Intensity: 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Written/Directed by Phil Guidry, Simon Herbert, David Whelan
All 57 inhabitants of a tiny town on the Mexico/Arizona border are murdered in a single night. According to the local sheriff’s department, it was the barbaric work of a lone drifter. But is the truth even stranger? This documentary dives in to shed some light on the mystery.
Savageland: The Players
- Noe Montes [Sin Hijos (2015)]: Francisco Salazar, undocumented Mexican immigrant and lone survivor of the Sangre De Cristo massacre.
- George Lionel Savage: Sheriff John Parano, Sheriff of the neighboring town of Hinzman and lead investigator in the Sangre De Cristo murders.
- Len Wein [X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)]: Len Matheson, professional photojournalist.
- Edward L. Green [Tales of Frankenstein (2018)]: Gus Greer, local radio host in Hinzman and vocal advocate of the “lone killer” theory for the murders.
Savageland: The Breakdown
Synopsis
Over the course of a single night, 57 inhabitants of a small town on the US/Mexico border, Sangre De Cristo, were mysteriously killed in brutal fashion. Not all of the victims’ bodies were recovered. The sole survivor of the massacre, Francisco Salazar, came away with 36 black & white photographs of the events from that night.
Law enforcement officials from the nearby town of Hinzman in charge of the investigation were quick to dismiss the photos as fake. Savageland puts these photos on display and takes an in-depth look at the Sangre De Cristo tragedy. Was justice served with the conviction and execution of Francisco Salazar? Or was there something more sinister being overlooked by the powers that be?
Production
Savageland is presented in one of my favorite horror sub-genres, the shockumentary! A pseudo-documentary style that blurs the line between fiction and reality. Did it really happen or is this just a movie? Savageland will have you wondering that right up until the end.
Production quality matches that of an actual investigative documentary. Picture quality runs the gamut from professional reenactments to snippets of news footage to candid interviews on the street. All these textures mesh together and work brilliantly to obscure the line between what’s real and what’s not.
As a documentary, Savageland doesn’t go in for the in-your-face gore effects. There is some gruesome footage, but nothing worse than what you’d see in a forensics-themed TV show. In that respect as well Savageland holds true to its ‘true crime’ soul.
Specifically, the use of analog black and white photography as the official record of events was an inspired choice by the filmmakers. Refreshingly, it’s not the “I got a new video camera so now I film everything” excuse or the “investigators were sent this damaged memory card” ploy. Savageland is found footage, but the footage is photographic, not video.
Cast and Story
As in any mildly low-budget documentary, some of the interviews in Savageland are better than others. For the most part, though, acting is solid. Some of the best material comes from Len Wein playing “Len Matheson, professional photojournalist”. His performance feels very natural and sounds just like one of the experts you’d expect to see in a crime doc like this.
Editing in Saveageland is well done; blending the various sources together in a way that fits the narrative and draws the viewer along. Not to mention building up a healthy dose of dread and intrigue.
Savageland loses its edge story-wise right at the very end as it aims for a larger “The End??” type of ending, but everything that leads up to that point is so good I can’t fault it too much.
Summary
Savageland is a prime example of documentary-style horror that deftly weaves truth and fiction together. If you’re a fan of true crime shows, haunting mysteries, or you just want to see the co-creator of Marvel’s Wolverine and Storm (Len Wein) in a movie, Savageland is the one for you.
Review by Robert Zilbauer.