After reading the description, I didn’t expect anything special from the film. I decided to watch it just because of my love of the heat. Unfortunately, the peak of this genre has long passed, and it becomes difficult to find anything. I try to see everything I can find.
It should be noted that during the viewing there are always questions. Why didn't the camera burn up in the atmosphere when it was thrown out of the spacecraft? Why, having fallen from such a great height, the camera is not something that did not fall into fragments, but continued to shoot? Why does the whole family, instead of trying to save one of its members, run headlong without even realizing what happened? Why is it that when the kid who is filming everything on camera runs away, the camera is not tinkering, but shooting as if he carefully keeps her position right in front of him? And these questions arise throughout the viewing time.
Questions arise in the presentation of the story. Then we get inserts from supposedly documentary TV shows, then we watch the filming from the camera of the boy who always turns her on and off. In the end, before the credits again cutting TV, then again the credits, then again the camera footage. In general, this method is interesting for ordinary films, but not for a film in the genre of pseudo-documentary shooting, because it loses the highlight of the presentation of material.
In general, the film is full of flaws, but there are also positive aspects. For example, there are quite scary screamers that can really scare. Several things contribute to this. First, the screamers themselves appear only a couple of times throughout the film, but they appear at extremely successful moments. And they are frightening, even though when monsters appear, the camera begins to muffle, that is, interference appears on the screen. And even despite this, from these moments you shudder – here played the fact that monsters make terrible sounds that sound very loud, relative to other moments. That is, even though the screamers are expected, they are still frightening. Secondly, the action takes place in jerks – dynamic moments are replaced by calm ones, which suddenly become dynamic again. This helps keep the viewer on edge. Third, with a clearly low budget, the director’s team gets the most out of it. The aliens themselves are only shown a couple of times, but they are really scary. Alien ships do not show us at all, but thanks to the excellent work of lighting engineers, we understand that they are nearby.
In general, the film has many flaws in the plot plan, both in terms of presentation and in terms of implementation. But at the same time, even with a low budget, this horror film copes well with the main task - to scare the viewer. There is a tense atmosphere, and terrible screamers, and believable acting. All this, of course, is my personal opinion, but I am a lover of horror films, especially in the mocumentary genre, so I have something to compare with.
5 out of 10
The film begins with the words: “the video shown next is the most real and super secret”. I mean, like that. Next, show the basement dentistry of the Second World War. They are shown through a camera that someone carries to throw either into the oven or into the pipe. From which it flies into space! But it does not hang in a vacuum, but rushes rapidly to the ground, passes all layers of the atmosphere, clings to a pair of branches and falls into the grass. All the while continuing to shoot. The glass only cracked from the impact on the ground.
I really laughed after those shots. It's all so ridiculous and cheap. I’m in the middle of a comedy called Tucker and Dale vs Evil. The level of "documentation" was already clear. The director made it clear that he would not even try to convince us of anything.
And so it was. There was no comedy, either. Just a stream of ridiculous stupidity.
• The main characters are a family in which the mother is older than children by 5-10 years.
• Aliens who spy on heroes from behind bushes.
• Searchlights that know exactly where the heroes are and shine them in the face, and then sharply “rethink” to kidnap them. And then they change their minds! But no, we changed our minds.
• Extraterrestrials do not know how to open doors and look behind stones. They themselves hid in the bushes, and people entering the same lost instantly.
immortal super kolkhoznik, who survived 3 consecutive sorties directly into the spotlight. Apparently such a nasty type - even aliens do not want to kidnap him.
The lack of logic in the actions of the characters and acting, I do not consider a minus - for such films it is the norm. And here everything is within the permissible limits for the genre. Hiding in the night forest with a flashlight on and screaming with fright at every step is common. Do not worry about the loss of friends or loved ones - not actors, but ordinary people.
Output: I love this genre and even watch all kinds of guest hunters on YouTube. But it's even worse. Don't waste your time. There is no atmosphere, no history, no mystery... nothing at all.
One of the few alien movies I think they should be (in the movies, of course) No huge flying saucers in the open hanging over New York, no armies from fighters trying to fight them back, just small groups of people chosen by the aliens who are just trying to hold out as long as possible, because the outcome of the meeting with them is clear to everyone at once.
Pretty good computer graphics, which in principle there are no complaints (Compare at least with The Objective 2008, where for 4 million we saw unnaturally moving lights in the sky, which did not fit into the picture). [Although the year of release may have played out, the technology is still more affordable in 2014]
The behavior of the characters is quite adequate, except for the father of the family, who suddenly freaked out in an instant because 5 minutes is driving on the wrong road.
Very pleased Rednek, who behaved exactly as he should have behaved such a typical uncle living in a hut in the woods of North Carolina.
Throughout the film, there is a sense of hopelessness of characters who are taken one by one by aliens, and they can not oppose them. They will not leave you alone day or night.
Fans of such aliens (who do not arrange a war across the planet) should like (Dark Skies 2013, which is also very impressive, and pleased with this such a rare genre of cinema)
- Did you fish? You go to the lake on the darkest night, you take a boat in the middle of it, and you shine a lantern into the water. You throw your legs up, you sip a beer. And you wait. And then... Then you just watch the stupid fish swim right into the light. And you just pick it up with a net. Some fish even jump into the boat themselves. You leave some, you let some go back. (c)
I would like to see more of these pictures, no matter the mocumentaries, or the usual shooting, the main thing is that there were creepy, frightening humanoid aliens, whose intentions are not clear, their next actions are simply unpredictable, from them nowhere and no one can hide.
The average American Morris family goes on a fascinating trip to the mountains of North Carolina. However, the rest that should have been the best in their, to put it mildly, gray life turns into a nightmare, for the Morrises will be destined to learn that not all the lights in the sky are identical with the blue moon and the small tiny tiny diamond stars, and that behind the curtain of gloomy skies are those who are always nearby.
Far from being the most common and successfully executed story about the abduction of people by alien green men who adore anal sensing and other experiments on fluttering people, within the horror genre gained only a couple of more or less successful and relatively decent readings. From the classic ever-memorable "The X-Files" to the recent "Gloomy Skies" and the long-running "Alien Abducted" of 1998, from the unbridled-blooded and schizophrenic-mad "Aliens-Conquerors" of Jake West and the erotic-deviant "Daleks Abducted" of Novisky-Barley to the artfully mystifying "Fourth Kind."
Moreover, within the framework of pseudo-documentary stories about abductions by alien killers generally found their embodiment rarely and hardly aptly, except for the above-mentioned “Abducted Aliens”, which are the best mockumentary-horror story about this sinister abduction, “Fourth Kind” and in the down and ashes of the criticized “Skinwalker Ranch”. Another picture on this non-trivial topic, the directorial debut of the American producer Matty Beckerman, the picture “Alien abduction” in 2014, the plot of which is allegedly based on real events, unfortunately, from the ideal was extremely far, although excessive thrashing, however, also without suffering. “Alien abduction” is simply an extremely raw and devoid of any non-triviality execution work, almost a student experience in the horror genre in general and mocumentaries in particular.
Being a symbiosis of motifs from "Gloomy Skies" and "Skinwalker Ranch", Matty Beckerman's film initially does not bother for viewers even to jump above their heads, not to be carried away by specific styles or scattering of interesting characters, does not try to attract fascinating intrigue and extraordinary narrative. The film is devoid of almost everything that makes it a horror, and not a household sketch from the life of the middle class, unwittingly faced with the events of a mystical and fantastic plan. However, in fact, it is a sketch with a taste of domestic troubles and family squabbles that comes out, and not a full-fledged sample in its genre, because the direction in the picture is too typical for such paintings, the plot is architypal and too predictable, and the intelligible finale is not compensated by logical arrangements and a certain realism.
It is the lack of novelty and did for the film Matty Beckerman truly disservice, simply burying alive all the potential in the picture. Therefore, “Alien abduction” is not able to either interest or attract even avid connoisseurs of the genre due to its hopeless stylistic grayness, generous artistic ordinariness and acting triviality, scattered on a short timekeeping of the picture like rat poison. And even the fierce in its hopelessness soundtrack, much more creepy than the film itself, and even all sorts of attempts to classic suspense and postmodern macabra are not compensated by anything. The atmosphere of pseudo-reality is destroyed at the root and instead of the inexhaustible fear of alien flying saucers, the viewer is destined to fear only evil sky light bulbs, making their non-trivial bloodless judgment, the outcome of which is clear from the very beginning.
Natural phenomenon or "extraterrestrial intelligence"?
To be honest, I'm not the most picky person. And I don’t like to criticize everything, trying to find something good in any movie (although sometimes it’s very difficult). And I have watched a lot of films of this genre, or rather, a lot – and I can say with confidence that Alien Abduction is one of the best films in this genre (in pseudo-documentary).
It is clear that watching such films, you immediately understand that this is not any amateur shooting, and what happens on the screen is pure fiction. These numbers just don't work. And no warning subtitles that say it's not fake can convince you. But despite this, films in the genre of mocumentaries frighten, well, or at least bring darkness - that's for sure. This film reminds the viewer that he is helpless. Exactly. Yes, there are so-called boo-moments in the film, but most of all it makes you believe that there is no help. This is especially evident in the tunnel scene where there is a police car and no one in it. The main characters run through the forest looking for salvation, but in the end, play the role of just helpless mice in a cage. At the same time, the feeling of helplessness does not leave to the last - even when it begins to shine at the end of the film - and the night, so terrible, fades into the background. You know, something is going to happen. This is the main advantage of alien abduction. It’s the same thing that many other films lack. The plus that makes the viewer sit at the screen and watch with interest how everything ends.
To describe everything makes no sense. The main feeling when watching the film I wrote. Of course, this film did not do away with the already mandatory clichés in this genre, such as "I will go to save my brother" - on the night where the unknown is happening. But there are few such things.
The result is a good good good movie. For lovers of this genre is a great choice. I'll leave it in the collection. Watching or not watching this movie is up to you. And no one will tell you 100% whether you like it or not, except yourself.
9 out of 10
Minus a point for that heroic man from the cabin. There's no complaints.
I think that today it is difficult to surprise fans of horror films that American filmmakers once again present pseudo-documentary horror to their judgment. Once an innovative sub-genre, elevated to absolute popularity by Oren Peli and his “Paranormal phenomenon”, has become quite traditional entertainment, and every second picture shot with handheld cameras repeats the same techniques that were used in dozens of earlier projects. So scouring in search of exciting and, most importantly, really scary movie viewers are increasingly difficult to please. But after all, there are unexpected discoveries, from which you do not expect anything special, but when watching you begin to understand that you have fallen on a gold mine. Just such projects I want to include another undeservedly ignored by domestic distributors horror called "Alien abduction", which put the debutant in the directorship Matty Beckerman, who once produced the film "Experiment" with the participation of Adrian Brody and Forest Whitaker.
The plot of the film is based on one of the American legends associated with UFOs. I think each of us knows that the territory of the star-striped flag is full of places that urban legends associate with alien guests, periodically appearing in the sky under the guise of points of light, chaotically moving in various directions. Just one of these places is the famous Mount Brown, which could be one of the most marvelous corners of the country, designed for excellent camping, but in fact many tourists bypass it due to frightening reports of people missing in the local forests. However, not all ordinary people believe in the supernatural guests of Mount Brown, and therefore in the hope of getting in touch with pure nature without the company of unnecessary neighbors go on a much-desired hike with tents, lanterns and traditional marshmallows, which is appetizingly roasted at the stake. It is such daredevils and are members of the Morris family in the person of Corey (Corey Ade), Riley (Riley Polyanski), Jtllian (Gillian Claire), as well as their parents Kathy (Katherine Sigismund) and Peter (Peter Esley Holden), who decide to forget about all the troubles and devote themselves to each other for a while. And on the very first, clear night under the stars, they notice a mysterious glow in the sky. without attaching much importance to this, in the morning the Morris decide to delve into the mountain forests, only here their path is blocked by a small tunnel, completely clogged with abandoned cars. And what they will see in it, shocking to the depths of the soul, because the alien guests this time not at all not on ceremony, but on the contrary act with lightning speed, leaving no unnecessary witnesses to their deeds.
As often happens in pseudo-documentary films, much of the screen time was given to the disclosure of characters. And, unlike many genre brethren, Alien Kidnapping boasts a really nice company, each member of which is perfect for each other. Yes, Morris full of minor domestic conflicts, some of which result in serious scandals, but still each of them knows how to admit mistakes and put up with his neighbor when an unnecessary quarrel does not turn into a family apocalypse. In fact, the director showed us the most ordinary people who resemble us like two drops of water. And thanks to this circumstance, you want to worry about the fate of the character even more. As for the cast itself, don’t expect to see it spread stars, but at the same time, none of the performers, including the young Riley Polianski, is not a debutant, having at least five projects. And this circumstance suggests that the actors still have some talent to get used to their roles, especially since all their previous projects can hardly be called marginal.
Separately, it is worth dwelling on the very development of the narrative. We are all used to the fact that in pseudo-documentary tapes there is no proper traditional movie dynamics, and the plot itself can trample for 10-20 minutes. And here, Alien Kidnapping is pleasantly surprising, as the director decides not to languish his audience, launching his monsters into action rather quickly. Although it is impossible to call this horror twitchy and ragged, because the action develops quite logically, and the characters, surprisingly, can boast of a quite adequate reaction to what is happening, not asking a lot of unnecessary questions, but acting for self-preservation. I think that fact itself is extraordinary, as for the traditional stupidity of most horror movies. However, the action of the film fits into two nights, the second of which will be the apogee of the whole plot. Matty Beckerman presents his aliens as an absolute evil. They don’t hear your pleas, they don’t negotiate, and they act remarkably cold-blooded. In some ways, they can be compared with the aliens from the famous film by M. Night Shyamalan “Signs” (including appearance), who came to Earth with clearly aggressive intentions. And when the enemy is so cruel and unpredictable, the hero can only lead a guerrilla war, mainly hiding from monsters behind every stump or tree, content with the help of one local resident who clearly does not like unexpected guests.
On the technical side, there are no special claims to the project. Do not be frightened by the first shots of the film, in which the camera rotates chaotically and gives out some unimaginable interference. The whole main action can boast of adequate camera work, which only at certain moments breaks into shaking, but this circumstance is due to the specifics of the genre, which requires maximum documentation of what is happening. Separately, it is worth noting the work of lighting, almost perfectly worked on the project. So on the one hand, we will see everything, but on the other hand, the feeling that there are spotlights in the district will not arise. There are special effects in the movie. They are delivered with proper professionalism. But the director is not going to speculate on visual beauty, pumping suspense with the help of simpler, but effective techniques.
As a result, I want to say that Alien Abduction is a wonderful representative of a pseudo-documentary film in which negative moments are minimized, and all the best developments of the genre are put to the forefront. I do not dispute that Matty Beckerman’s painting can be criticized at the root if you want, but it leaves behind a sense of danger and anxiety. And so I want to put “Alien invasion” high score, as from the tape at first you do not expect much, but in the process of watching you get excellent entertainment, guaranteeing training for your nerves.
9 out of 10
Perhaps, as the debut project for Matty Beckerman, Alien Abduction is not so bad. But if we consider this picture in comparison with other similar films, and there will probably be at least a dozen of them, then Beckerman’s film has a number of rather huge disadvantages. But since the project is still debut, we will not judge too harshly.
The plot in the film is extremely banal. A family goes out of town on vacation. Recently, in the place where they plan to rest, strange lights were seen in the sky, which for many specialists began to be the manifestation of extraterrestrial life forms. And now, an unsuspecting family first manages to get lost in the bowels of a mountain road, and then completely encounter something rather strange.
I will not get tired of writing in reviews for each such film that the mocumentary genre has just filled with the real edge and come up with something fundamentally new in it, it needs to be very, very hard to try. So here, the picture is full of a huge number of platitudes and stamps characteristic of this genre. The same methods of intimidating the viewer are used as everywhere else. In fact, this is exactly why the film is absolutely not frightening, although in theory it seems that it should. Honestly, I have quite a wealth of experience watching horror movies, perhaps that is why the picture did not seem at least creepy. It is likely that an unprepared viewer will still shake with fear, but personally I had this only when watching “The Fourth Kind” and “Gloomy Shadows” on the same subject. It’s worth noting, though, that there were definitely some good moments and if I hadn’t seen them in the trailer, they would have come as a surprise.
In general, in the creation of Matty Beckerman, you feel a certain effort, this is not a blunder made spectacle. Beckerman was at least five years late with the film, before the genre became popular in cinema. On my own, I could give the film a much lower rating, but I am well aware that there are people who are not experienced in watching such films and they are quite likely to like the picture. For one-time viewing is quite suitable, especially since the duration here is a little more than an hour.
6 out of 10
Fear Alien Lightbulbs in the Sky or Project Blue Book
The average American Morris family goes on a fascinating trip to the mountains of North Carolina. However, the rest that should have been the best in their, to put it mildly, gray life turns into a nightmare, for the Morrises will be destined to learn that not all the lights in the sky are identical with the blue moon and the small tiny tiny diamond stars, and that behind the curtain of gloomy skies are those who are always nearby.
Far from the most common and successfully executed plot about the abduction of people by alien green men who adore anal sensing and other experiments on fluttering people, within the horror genre has gained only a couple of more or less successful and relatively decent readings. From the classic ever-memorable 'X-Files' to the recent 'Dark Skies' and the long-running 'Alien Abducted' of 1998, from the unbridled-blooded and schizophrenic-mad-nosed 'Alien Conquerors' of Jake West and the erotically-deviant 'Dalek-Abducted' of Novisky-Barley to the artfully mystifying 'Fourth'.
Moreover, in the framework of pseudo-documentary stories about abductions by alien killers generally found their embodiment rarely and hardly aptly, except for the above-mentioned “Abducted Aliens”, which are the best mockumentary-horror story about this sinister abduction, “Fourth kind” in the fluff and ashes of the criticized “Skinwalker Ranch”. Another picture on this non-trivial topic, the directorial debut of the American producer Matty Beckerman, the picture “Alien abduction” in 2014, the plot of which is allegedly based on real events, unfortunately, from the ideal was extremely far, although excessive thrashing, however, also without suffering. “Alien abduction” is just an extremely raw and devoid of any non-triviality execution work, almost student experience in the genre of horror in general and mocumentaries – in particular.
Being a symbiosis of motifs from "Gloomy Skies" and "Skinwalker Ranch", Matty Beckerman's film initially does not bother for the audience even to jump above their heads, not to be carried away by specific styles or scattering of interesting characters, does not try to attract fascinating intrigue and extraordinary narrative. The film is devoid of almost everything that makes it a horror, and not a household sketch from the life of the middle class, unwittingly faced with the events of a mystical and fantastic plan. However, in fact, it is a sketch with a taste of domestic troubles and family squabbles that comes out, and not a full-fledged sample in its genre, because the direction in the picture is too typical for such paintings, the plot is architypal and too predictable, and the intelligible finale is not compensated by logical arrangements and a certain realism.
It is the lack of novelty and did for the film Matty Beckerman truly disservice, simply burying alive all the potential in the picture. Therefore, “Alien abduction” is not able to either interest or attract even avid connoisseurs of the genre due to its hopeless stylistic grayness, generous artistic ordinariness and acting triviality, scattered throughout the short timekeeping of the picture like rat poison. And even the fierce in its hopelessness soundtrack, much more creepy than the film itself, and even all sorts of attempts to classic suspense and postmodern macabra are not compensated by anything. The atmosphere of pseudo-reality is destroyed at the root and instead of the inexhaustible fear of alien flying saucers, the viewer is destined to fear only malicious sky light bulbs, making their non-trivial bloodless judgment, the outcome of which is clear from the very beginning.
5 out of 10
After reading the trailer, I couldn’t wait to watch the whole movie, so I got it at the first opportunity. Alas, he has not yet received a Russian translation, and due to my knowledge of the English language (and its American dialect), I decided to watch this film in the original. So please forgive me for probably having some subjectivity in the review, because when watching a movie in another language, the focus is better on some things and worse on others than when watching with translation.
For fans of horror immediately advise the aforementioned trailer not to watch. He will scare, intrigue, but completely deprive viewing the film of his zest, if anyone can see it for themselves, of course.
The plot positions itself as based on real events. Against the background of many “mocumentaries” of this kind, doubtful from the point of view of the authenticity of what happened, take at least “The Fourth Kind”, (2009), the fact that this film was shot at least based on real events (which is easy to find on the Internet), I was very pleased.
Started so cute and life-ordinary family journey in this case for us on an amateur camera shoots a desperate 11-year-old boy Riley, according to the tradition of the genre does not lose composure under any circumstances and does not let the device out of his hands. Later his feat continues someone else, but not the essence.
Watching foreign films in the original, it is extremely rare to make claims to the actors. One gets the impression that all the negativity attributed to them is the “merit” of our voices, professional and not so much. So here, there is nothing to complain about in this sense - a very realistic presentation of the material, the "effect of presence", there is no playfulness and inadequacy, and the whole film does not leave the sense of reality of what is happening. Disclosure of personalities, dramatic backstory, twisted plot, of course, there is no, because the classical genre of "mocumentaries" is not at all characteristic.
Regarding the same scrimmers, sudden aspirational moments and action - here everything is rare, but accurately. At least against the background of most representatives of the genre, the film looks clearly more interesting and convincing and makes you cling to the screen without breaking away - thanks to a not so interesting picture as the rapid changeability of the plot, which does not allow you to miss a frame.
To top it off, I would say that I really liked the beautiful landscapes at the beginning, the abandoned dungeons, the creepy soundtrack there and these brutal defects on video shooting at the proximity of something paranormal, so characteristic of the genre. The film is good.