DELICATE ARCH (2024)

New streaming on Screambox!
Directed/Written by Matthew Warren.
Check out the trailer here!!

A group of “friends” (note the air quotes) head to the California desert for a little R&R. But after secrets are revealed and mind-altering drugs are taken, thing start getting screwy. One of the kids Grant (played by William Leon) is a blossoming filmmaker and spouts movie ideas to the rest of the group. Soon enough, the ideas he comes up with start becoming real and the group realize that they are living in a movie.

The easiest thing to do in California is grab some film equipment and a few friends and decide to go make a movie in the desert. There have been tons of low fi movies lately proving this like HORROR IN THE HIGH DESERT series, and THE OUTWATERS. The scenery is surreal, moody and seemingly untouched by man. The perfect setting for a horror film. The thing is, you have to have ideas to match that setting or it’s just going to be kids in the desert with cameras. Thankfully, DELICATE ARCH has a compelling concept, a talented cast, and a somewhat clever, yet meta script going for it.

The cast does a great job of making things interesting the whole way through DELICATE ARCH. There really is no real reason these friends should be hanging together. Apparently, they are longtime friends who have become somewhat estranged from one another. Grant used to date Wilda (played by Kelley Mack). Wilda might be in a new relationship. Grant and Cody (played by Kevin Bohleber) are antagonistic towards one another but he whole time. And stoner Ferg (played by Rene Leech) just wants everyone to get along. Not only do the actors keep the plot rolling, they play off of stereotypes you see in most horror movies. There is always a stoner, but here, Leech makes Ferg much more three dimensional and integral in keeping the group together. Out of all of the fighting so-called friends, Ferg by far, is the most likable and my favorite of the bunch. The final girl-esque Wilda turns out to be not so virtuous. The smartass Cody is indeed an asshole, but there are reasons for this. Each character feels like an important column keeping the story aloft, supported and moving. This type of advanced characterization is rarely found in films like this.

Yes, things get meta. And usually, I find that to be annoying. There is a bit of pretension present. The conversation in the car about how each represent the stereotypical slasher characters is a little too on the nose and could have been communicated in a smoother way. But the movie within a movie angle works really well. I like how each of these people are living their own nightmare of their own design. While the budget here is pretty low, a lot is achieved with forced and limited perspectives and quick cuts. There is a creepy alien thing that shows up and some zombies scattered about, but for the most part, it’s the desert around them that is the main character and provides the most atmosphere.

Like THE OUTWATERS, DELICATE ARCH utilizes the lonely desert atmosphere well. Unlike THE OUTWATERS, DELICATE ARCH has a cohesive story and by the end, there’s a whiff of an idea as to what the hell is going on. While THE OUTWATERS went for the mood of the analog trend, at least I could understand a sense of story in DELICATE ARCH, which to me, makes this film scores more likable and rewatchable. That said, things are kept relatively vague as to the cause of it all, instead simply diving into meta-textual stuff of the film becoming a movie within a movie. I’m starting to confuse myself, so I’m going to end this review, but if you don’t mind a heavy dose of meta and some nightmarish desert atmosphere, DELICATE ARCH is the desert meta-movie for you. I guess.