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Official Trailer

Deep in the Mojave Desert: a missing hiker, a mysterious town, and a legend written in blood.

Genre
Horror
Director
Ed Brown
Release
Q2 2027
0:00 / 0:00

Behind the cut

A missing woman. A cold trail. Something waiting.

It is 2026. A young woman has vanished on the Pacific Crest Trail and the investigation has gone cold. Out in the Mojave, a loner the locals call "M" decides that life is meaningless — and lets go of his humanity. One by one, hikers and the residents of Hikertown begin to disappear. No spoilers. The rest is in the film.

Read the full story →
The shape of it — no spoilers
  1. 2026

    A young woman is reported missing.

  2. The Missing Woman

    Her trail goes cold within days.

  3. The Investigation

    A search leads off the map.

  4. The Hikers

    Strangers share the same hard stretch of trail.

  5. Hikertown

    A rest stop at the edge of the Mojave.

  6. "M"

    A man lets go of his humanity.

  7. Final Confrontation

    What was once lost is found.

From the film

Frames along the trail

Six places the trailer passes through — and where the film will hold much longer.

A weathered Pacific Crest Trail marker on the Mojave stretch of the route
The TrailTwenty miles a day. The same sun. The same silence.
Joshua trees scattered across the open Mojave desert
The DesertOut here, the map runs out long before the danger does.
The Hikertown hotel and sheriff storefronts under a hard desert sky
The HotelA place to rest, at the edge of everything.
The Outlaws Cafe sign and an old wagon outside the roadside cafe
The CafeThe last warm light before the dark.
The moon and stars in a violet sky over Hikertown at nightfall
The NightThe desert changes after the sun goes down.
The empty Hikertown grounds falling quiet at dusk
SilenceThen, one by one, the voices stop.

The Tone

The gritty heyday of small-budget horror.

Reminiscent of 1970s and 1980s horror, HIKERTOWN carries the tropes and dread of a bygone era: isolation, desperation and desolation built into every single frame.

In the tradition of
  • The Hills Have Eyes1977
  • The Texas Chain Saw Massacre1974
  • Atmosphere
  • Isolation
  • Desperation
  • Silence

The production

Everything on the record

How the film is being made, the filmmaker behind it, and where to go next.

Shoot
15-20 days
Locations
Topanga, Malibu, Santa Monica Mountains & Lancaster, CA
Cast
26 speaking, 15 extras
Budget
$750,000
Release
Q2 2027