The Fourth Kind [DVD]

The Fourth Kind is a creepy film that will certainly result in some viewers having a restless night (particularly around 3.33 am)! So from that perspective the film is a success - it leaves the audience feeling unsettled, disturbed, possibly even scared. Three stars so for being a proficient addition to the niche.

The plot follows psychologist Dr. Abigail Tyler, who starts to realise that a number of patients with sleep problems seem to be having the same dream or vision. Since the patients are unable or unwilling to remember the details of this vision, the good Doctor decides to use hypnotism to extract any suppressed memories and obligingly records the results on video camera for later study. Needless to say, the uncovered memories are not of happy times ... hence the 'Fourth Kind' alien-abduction tag!

Where TFK is clever is that it has been marketed as a reenactment of actual events that were captured on film and audio tape. What we see then is the occasional juxtaposition of acted movie (with Milla Jovovich as Dr. Tyler) and the real camera and audio footage supposedly taken by Dr. Tyler herself. Although some have said they found this annoying, I personally felt that it added to the film and gave it a slightly more authentic feel. That, in turn, made it creepier.

As to the debate on whether it's real or not ... em, it's a film!

So the movie starts off with actress Milla Jovovich adressing the audience, she tells us what we are about to see is herself playing the role of Dr. Abigail Campos, what we are about to see is based on true life events and at times we will see and hear the real life footage to back it up. Next we see footage of the real Dr. Campos being interviewed by director Olatunde Osunsanmi, Campos tells how 2 months ago her husband was killed in his sleep. Campos is conviced that aliens are to blame whereas the local police are pointing the finger at the doctor herself. What follows is the story of Dr. Abigail hunting for answers.

I have to admit that at firt that I was sceptical after hearing the plot, I thought that it could definately go either way but after seeing the commercials on TV I was starting to look forward to seeing it. The real life footage that is sometimes shown split screen with the dramatized version is truly harrowing and something i've never seen in a film before. 'The Fourth Kind' has really capitalized on the 'handheld horror' boom, followinf in the footsteps of 'The Blair Witch Project [DVD] [1999]' & 'Cloverfield [DVD] [2007]'. I left the cinema feeling truly frightened which is something I haven't felt from a film for quite a while. Also recognition must be given to Milla Jovovich for carrying the role in this film so well. If you're looking for a good modern horror which isnt just another teen slasher flick, or a horror that will stick with you for a few days then this is definately for you, just give it some time to get going and don't ruin it for yourself by researching it too much online first.

In a similar way to the recent hand-held phenomenon, Paranormal Activity, The Fourth Kind was marketed almost completely through false internet blog-spots and rumors, claiming [some of] its footage to be real. Nope, I'm not a marketing extraordinaire, but I assume that this is how the film received its reasonable amount of success at the box-office, both here and in America.

The reason I make this assumption is because, quite frankly, The Fourth Kind isn't all it's cracked up to be. What it suffers from is an offensively generic plot, a very padded running-time and a cheesy (sometimes unintentionally funny) script. Milla Jovovich (typically) gives a decent lead performance, along with a number of sub-characters; plus, there are a few memorable 'jumpy' moments and the imagery -on occasion- is quite beautiful. However, whether this is enough to satisfy demanding audiences is a tough call.

So then, why three stars? Simply because of Olatunde Osunsanmi's drastic directorial come-back. To go from a truly dreadful film like The Cavern (of which, quite rightly, went straight to DVD) to a decent, classy thriller like The Fourth Kind (of which headlined in most main-stream cinemas) is an astonishingly large step of achievement. With Osunsanmi developing his directorial skill this rapidly, his next film will definitely be at the top of my list.

The Fourth Kind deserves your attention. Give it a go.

Crushed under the weight of publicity that Paranormal Activity film recieved, this similar little thriller got overlooked, and to me it is the better of the two.
The best horror films leave the monsters to the imagination, as does the Fourth Kind, mixing "real life" footage and recreated scenes featuring actors, this is a creepy account of strange and terrifying happenings to normal people.
Milla Jovovich gives a great performance of Dr Abigail Tyler, a woman haunted by the death of her husband and increasingly scared patients who under hypnosis reveal their nights are visited by something! Slow paced and intriguing,the film focuses on how people's lives are tormented by possible alien visitations,to the point where they hurt themselves or other people.The "real" Abigail Tyler(un-named actress?)cuts a sad haunted figure in video interview footage,and is believably broken in her portrayal.
Things get more disturbing as the film progresses, and what happens to all concerned is harrowing. A masterstroke being the previously recorded grainy video footage, distorted images and sounds that will chill your blood! The two reveals at the end concerning Dr Tyler's husband and then that of her final self are well played and not at all contrived.
A good film that leaves you to decide what if aliens are real,what if these things did happen?

The film purports to be partly reconstruction and partly actual footage of a real 2000 alien abduction case, using very cleverly placed internet viral marketing.
The reality is that it is all acted, most of it not very well. The Director seems to have been given a split-screen generator for Christmas and it gets really irritating, really quickly.
The Director seems to want to cover all the bases from the loss of a child (infinitely better covered in I've Loved You So Long and Changeling) via diabolic possession (not a patch on The Exorcist or The Exorcism of Emily Rose) to alien abduction (I'm not sure this genre has anything worth recommending).
The idea of split-screening the "actual footage" with the dramatic reconstruction is an interesting one and should be applauded. Unfortunately, in this film, it didn't work for me.
This an overly long, below-par X Files episode. And if you do want scary, go for Paranormal Activity, the only film I suddenly remember scenes from when I get out of bed to use the loo at three o'clock in the morning.