Two upcoming films that could go either way

Photo:Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC)

Vampires and aliens seem to be all the rage these days especially in film.  As Twilight draws a massive fan base and District 9 gains critical celebration, two films are set to open in the coming months that tackle many of the same themes as the aforementioned films.  Daybreakers and The Fourth Kind explore supernatural themes as they try to bank on plotlines centered around aliens and vampires respectively.  The films have massive potential, but the potential is for failure as much as it is for success.  The films will have to speak for themselves, but with so much attention focused on the Twilight Saga and the surprising candor of District 9 any films that explore similar themes may be facing an uphill battle.

Daybreakers is set in 2017, and the film takes the scenario that a plaque has broken out that has turned mot every human into a vampire.  Faced with a diminishing blood supply, the vampires search for an alternative to human blood before their race becomes extinct.  Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe star in the film, the two actors are substantially accredited in their own right and bring a lot to the film.  Considering the acting talent in the film, it has every chance to be more interesting than any given five minutes of Twilight, but even Blade III was more interesting than Twilight (Though many disagree).  Still, the film seems to undertake the darker themes of vampire films, which means a lot of blood and gore.  Daybreakers seems to be a film much like the television series True Blood, which has its own substantial fan base.  The plot has potential, and with the considerable talent cast in the film it seems the film will probably succeed more than it fails.  To learn more about this film log on to: www.daybreakersmovie.com/

The Fourth Kind is a fact-based thriller that centers around an on-going investigation is Nome, Alaska.  The film focuses on the many disappearances that have happened in the small town, and centers on a psychologist, played by Milla Jovovich, who analyzed various patients who reported seeing the same extraterrestrial sight.  The patients talk of a white owl, which seems to be some sort of alien.  The alien is believed to be the cause of many abductions and various missing persons cases.  The film is all supported by actual taped interviews by the real psychologist, but the film is also opinionated while drawing its own conclusions.  Films that claim they are based on truth add significance to their stories.  Films such as Fire in the Sky, The Mothman Prophecies, and A Haunting in Connecticut were all generated interest by boasting truthful scripts, still the film needs to have substance to be effective.  Jovovich is a very limited actress, and it is doubtful she will be able to carry the film alone, as she is unable to carry any film.  The success or failure will ride on the plot, and how much creative licensing is taken.  Sometimes, the truth of the story is enough to generate interest as well as suspense.  To learn more about this film log on to: www.thefourthkind.net/