I'm not gonna lie, this freaked me out! For you fans out there who enjoyed the Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity, this should be your next movie in line to watch.
The 4th Kind takes on an interesting technique in storytelling. It tells the audience from the start that they will be viewing documentary footage along with reanacted cinematic footage. There are a lot of split sceens that show both reels and it works really well. It really makes the viewer buy into the story being real, but I also think they overdid it by stating at the start of the movie that what you are about to see is real; almost making it seem unreal as the Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity didn't need to do this. It seems like they are trying to force the authenticity down your throat.
But overall, it is a unique film and I would suggest giving it a shot. It seems like it will be a hit or miss. I can't see people sitting on the fence about this one. I viewed it with an open mind and really got into, resulting in me walking around the house with the lights on constantly for about a week. Being scared can be fun though. If you want to question the movie, do it after it's over and not during the middle of it.
Watch the Trailer
Major, MAJOR miss for me. I actually spent the entire duration of the movie alternating between trying really, really hard not to fall asleep (on account of it just failed utterly to grab my interest for more than seconds at a time, plus I went into it tired) and laughing my head off at all the cheesiness and poorly-realized B-grade thriller and horror elements. Also the complete and utter misrepresentation of hypnosis and its effects in general bothered me, but that's more as a hobbyist with a pet peeve than as a legitimate audience member.
ReplyDeleteI think, though, what most of all bothered me about the movie was just how overblown it was. It seemed like, as you mentioned, they are trying far, far too hard to convince the audience that it Actually Happened and that Everything You See Is Real, and as a result it just sorta is impossible to even slightly believe.