The Fourth Kind (Universal)
Rated PG-13 for violent/disturbing images, some terror, thematic elements and brief sexuality.
Starring Milla Jovovich, Will Patton, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Corey Johnson, Elias Koteas, Daphne Alexander, Enzo Cilenti, Mia McKenna-Bruce, Ashley Tyne Rafaeli, Alisha Seaton.
Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi.
Written by Olatunde Osunsanmi and Terry Robbins.
GRADE: C+
REVIEWI'm not a big scary movie fan. As a rule I try to avoid being scared, so I'm not prone to attend movies intended to scare me. That doesn't mean I hate all scary movies. In fact, James Cameron's
Aliens (1986) is one of my favorites and it scared the crap out of me. There's a new Hollywood trend emerging that doesn't come from Hollywood these days; it comes from the low budget independent ranks with films like
The Blair Witch Project and more recently,
Paranormal Activities. These are movies made to look like they really happened, shot on home video or other basic means. The latest "reality" style movie is
The Fourth Kind, billed as a story based on "real" events. Yeah, right.
Milla Jovovich stars as the supposedly "real" Dr. Abby Tyler, a psychologist based in Alaska whose husband was supposedly brutally murdered as he slept next to her in bed.
Wait a minute. (spoiler alert)
Jovovich is not the only actor portraying Tyler.
Another uncredited actor also plays Tyler in T
he Fourth Kind, but she is shown through several low-quality videos juxtaposed in split screen and presented as actual interviews or recorded therapy sessions during the movie. The audience (via a special introduction speech given by Jovovich at the beginning of the movie) is told that the videos are real, as are the stories behind them.
Oh yes, the videos look real, but they aren't. Sorry, if I ruined it for you, but when a film's producers go to great lengths to lie, I have to call, "B.S."
Don't get me wrong. The "real" claims sound credible, even with Jovovich and
Fourth Kind director Olatunde Osunsanmi appearing on screen before and after the movie to assure us of their validity. There is a caveat, of course, inviting all to believe it if they "chose" to.
Back to the story.
Tyler is providing therapy to several people in Nome, Alaska who are having trouble sleeping. All of the patients report seeing an owl outside their window at 3:33 a.m., but can't remember something more sinister that is happening to them.
Tyler's colleague is Abel Campos, who shows up in Nome because he is concerned about her, and attends some of her therapy sessions. He also tries to give some therapy to Tyler through hypnosis to help with her own issues related to the death of her husband. Tyler's young daughter is traumatized into blindness by her father's death, while her son is scared of her.
One night, Tyler leaves her tape recorder on and catches a horrific audio clip suggesting some kind of torture happened that she can't remember. Caught on the horrific recording is a strange, creepy voice, speaking an unknown language.
Joining Jovovich on screen is Will Patton as Sheriff August, who is investigating several disappearances and murders in the Nome area. When one of Tyler's patients shoots his wife, kids and himself after being hypnotized by Tyler (all caught on tape, of course), August begins to suspect maybe the good doctor has something to do with it. Another patient breaks his own neck and levitates during a hypnotic session with Tyler, raising even more suspicion against the therapist.
Tyler also contacts a university professor who specializes in ancient languages, who catches the next plane to Nome to lend his expertise to the suspected extra-terrestrial activities in the area.
While under police surveillance, a UFO appears over her home, and Tyler's young daughter disappears.
Abel then tries a little hypnotic therapy on Tyler, with horrific results.
The main implication in
The Fourth Kind is that aliens are abducting, torturing or killing people right under our noses.
Even though the premise, scenes and story behind
The Fourth Kind are bogus, it's important to note that the real-looking scenes are indeed frightening and disturbing. If you like a good scare, then
The Fourth Kind is for you. If you are gullible enough to believe the viral marketing ploy that it's all based on real people and real videos and real events, then the scare factor will be increased.
If you're like me and can see through the BS, the experience is much less enjoyable.
The post script graphics that roll before the end credits have a lot to say about the numerous Nome disappearances and the gaudy number of FBI visits to the area related to the disappearances. If you are to believe
The Fourth Kind producers, living in Nome almost guarantees that you will be abducted.
Like me, I'm pretty sure the Nome Chamber of Commerce isn't very happy about
The Fourth Kind, either.
