Love & Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere (2014) Online

The only other reviewer of this documentary has already covered very effectively the major points it covers so, there is no need for me to do so too. Instead I'll say that this documentary is exceptionally well-made and throughout its full 102 minutes there is not a moment which leaves the viewer thinking anything other than how fascinating it is.

In effect, it reports a story which is both common place - 'Man disappears without trace'; and quite extraordinary - 'Man found burned to death and tied to a tree 3 months after disappearance'. In its pursuit to discover just what happened, we meet many fascinating local characters; all of whom seem to be burdened with some affliction or another which keeps them - no, chains them - to the wind swept wilds of Chadron, Nebraska. I was reminded of David Lynch's 'Twin Peaks' and all the small town intrigues, jealousies and malice that story covered in the realm of fiction. Only here, in this documentary, it's fact. The ex-LAPD Officer turned Forensics professor who wanted to be Sheriff but lost out bitterly to the incumbent. The immigrant wife who feels disconnected from the community around her. The barkeep whose attempts at existential philosophy are interspersed with 'F***ing' every third word. The pretty stay-at-home Mom who openly tells us how long she's been on her antidepressants. In the realm of fiction, they would appear fictional. In the realm of fact, they are fascinating.

I recommend this to you. It's one of the best documentaries I have seen in a very long time. There's no-one in a foil hat. No-one who claims the aliens are coming. No-one whose stocked up on arms for when the zombie apocalypse comes. These are work-a-day folks with work-a-day lives and, quite simply, each one is mesmerizing throughout as they give us their contribution to a deeply sad and unusual story.

This is a simple but fascinating, often darkly humorous, look at a small town mystery, and the reaction of its inhabitants, based on the book of the same name by Poe Ballantine.

The background story: Steven Haataja, a brilliant theoretical mathematician, takes a position as math professor at a small state college in Chadron, Nebraska. He seems to have settled in and been accepted by the locals. Three months later, just before the end of the semester, he suddenly disappears. No explanation can be found. Some time later, his dead body is found under bizarre circumstances. The police are unable to come to a conclusion about his death or identify a likely suspect if he was, in fact, murdered. The resulting information vacuum is filled by suspicion and rampant, sometimes strange, speculation by the people of Chadron.

This is the situation that David Jarrett explores in his documentary. But instead of limiting himself to the contradictory forensic evidence relating directly to Professor Haataja's death, he focuses on the town itself. Interviewing author Poe Ballantine, the local sheriff, Haataja's fellow professors, and various town residents, he provides an overview of a quaint, conservative, friendly town, outwardly conventional but with unknown qualities lurking under the surface. The only editorializing comes indirectly, through the careful arrangement and juxtaposition of the interview statements and other footage, but the technique works extremely well.

Jarrett lets the residents tell the story, but includes information from other sources which adds a great deal to our picture of Chadron. For example, he narrates town images with readings from the sheriff's record of emergency calls. Accounts of, for instance, a request for help with a werewolf at the roadside, followed up by a call to cancel police assistance because the werewolf had morphed back into human form, sends the message that Chadron may not be as ordinary as it appears.

One thing that makes this film intriguing is that the collection of ordinary, benign, small town people present so many possible suspects and possible motives - unlikely in every case, but always just barely possible.

Read the Wikipedia page or Murderpedia page unless you to watch the bio of this unknown author. I love true crime documentary story's this was not that this is one mans love story to himself .

This is one of the most complete wastes of time I have ever watched from beginning to end, hoping against hope that there would be SOME revelation, SOME insight, SOME shred of discovery to be found here. Forget it — you get absolutely nothing for your 4 bucks and two hours. You know as much about the documentary's central mystery three minutes into the film as you do at the end. Which is not much. What you get in place of insights and illumination is two hours of bloviating, mostly by a relatively unknown writer suspiciously named Ballantine Poe, who takes himself, his feelings, and his casual pronouncements WAY too seriously. It is like spending a couple of hours in the company of a crashing bore who you just can't shake. I will say that there are a couple of goofy characters in the film who add a few subdued chuckles. The only other reason to see this film is if you have ever had the urge to visit Nebraska. You will quickly find a cure for that here. For the quirky but way overlong portraits of local characters, and for providing a definitive answer to the question of whether or not I need to ever visit Nebraska, I am giving this steaming pile of BS one extra star for a grand total of two. You've been warned.