In the last video Gary posted, he said he was close to a cabin and could smell smoke. His followers were excited to know he was going back, but when he didn’t show up they became increasingly worried. Horror in the High Desert is a pseudo-documentary that investigates the disappearance of amateur hiker/survivalist Gary Hinge. The movie uses recovered footage in a faux documentary format and Nevada’s sinister reputation for conspiracies to create the perfect atmosphere for some incredibly unsettling storytelling.

What Happened To Gary Hinge?

After gaining thousands of followers online, Gary Hinge, who goes by the pseudonym Scorpion Sam, vanished while on a solo hike in the White Pine County desert. He was reported missing by his sister Beverly after he failed to return home two days past his estimated time of arrival. Police found his truck but could not find him, and eventually called off the search due to the season’s high heat and the area’s wildlife and abandoned mines. However, Gal Roberts of a local news channel campaigned to have the case covered frequently so that it would not fade from public awareness. Beverly hired private detective William “Bill” Salerno to ensure that the case was not forgotten.

Soon after, a group of campers discovered Hinge’s backpack and found his severed hand still holding the camcorder it was attached to. Although no fingerprints on the camera matched Gary’s, his fans speculated that aliens, witches, and ghosts attacked him. A burning smell also accompanied the discovery, prompting people to suspect that he was eaten. Although director Dutch Marich did not explicitly state that the film was inspired by the 2014 disappearance of another YouTuber who specialized in hiking content, Kenny Veach, known online as snakebitmgee, the parallels are uncanny to be dismissed. Veach, like Hinge, was pressured by his followers to revisit a puzzling finding in the desert and prove that he was telling the truth. Unlike Hinge, Veach’s disappearance did not involve any supernatural phenomena but did feature a mysterious cave that some feared contained confidential military secrets or even Area 51.

The indie horror movie blends made-up talking heads, stunning landscape shots, and the found footage narrative style popularized by The Blair Witch Project to elicit an uncontrollable sense of anticipation among viewers. Its use of long stretches of intimidating desert is particularly effective in fostering the feeling of helplessness that is so vital for creating an atmosphere of dread. Despite some minor production flaws and incongruous interviewees, Horror in the High Desert is a genuinely eerie and unsettling story.

Was Gary Hinge Ever Found?

After the case against Gary Hinge was dropped, many people remained invested in finding out what happened to him. This was especially true for Gal Roberts, a journalist who feared that the case would go cold and be forgotten. She campaigned for private investigator Bill Salerno to be hired so that the investigation could continue. Gary was a hiker and survivalist who often traveled into the desert on survival quests for days at a time. He would document these expeditions on his website and blog. One of these trips ended badly when he claimed that a deformed monstrous stranger attacked him, causing him to flee the area. Gary never returned to that location after that incident and his whereabouts remain unknown.

When the police searched his truck, they found several fingerprints but none that matched Gary’s. Additionally, there was a set of barefoot footprints near the truck that did not belong to him. Despite these clues, the police decided to close the investigation. Bill Salerno was tasked with examining Gary’s social media accounts in an attempt to find more information about the case. As the film progressed, it became apparent that Gary was not just a lost hiker. It was revealed that he had a following on YouTube and was a well-known survivalist in the community. His disappearance caused a stir among these online followers and they demanded that he return to the desert to give them proof of his story.

In the end, it was discovered that Gary had a cleanly severed hand that was discovered by campers in the desert. His body was never found, but the cleanly severed hand is the most solid piece of evidence available about what happened to him. Those who followed him online speculated about aliens, witches, or ghosts attacking him. While Marich did not explicitly state that Horror in the High Desert was inspired by the real-life disappearance of hiker Kenny Veach, the similarities between the two cases are uncanny. Like Gary Hinge, Veach was an active member of hiking content communities who was pressured by his followers to revisit a mysterious cave where he had previously claimed that he found a shack that contained secret military information. He disappeared shortly after visiting the cave.

Was Gary Hinge A Cannibal?

Director Dutch Marich (Reaptown) delivers an eerily realistic, found-footage shocker about a popular outdoor adventure blogger who disappears under mysterious circumstances. Gary Hinge was a man who loved to explore remote locations and share his discoveries with his loyal online audience. However, Gary wasn’t a normal person and he was prone to taking risks that could lead to his demise. The film starts off with a series of interviews with Gary’s friends, family members, and co-workers. They all talk about how much they miss him and what a hard worker he was in his professional life. In fact, his boss even went as far as to offer him a promotion because of his commitment and dedication.

Later on in the movie, we see video footage of Gary walking to a deserted cabin. He explains that he feels like someone is watching him. He also mentions that he can smell smoke and that it gives him the chills. He decides to explore the cabin further. As he makes his way closer to the cabin, Gary becomes increasingly frightened. He even begins to hear chanting in the distance. When he gets closer, he is attacked by a deformed monster who sever’s his arm. It is implied that this disfigured creature may be a cannibal because of the way it violently kills Gary.

While the film doesn’t directly state that it is based on the real-life disappearance of hiker Kenny Veach in 2014, the parallels are too uncanny to ignore. Like Gary, Veach was an outdoors enthusiast and active member of hiking content communities. He was also pressured by his followers to return to the location of a puzzling discovery to prove that he wasn’t lying. Horror in the High Desert is a great example of a mockumentary that succeeds at being both funny and scary. The use of shaky camera, music that sounds like it’s being played backwards, and the ominous lighting of the final scenes all work together to create an edge-of-your-seat horror experience. While the film isn’t perfect, it is a solid thriller that will make you think twice before exploring wild spaces again.

Was Gary Hinge A Ghost?

Three years ago outdoors and survival expert Gary Hinge went missing in the Nevada desert. Despite a massive months-long police search, no sign of him has ever been found. The film, written and directed by Dutch Marich, utilizes a combination of talking heads, drone footage, fictional found footage, and a YouTube vlog to tell the story of Hinge’s disappearance.

Gary was an introverted person who kept to himself and enjoyed going into the backcountry for survival quests. He would document his adventures on a YouTube video log and had thousands of followers that believed him to be the real deal. On one of his previous expeditions, he claimed to have encountered a cabin that gave him a sense of impending doom and dread. This claim caused him to be cyber-bullied by his viewers. Visibly traumatized by the incident, he made and published a final video, stating that he would not reveal the location of the cabin for fear of encouraging inexperienced people to venture into such remote areas. He also vowed to return to the area with his camera and a gun for protection.

The truck that Gary was driving was eventually discovered by a couple camping in White Pine County. The backpack they found at the site contained Gary’s identification and a severed hand that was still holding his video camera. Forensic analysis showed that the hand had been severed while Gary was alive and within a few weeks of his disappearance.

Conclusion

After this discovery, the investigation began to focus on clues that could be gathered from the truck, which was now considered a crime scene. Many fingerprints were found all over the vehicle, but none of them matched Gary’s. In addition, a trail of barefoot footprints was found in the vicinity of the truck. The fingerprints and footprints did not match anyone on file, so the police were left with a dead end.

Bill Salerno, a private detective, was hired by Gary’s sister to investigate the case. His research led him to discover that the video that Gary made was not his original, but a copy of it that had been altered and edited by someone who was jealous of his success. He also uncovered that the woman who was Gary’s girlfriend had not been speaking to him since he disappeared, which is a major red flag.