"The Fourth Kind"

Release Date: November 6, 2009



The movie “The Fourth Kind” is listed as a fact-based thriller involving an ongoing unsolved mystery in Alaska, where one town has seen an extraordinary number of unexplained disappearances during the past 40 years and there are accusations of a federal cover up.

I can’t resist a mystery, so admittedly, I did a little research into the story to find out that since the 1960s a lot of visiting Native Americans going into Nome went missing. In fact, since 1990, 10 have gone missing. No signs of what happened to them, no bodies found. The FBI was called in to find out if there as a serial killer. The FBI pretty much chalked it up to local bars and drinking and either wandering off into the cold and drowning in the river or being preyed upon by opportunists.


So, how did a story such as that become a movie about abductions?


That had me wondering. When a movie talks about having real footage of actual hypnotherapy sessions with abductees, it smacks of “Blair Witch Project” promotion. Come on, how many of you searched out the story of the Blair Witch and the missing film crew? Well, it appears this story is much the same. The doctor the movie was based on has a “mock” website registered by “GoDaddy.com” so that about says it all (note there are no contact addresses on the site).

Admittedly, I am totally cool with promotion for movies that crosses the “reality” threshold. I remember the “Blair Witch Project” and its online promotion was what made a budget nothing movie into an enormous success. I also, however, can’t help but be cautious when assuming promotional materials are reality. I’m not a gullible type, so I tend to be skeptical when they say anything is based on a true story (remember “A Haunting in Connecticut” and “Amityville Horror?”)

It won’t stop me from seeing the movie. I’m hoping the “reality” aspects of it will make it seem much more visceral. I can’t help thinking of that scene in “Signs” when the brother is in the closet watching the film footage of a birthday party in which the alien is caught by viewers. It was so much like how it would go down in real life that it gave me goosebumps. I’m hoping this movie does the same. I’m ready for a reality feel in a fiction movie (it worked in “Cloverfield”).

If this trailer above is any indication, it’s going to be a tense and exciting ride.

Comments

  1. autumn...i STILL never watched 'cloverleaf' yet!! *smacks self in face*!

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  2. I have an awrd for you! Come to pick it up!

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  3. Libby;
    Yeah, you need to see "Cloverfield," it is really very unique and very very creepy. It even gave me nightmares--not easy to do.

    Geogina; I will come and check it out. :-)

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  4. from what i've seen and heard the doctor in the movie is based on more than a mock website. (tho it seems the one you link to was infact a fake)
    and that not only have there been alot of unsolved missing persons cases aound nome, but aslo high level of ufo sightings.

    suposedly, the film is a blend of actors and old interview footage.

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  5. Hey Carl;
    Getting the story behind it is a sorted mess, but the only official reports about the missing people during that 40-year period all refer to the FBI thinking it had to do with drinking and the elements. That's where they left it. Where the movie picks it up is conjecture as far as what happened to the locals. I like those elements because they make a movie more plausible when you take something based on a story from real life. That's why Amityville worked so well because a man did indeed shoot his family in the house, but why and what happened after that...pure legend and intrigue. I'm sure once it's released there'll be a huge talk about whether it's the truth or not with folks digging around. Just like Blair Witch. That's what I like about ghost hunting so much. First, there's a legend, then you do a little digging to see why it started and if any of the legend has truth to it. I love a good mystery.

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  6. We saw the trailer for this when we went to see District 9. It creeped me out! Just from the freaking trailer! I hope the whole movie is that good!!!

    And Libby I second Autumnforest's recommendation: Cloverfield's worth a watch!

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  7. I don't think I've even heard about Cloverfield...

    I remember many many years ago some politician went missing...Oh I can't recall a name or any details, but it went on for years. Never was put to rest.

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  8. Courtney, I was seeing District 9 when I saw the trailer too. It caught me as a very Blair Witch feel, so I had to dig up the info. I can't wait to see it.

    @eloh;
    "Cloverfield" is awesome. It's done through a handheld camera by a guy at a going away party for his friend in New York when suddenly the city is under attack. You basically follow this group of friends running through the dark streets trying to escape this "thing" and all you can see is what the camera shows. It was brilliantly done and very chilling. It was like a Godzilla movie x15. If you like horror, it's a must-see.

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  9. I noticed the image of the owl's face around the 1:00 mark also looked similar to the face of the typical 'grey' alien. That plus all of the scenes of people talking to a psychiatrist are reminiscent of psychiatrists hypnotizing people who claim to have been abducted by aliens. So I have a feeling this movie is about alien abductions...even if the theme is only implied.

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  10. Jeff;
    You're totally right. This is about encounters of the "Fourth Kind" with aliens. First kind is seeing odd lights or UFOs, the second kind is paralysis, frightened animals, burn marks, radiation, lost time, and interference with electrical. The third kind (thank you Spielberg) is seeing an alien or making communication. The fourth kind is abduction. Some say that there's a fifth kind that results in lasting injury or death (like a case of a woman who received irradiation burns and eventual death).

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