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Movie The Fourth Kind based on actual events?
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The movie the Fourth Kind, has yet to even officially make a crash landing yet it is already getting negative reviews by critics. The movies’ advertising spiel is, “In 1972 a scale of measurement was established for alien encounters. When a UFO is sighted it is called an encounter of the first kind. When evidence is collected, it is known as an encounter of the second kind. When contact is made with extraterrestrials it is the third kind. The next level, abduction, is the fourth kind.”
The diatribe ends with emphasis on the film being based on actual footage. Doesn’t this type of claim sound a bit familiar? The Blaire Witch project, which is perhaps the first film that claimed to introduce actual footage to a wide eyed audience back in 1999, fooled many people. After all, America had never seen such a dirty tactic by Hollywood before. The eventual let down many felt when they soon discovered that the movie… was just a movie may now be a reason that future movie goers and critics have their guards up. The film’s star,Milla Jovovich, can even be seen in previews promoting the film as not merely a piece of fiction, but a piece of documented fact! As if an actress, who gets paid to act, would lie to millions of people?
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Universal Pictures movie promo: Fouth Kind
The film’s freaky previews have caused millions of those easily duped viewers to wonder if the film could possibly be real. The film takes place in the isolated area of Nome Alaska, where numerous unexplained disappearances are explained in the film to be the fault of pesky aliens. The mysterious disappearances are possibly the only hint of fact from the movie. However, as the National Post has pointed out, “The Alaskan city, population less than 4,000, has had more mysterious missing persons per capita over the years than almost anywhere else on earth.” The disappearances, though tragic to the unfortunate victim’s families’, are nonetheless far from shocking. After all, it is an isolated area, winters can be brutal, isolation and the fluctuating cycles of day and night can make anyone go homicidal maniac crazy.
Milla Jovovich plays the part of the psychiatrist Abigail Tyler. The “real life” Dr. Abigail Tyler apparently makes an appearance in the film during an interview with the director of the film. In 2000 it is reported that Tyler begins to see an influx of patients who are having difficulty sleeping. It would truly be a surprise if half the population didn’t have difficulty sleeping in Alaska. In this case however, those that Tyler studies have one inexplicable similarity, they appear to all dream about owls… creepy. The owls apparently signify something bad. To unearth this mystery of the white owls, Tyler performs hypnotherapy on her patients. Without divulging too much about the movie’s plot, the hypnotherapy soon establishes a correlation between the visions of the owls, and the rash of disappearances.
The Fourth Kind, which was co-written and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi and released by Universal Pictures, makes its encounter with audience members tonight at theaters nation wide. The reception of the film hasn’t been too favorable. Steven Rea from the Philadelphia Inquirer stated, “A mildly scary, totally meaningless excursion into the realms of psychological horror and alien-abduction conspiracies.” Stephen Whitty from the Newark Star Ledger, “As the movie repeatedly insists, it’s only presenting this information; it’s up to you to decide what to believe. Well, I believe this was a waste of about an hour and a half.” –Rottentomatoes.com
Perhaps the numerous unfavorable reviews stem more from the movie’s push to promote the movie as a documentary piece. It goes beyond the realm of simply stating that the movie is based on actual events. Many feel insulted that the writers would think the public could be so naive as to think the movie to have actual footage. If you try to Google the movie, Abigail Tyler, or Nome Alaska you simply get tons of results based on the movie, no facts based on the “archived” footage presented in the film. The movie is also trailing behind the recently released movie, Paranormal Activity, which received rave reviews from critics. Paranormal Activity had a minimal budget, no name actors and no special effects. Yet, though the movie promoted itself as fiction and though it was obvious that it was a piece of fiction, it still nonetheless had a “realistic” quality. Conversely, the sloppy way the Fourth Kind was promoted, as “actual” footage could have been Hollywood’s tactic to build publicity about the film, and peak movie goers interest.
Regardless of the reviews, America seems to love aliens, zombies, and serial killers that never seem to die. Though the film may not be everyone’s cup of tea, there are sure to be some fans. So check it out and if anything decide for yourself if the film deserves the title of the worse alien film of 2009.
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