used GPS to pinpoint the area where Gary had last called in from his cellphone, and they sent people out on foot, helicopters, and drones. The search lasted several days, but Gary was never found.
Hinge had a large online following, and many of his followers were intrigued by the mystery surrounding his disappearance. Some even speculated that he had been captured by aliens, and that the cryptic messages he left behind in his journals were some kind of message from beyond the grave.
However, Hinge’s family and friends were skeptical of his claims that aliens had kidnapped him. They knew that he was an experienced hiker, and they believed that something else must be at play.
The movie starts off as a faux-documentary, complete with all the tics that are associated with this style of filmmaking (breathless statements and over-dramatic build-ups). Eventually, the talking heads give way to retrieved footage from Gary’s camera, which reveals a shocking truth.
Gary was hiking in the Great Basin Desert when he disappeared. He had a goal in mind, which was to visit a cabin that he had spotted on a previous trip. While he was there, he recorded a video in which he describes his experience. He mentions that the place smelled like smoke and that he felt as though he was being watched by someone.
After Gary’s disappearance, his roommate and sister notified the police. They also posted about his disappearance on a hiking content website. The story quickly went viral, and it was compared to the 2014 disappearance of YouTuber Kenny Veach. Veach, who went by the name snakebitmgee, was also an avid hiker and outdoor enthusiast. Similar to Hinge, Veach was pressured by his devoted audience to return to the location of his puzzling find and prove that he was telling the truth.
Horror in the High Desert was released in 2021, just a year after the Covid-19 pandemic forced people to stay home. The film takes advantage of this eerie timing to create a suspenseful story about the mysterious disappearance of an experienced outdoorsman.
Was Gary Hinge Ever Found?
Despite the police closing their case against Gary Hinge, fans of his YouTube videos were still invested in figuring out what happened to him. This is what led to the production of Horror in the High Desert, a pseudo-documentary film that uses recovered footage in a tense found-footage style. The film takes place in Nevada, a state with a sinister reputation for conspiracies and supernatural forces. It also has a creepy history of disappearances and deaths, and the film uses these elements to create an unsettling story.
The film starts out with an interview with the people closest to Gary, including his roommate Simon and sister Beverly. It then switches to a series of video recordings, beginning with one that Gary made at night. In it, he mentions that he is close to the mysterious cabin and can smell burning, just like he did last time. He also mentions that he has discovered various indications of the location, such as Native American artifacts and closed mine tunnels.
Next, Gary makes a series of further videos that are recorded in infrared light. In these, he sounds extremely scared and says that he is getting closer to the cabin. He then begins to hear chanting in the background, which makes him more terrified. He then records a final video that is not in infrared light, and it ends with him saying that he is close to the cabin and can smell burning, just like a previous trip.
After Gary’s disappearance, a number of search parties were organized to look for him in the Nevada desert. They searched on foot, by helicopter, and with the help of volunteers. However, they were never able to find any sign of him. Eventually, his truck was found with a severed hand inside. Despite this, the police decided to close the case, believing that it was simply an accident.
While the story of Gary Hinge may seem far-fetched, it is actually based on the true story of a hiker named Kenny Veach. Veach disappeared after making a YouTube vlog in which he claimed to have discovered a mysterious cave that gave him a feeling of impending doom. Unlike Gary, Veach did not have thousands of followers, but his vlogs were popular enough that his disappearance prompted searches by both the local and state police and volunteer groups.
‘Horror in the High Desert’ Ending Explained
The mysterious disappearance of a hiker in Nevada’s High Desert inspired Dutch Marich’s 2021 horror film “Horror in the High Desert.” Though responses to the faux-documentary were mixed, most viewers agree that its final stretch perfectly conveys the sense of unease associated with found footage films. The movie begins with a series of made-up talking heads and gorgeous desert landscape shots before finally showing the recovered footage of Gary Hinge’s fatal hike.
The video opens with black-and-white footage of clouds moving over the Nevada desert, followed by skeletonized animals and a rattlesnake nest. Shaky camera work and eerie background sounds create a sense of unease and dread that keeps the audience glued to their screens. But what really draws the audience in is the fact that we never actually see Gary Hinge. Only his mutilated camera clutching hand is shown, leaving the audience to wonder what happened to him.
While the film was produced during the Covid-19 pandemic, its pseudo-documentary style reflects the isolation that many people felt during the quarantine. This is mirrored by the fact that two characters are never on screen at the same time and interviews are conducted via Zoom sessions. Additionally, the film makes no attempt to hide its use of drone footage and fake found footage throughout the film.
Marich’s use of found footage in the film is a smart choice. It allows the viewer to feel like they are experiencing the situation along with Gary, adding a level of realism that is missing from most modern found footage films. The film also uses blurry and burnt infrared footage to add a sense of dread. This gives the film a unique look that is reminiscent of classics such as The Blair Witch Project and enables the audience to feel as if they are looking into Gary’s eyes.
In the end, it is revealed that Gary was killed by a deformed monstrous stranger. The scene ends with the killer severing Gary’s arm, which evokes feelings of horror and terror. This climax is what truly sets this film apart from other similar found footage horror movies, and it is what makes this a must-see film.
Final Words
The disappearance of Gary Hinge sparked a lot of speculation from his followers. Some theorized that the hiker was murdered by a disfigured monster while others suggested that he was abducted by aliens. Gary was a thrill seeker who also enjoyed building model trains. He regularly documented his adventures in video blogs. He was an experienced backpacker and had many tips to share. He had amassed a following of over 50,000 people. While his family and friends did not know that he had this number of followers, some of them think that the missing hiker may be linked to his publications.
In one of his videos, he described a cabin in the desert that he found while hiking alone. The place looked extremely menacing, with a rocky ground and total darkness beyond a few feet. When he arrived at the site, he recorded a strange sound that seemed to be coming from the darkness. It sounded like a voice chanting with distortion. After he left, he did not return for a few months. When he did, he was met by a deformed monstrous stranger who brutally killed him.
After this horrific experience, Gary decided to stop revealing the location of the cabin for fear of enticing inexperienced backpackers into dangerous places. He also warned his followers to bring more supplies on their future trips. Gary became an online hero for his bravery, but he was still cyber-bullied by a large number of followers. He was forced to make a final video where he promised not to reveal the location of the cabin. He then disappeared again.
A few weeks after Gary’s disappearance, a private investigator was hired to find the outdoor adventurer. He found a camcorder in the wilderness that appeared to be Gary’s. Despite the efforts of the investigator, there were no leads until an unexpected break in the case was made.
Dutch Marich’s movie takes the core of the popular “found footage” genre and adds some inventive twists to it. While the mockumentary portion of the film is a bit long on incident, it does provide some creepy moments (weird ululating cries in the darkness) and the usual tense verisimilitude of this type of film.
