The Fourth Kind, Blu-ray (2010)
Starring: Mila Jovovich, Will Patton, Corey Johnson
Studio: Universal 61111406 [3/16/10]
Video: 2:35 anamorphic/enhanced 1080p HD
Audio: English & Sumarian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, DD 2.0, French & Spanish DTS 5.1
Extras: Deleted scenes, Pocket BLU, BD Live interactive features, D-Box motion enabled
Length: 1 hour 38 minutes
Rating: ***½
One of the online user comments about this feature, which was in theaters in November, asked “Where is Fox Mulder when we need him?” And Roger Ebert said he was bitterly disappointed to learn that the horror film is a hoax. I must agree – some of those fake “actual videos” of hypnosis sessions with people supposedly affected by alien abductions really had me going. As a movie hoax The Fourth Kind follows a similar sort of ploy to the Blair Witch Project and the recent Paranormal Activity, but is certainly a better film than the first (haven’t see the latter). However, as film hoaxes go, Werner Herzog’s fake documentary Incident at Loch Ness, surpasses these. As with that one, even the box notes for The Fourth Kind talk about the “actual case studies” it is based on. Hogwash. By the way, in case you’re a sci-fi virgin, The Fourth Kind is the most advanced type of alien encounter – abduction. Critics generally gave the movie a thumbs-down, but it did well at the box office.
It all takes place on the edge of the world in Nome Alaska, where it claims more people have gone missing than in any other city in the U.S. Psychologist Tyler (Jovovich) and her husband have been videotaping therapy sessions with traumatized patients. But then her husband is killed and she strikes on alone to learn what is happening to these people. There seem to be similarities in their stories – seeing a white owl, being awakened around 3 AM, having a violent and fearful traumatic experience when hypnotized. Some of these abduction experiences are so disturbing to them that the victims commit suicide. A new element here which I hadn’t seen before was purported audio recordings of some of the abductions in which we hear muffled voices speaking ancient Sumerian – a long-dead language from a culture whose remaining art often shows what look like rockets.
The supposed actual therapy video excerpts are shown on the left of a divided screen, with the studio-shot scene with actors on the right, and sometimes the two voices nearly in sync saying the same thing. After a number of digressions, things really get dramatic when one of the unfortunate subjects levitates off his bed and convulses so violently that we later learn he broke his neck. An expert in the ancient Sumerian language flies in to participate. A dramatic tension is established by the local sheriff (Patton), who refuses to believe in the alien abduction bit and is sure Tyler is insane. The big climax is the alien abduction from her house of her small daughter, who had become blind upon learning of her father’s death (Conversion Disorder). The sheriff wants to arrest Tyler for the disappearance of her daughter, as well as somehow causing other accidents that occurred to people she had hypnotized.
Though there’s no need for advanced Blu-ray resolution in the “actual videos,” the rest of the film looks great, and Nome looks like a quite nice place – though I noticed there was never any snow. The deleted scenes are often similar to what’s in the film, and are really not worth watching. The original videos were supposedly shot in 2000. Someone observed if they were the real thing some of them would undoubtedly have appeared on YouTube by now. Also, Universal Pictures paid $20,000 to the Alaska Press Club in a legal settlement due to the film and its original press kit having included purported articles shown as appearing in seven different actual newspapers and media organizations. A representative said the attribution of false news stories to real publications undermined the publications’ credibility.
Although I sheepishly admit I was as taken in with this one as with Herzog’s hoax upon initially viewing it, I did have some suspicions. One was the death-warmed-over makeup appearance of the “real” Dr. Tyler in the “actual” footage. Of course she’s not nearly as good looking as Jovovich, but why did the others in the actual videos have more more normal skin tones than her? It does pull back to show she’s in a wheelchair at the end – she supposedly also broke her neck along the way. There are “where are they now?” credits for everyone – including the sheriff – shown over the end of the film (but none for the guy who broke his neck…) Regardless, the The Fourth Kind does provide some scary fun, and would be a must-see for anyone interested in the subject of alien abduction.
– John Sunier
