Next in my Halloween series is a movie that, while not really the traditional horror movie that befits the Halloween mystique, is quite effective in sending chills down ones spinal chord. There's plenty to lament on here, Alien abduction, ancient extraterrestrial encounters, cheap marketing ploys and Milla Jovovich putting down her zombie killing weaponry for once to play a fucking doctor (perhaps the biggest suspension of disbelief was needed there).
But first, the trailer for your consideration.
Synopsis:
Modern-day, Alaska, where-mysteriously since the 1960s-a disproportionate number of the population has been reported missing every year.
Despite multiple FBI investigations of the region, the truth has never been discovered. Here in this remote region, psychologist Dr. Abigail Tyler began videotaping sessions with traumatized patients and unwittingly discovered some of the most disturbing evidence of alien abduction ever documented.
Now I need to start with the one true negative feeling I have towards the movie so I can get it out of my system and focus on the positives, because in all honesty I enjoyed it. The negative I am referring to is the cheap and more than a little scuzzy marketing ploy of claiming that this is a true story, I despise this tactic because it is a reflection of how big business has saturated the film industry.
American cinema has largely been stripped of all Merritt, dignity and prestige due to the infection that is corporate greed.
It has resulted in a systematic ruination of a once noble art form and created a distinction between the words "movie" and "film".
America churns out countless movies solely in the name of turning a profit and has essentially tossed the art of storytelling and film making in the garbage.
It disgusts me every time I am faced with this fact.
Now that I have kvetched, let's move on to the things I enjoyed here.
Starting with the casting, the movie is well held up with a surprising performance from Jovovich as Dr. Tyler and solid as always actors Elias Koteas and Will Patton.
The editing added a good disorienting factor at times, jumping between the "re-enactment" and the "actual footage" from Dr. Tyler's tapes really keeps you off balance and allows you to let go and have a good scare.
Another aspect I liked was the implementing of the theories of one Erich Von Daniken, the author who brought the notion of Aliens contacting and impacting mankind in ancient times into the spotlight.
I highly recommend reading his book "Chariots of the gods", it will make you think to say the least.
But back to the movie, the fact that they allude to the aliens having ties to the Sumerians and even vaguely hint at the "Planet X" theory (I wont go into that, if your curious, google will provide plenty to satisfy you.) is very bold and deeply terrifying, it served to heighten the overall tension of the movie to a fantastic level in the third act. The "possession" scene will stick with you for some time and will make the scenes from the exorcist seem funny by comparison.
The feelings of uncertainty coupled with the way the movie portrays the Extraterrestrial forces as something we are utterly powerless against create an experience of deeply felt, primordial fear.
A fear that is present in all of us, the fear of what we do not know and can never understand, the feeling of universal inferiority in the presence of a higher life form.
Few movies are able to channel this fear and awaken it in us in it's experience, but this movie, while not without it's flaws, does just that.
Overall, I have to give this movie four out of scale of five and I highly recommend you give it a try for yourself, especially if you are always up for a good fright.
Katmandu, that is all.
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