The Fourth Kind (2009)

The Fourth Kind (2009)

Written and Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi

I saw Paranormal Activity on Halloween but didn’t write a review because A) the last thing that movie needs is more publicity and B) I really didn’t like it.  The Fourth Kind is the movie that Paranormal Sucktivity wishes it was.  As pretty much everybody in America knows by now, Paranormal Craptivity is supposed to be “found footage”, but we all know that it was all staged due to the movie’s stars being all over the place.  The Fourth Kind is similar, as it also features “found footage”.  The difference is that Fourth also re-enacts that same footage.  The movie, true to it’s name, involves a psychiatrist from Nome, Alaska who is experiencing some weird ass shit, possibly related to Aliens, along with her family and the rest of the town.

There was a lot to like about this flick.  It was creepy as hell, and they sustained the tension throughout the whole film, from the first 3 minutes right until the very end.  The main generator of the creepy tone was the brilliant cinematography (by Lorenzo Senatore, who is seemingly the go-to guy for straight to DVD sequels).  THIS is how you use the “found footage” gimmick.  Several times throughout the movie, the screen was split into either two or four separate boxes, usually when the weird shit was happening.  On one side of the screen was the reenactment with Abigail Tyler (Milla Jovavich) and Abel Campos (Elias Koteas - more on them later), and on the other side was the “found footage.”  Within the scene, the audio and visuals would ebb and flow, meaning, sometimes the “found footage” would scoot over, letting Milla use up most of the screen, and vice versa.  The audio would do the same thing.  Interspersed between these scenes was an interview between the “real” Abigail Tyler and some black guy. This is where the film is at it’s best.  The “found footage” was genuinely scary (unlike in Paranormal, where it was just boring) and the real Dr. Tyler was just creepy looking (you’ll recognize her as the woman who’s face is blurred out in the trailer) and emotionless enough for me to absolutely buy that this is real.  However, the reenactments didn’t even compete with the other footage.  Granted, the setting was absolutely beautiful and the filters they used on the cameras were perfect, just muting the colors enough, making the white snow and the green of the trees pop out.  However, the “story” parts of the reenactments were just not good.  I’ve never been the biggest fan of Milla “I only do genre-flicks” Jovavich.  I guess the only things I’ve seen her in are the Resident Evil movies, but still, she’s a little funny looking, and not much of an actress.  However, here, she really impressed me.  She shows a more sensitive side than I’m used to from her, and I liked it.  Elias Koteas, character actor extraordinaire, was brooding and awesome as the requisite skeptic.  The one truly bad element of this flick was Will Patton (another character actor that you’ll recognize, but not know who he is).  This guy was a dick, and he was a dick just to BE a dick.  He does things that don’t make any sense, and it seems like he goes out of his way to not believe anything Dr. Tyler says, even to the point of ignoring whole pages of script.  He’s irritating and I wanted him to shut up.  Also – Dr. Tyler had some ugly, obnoxious kids, her son in particular, and at one point I found myself wishing that the Aliens would come down and take them.

I liked The Fourth Kind a lot.  It had some interesting themes, and was pretty creepy.  However, there were some things that were just plain bad.  If they had made the movie differently, perhaps by eliminating the reenactment portions, I think it would have been a lot more effective.  Also, Hollywood should stop releasing horror movies THE WEEK AFTER HALLOWEEN.  I’m looking at you Rob Zombie’s Halloween (which was relased in August, of all months).  The Fourth Kind is worth a rental at least.  Check it out, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.