Film Review: THE FOURTH KIND
By Allison at November 6, 2009 | 3:23 pm | Print
by Allison, posted 11.06.09
3 / 5 stars
Had your fill of scary movies and Halloween candy? Yeah, you’re not done. With the movies at least. The surprisingly creepy alien-abduction film The Fourth Kind opens today. And let me tell you: After watching it (and despite knowing better), I slept with the lights on.
The Fourth Kind opens by telling us it is inspired by true events, namely the mysterious disappearance of an inordinate amount of people over the past 50 years from Nome, Alaska. The film often goes to split-screen, showing what they claim is real footage of hypnosis sessions conducted by Dr. Abigail Tyler, side-by-side with dramatized footage starring Milla Jovovich as Abigail (aka “Abbey”). Surprisingly, the splits and audio overlays work really well — challenging the viewer where to focus but never becoming frustrating.
The Fourth Kind moves the audience along from discovering eerie similarities among Abbey’s patients’ dreams to witnessing an unbelievably violent act, jolting them into realizing this film’s not just out for a few fun scares. The use of both real and dramatized footage allows the pace to be slow and deliberate, making every pause creepy. We wait while someone turns on the camera… wait while people get settled… wait for something to happen. All the waiting makes it nerve-wrackingly suspenseful and when something does happen, it still catches us off guard despite having waited for it.
As a viewer, you question whether what you are seeing and hearing is real. And while you do, the “based on true events” statement remains in the back of your mind, haunting you about the possibilities.
Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil, The Fifth Element) does a great job. Initially, she comes off as bored during the film’s “talk directly to the audience” intro (which seemed like a bad idea all around). But throughout the movie, she pulls you in. You are easily transfixed by her mouth as she tells her story, calmly hypnotizes her patients, and then screams for her life.
The film’s flaws come from director Olatunde Osunsanmi’s choices. With such a good concept, there is little he has to do to make the film work, yet he adds certain moments that take away from the film’s strength. Like a lingering shot of an owl, lasting so long it becomes absurd. And using himself to interview the real Abigail Tyler. What I can only assume was his attempt at objectivity translates as him being a prick. While I appreciate him not going for cheap scares, Osunsanmi still needs to learn that sometimes less is more.
SPOILER ALERT: If you want to be scared by this film, read no further. That’s right. Shut off your computer and head on out to buy a ticket. Seriously. I know what’s in your best interest. You can thank me later.
Now, for the rest of you who can’t stop reading for your own good:
I mentioned that despite knowing better, I was still scared to sleep in the dark (hell, I was scared to sleep at all). “Knowing better” is knowing that the “actual” footage and the existence of Dr. Abigail Tyler are hoaxes. There are several clues out there that strongly suggest The Fourth Kind is pulling our leg just as The Blair Witch Project and this year’s Paranormal Activity did. One such clue includes a fake medical journal with a bio of Dr. Abigail Tyler on its website — a website created around the same time previews for the film came out.
The website no longer exists (I did see it for myself) but you can read about the site and other clues.
Kudos to Universal Pictures for getting smart and pulling the plug on a viral marketing scheme that was going to be its own downfall. People of the Lost era are pretty good with that internet research stuff. Now viewers can speculate whether the people claiming The Fourth Kind footage is fake are really employees of a secret government agency trying to keep the forthcoming alien colonization under wraps. Seriously.
Since not everyone will go in as a believer, the success of this film depends on whether it still scares the bejeezus out of the doubters, and how badly it pisses people off that the actors are claiming it’s real when it’s not.
Regardless, despite some cheesy amateur director moments, The Fourth Kind is terrifying and recommended.
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4 Comments
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Well, all I have to say is… “Duhhhh!”.
I mean, folks, really. This is a movie. It’s not real. None of it is real. It is made by a MOVIE STUDIO and WRITERS.
Both of the “Dr Tyler” characters are played by actresses. Again, “Duhhhh”. And Please do at least a little bit of research into what the conclusions are to the FBI investigations into the disappearances in Alaska.
Isn’t it kind of funny that they all appear to have had alcohol involved? And isn’t it kind of funny that frigid temperatures can kind of contribute to oh, say, FREEZING TO DEATH AFTER PASSING OUT OUTSIDE? And isn’t it kind of obvious that the indigenous creatures of Alaska would want to drag off and eat any nice, fresh meat they find laying around, whether it’s human, animal, or any other type of meat?
And maybe there are some murders involved. Definitely possible. But isn’t it also kind of funny that we are talking about a period of over 40 years, and that seems like it could also be the time period of a serial killer’s tenure in any given area?
For some people, the most plausible and obvious explanations are the most suspicious… because when you are a conspiracy believer, you are locked into a closed belief system, and any evidence against the conspiracy simply becomes part of the “vast coverup”.
Ask yourself… “What evidence would convince me that there is no conspiracy here?”. If your answer is “there is no evidence, because it’s all part of the coverup”, you are hopelessly lost in a world of silliness, paranoia, and anomaly hunting. And that’s a really sad place to be. People who believe in grand conspiracies are incredibly closed-minded. It’s the only way that they can validate their wacky logic processes.
In regards to this stupid movie (remember, folks, it is a MOVIE, just like the Blair Witch Project was), all of the “actual footage” was staged, portrayed by actors, and digitally enhanced. And I wouldn’t consider any of it to be “evidence” even if it was “actual footage”. It’s so suspicious to me that every time some alien visitation video is presented, it always JUST SO HAPPENS to go all fuzzy or jerky or grainy juuuuuuust at the moment that something compelling would present itself. Let’s also remember that with the advent of photo and video manipulation software that is available to anyone with a computer, these types of “evidence” are being reduced to unacceptable forms of proof of anything… But especially when it comes from a MOVIE STUDIO. Please, people, THINK for just a moment. Please. Just take a deep breath, and THINK.
I believe that alien visitation is completely plausible, even given the tremendous travel limitations that would be presented by sheer distance and the Theory (LAW) of Relativity. Although I haven’t figured out why any species would travel over a hundred thousand years to get here so that they can hide and core out the anuses of cattle and make pretty patterns in crops (don’t even get me started on how silly crop circle believers are).
Absolutely all of the “evidence” that a lot of people are willing to accept as “proof” of such phenomena is pure garbage. And 1 million pieces of garbage don’t add up to “evidence”. They just add up to a pile of garbage a million pieces high.
Thanks for thinking. Or at least trying.
[...] playing the role of "Dr. Abigail Tyler," whose actual existence is questionable. … Film Review: THE FOURTH KIND :: Meet In the Lobby: Movie News … Knowing better is knowing that the actual footage and the existence of Dr. Abigail Tyler are [...]
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[...] The Fourth Kind opens by telling us it is inspired by true events, namely the mysterious disappearance of an inordinate amount of people over the past 50 years from Nome , Alaska . The film often goes to split screen, showing what they …Read More… [...]