The Fourth Kind was the fifth movie I chose this week and 2 days after watching Signs I was getting a chance to watch a movie based on a real life alien encounter. Going into this movie I had no prior knowledge of what this film was about but after seeing it I will be researching the history behind this film. Below is my detailed review.
This film starred Milla Jovovick as Abigail Tyler a psychologist who recently lost her husband to a mysterious death. Elias Koteas plays Tyler's psychologist Abel Campos and Will Patton plays Sheriff August. I really like Patton from previous roles especially as Chick in Armageddon and Jovovick as the Perfect Being in the 5th Element both films which co-stared Bruce Willis.
This film is part documentary and part movie with both real audio and video exerts from the original case in real life as well your regular movie making as well. This films real life audio and video clips make it so much more interesting and scary and even more so for an individual like myself who believes aliens exist. Some of the footage seen throughout the movie is downright crazy.
This film begins with Milla Jovovich talking to the audience stating that they can choose their own opinion on what they are about to see. Ive got mine and its the same its always been but I will admit I am very interested in this story. In the beginning of the film it is shown that Tyler's husband Will dies at what looks to be an attack while sleeping, a knife attack in fact. After some footage of some interviews with the real Tyler we start to see what kind of life she is leading after her husband's death. On top of one tragic situation came another as her daughter all of a sudden out of the blue with no explanation whatsoever became blind.
As the movie moves forward Tyler was seeing giving advice to her patients and she started seeing a pattern, a very concerning pattern. That pattern she was seeing or actually hearing from them was that they were all having visions and nightmares of the same thing, an owl. This confused Tyler but she didn't feel there was need for alarm until something happened that next night, something tragic and something that would change this town forever. Tyler received a desperate call to go to one of her patients houses, one of the ones who was seeing the owl. His name was Tommy Fisher and he had snapped, freaked out, and went insane. He was holding his family hostage and after Tyler arrived and got on the phone with Fisher a short conversation took place, he then apologized and shot his wife in the head, turned the gun towards his children and shot them and then pointed it under his chin and pulled the trigger and killed himself! It gets even more chilling. This entire footage, the real life footage was on video and played in the film and it was shocking to say the least.
After this incident Sheriff August grilled Tyler about her psychologist methods specifically hypnosis. In a sorta round about way he suggested that had she not used hypnosis on Tommy Fisher his family might still be alive. She defended her methods. Another patient of hers requested to meet her after Tommy's death. Meanwhile Tyler's doctor Abel Campos flew into town to make sure she was ok. After talking with Tyler what he was really doing was coming there to ask her whether or not she really felt that she needed to continue doing her work. She felt she did and continued to do so and had her meeting with Scott and Cindy Stracinski. With their permission she had her doctor, Campos sit in on the meeting and even tape it. What they saw was terrifying! Almost immediately after the hypnosis started Scott became agitated and became more so at an alarming rate. Something was happening, something really bad was happening. After some violent shakes and screams and convulsions Tyler was forced to end the session and afterwards Scott threw up. It was evident that at the end of his session he was getting sicker and sicker and she had to stop it. What she saw in this session was only concerning her more but it would get worse.
After her appointment with the Stracinski's Tyler's receptionist came in and gave Tyler an audio tape recorder of hers that Tyler had recorded the night of Tommy Fisher's murder/suicide. As she listened to the tape she heard loud horrific screams and unusual noises and it was evident that something was causing her to do this, something had come into her house and in her room and caused her to act out as she did. This only grew her suspicion more that something dangerous was going on in Nome, Alaska. The next morning she received another frantic call, this time from Scott Stracinski's wife, Cindy. Both Tyler and Campos rushed over to his house and he was in bed visibly shaken with the covers up to his neck. Tyler sat next to him and started to put him in hypnosis once again while Campos was taping. No sooner was he under he became quiet and calm for about 10 seconds then out of nowhere he pops up with his back and neck popping straight up with his legs in the same laid down position and screamed out. My wife who actually watched this one with me screamed out loud herself and it startled me as well as it was something I did not expect. Again what made this so much more real and dramatic was that there was real life footage caught on camera again.
After seeing this take place Tyler goes come and starts to pack. Her children who are concerned aren't really understanding what is taking place but her son knows it has to do with his Dad. She receives a visit from Sheriff August who notifies her that Scott is paralyzed from the neck down and again he blames her and almost arrests her. Her doctor, Campos shows up and convinces the Sheriff there is no grounds to do that and there is no need and the Sheriff says she will be put under 24hr. observation. The Sheriff who is on call watching the Tyler residence notices something very strange in the middle of the night. Both audio and visual footage of the real incident is shown and it you can hear the cop say something is taking the them into the sky something is flying. You can hear the fear in his voice and eventually Sheriff August and crew arrive and go upstairs to find Tyler and her son. Tyler is hysterical stating that they took her daughter Abbey and explained how all while both the Sheriff and her son blamed her. The Sheriff took her son from her and put him in protective custody because he felt she was dangerous and not capable of taking care of him.
Tyler decides to do some investigating of her own and went to her husbands office and found a book and note in the book with contact information for a Awolowa Odusami. After a call to him is made he too flies out to see Tyler and based on the audio he hears he feels it is something not human due to the language that is being spoken. Both Campos and Odusami interview Tyler and put her in hypnosis and the results are shocking. Through her session she too was obsessed and had convulsions and spasms as if her body was being taken over. At the end of her session she uttered the words "I am God". Tyler awakens in the hospital with Sheriff August and then Campos walks in. The Sheriff shows her 2 pictures, one of her husbands head in the morgue with a bullet hole and another picture of the gun that shot him. The Sheriff explained that he killed himself and nobody came in and attacked him. He claimed that Tyler was insane. The end of the film shows the real Abigail Tyler in a wheelchair claiming to stick by her story talking with the interviewer and after some captions show written into the beautiful Alaskan scenery the film ends with the interviewer and Milla Jovovich stating that in the end you can have your own opinion on what took place.
All in all I felt this was a pretty good movie. It didn't exactly have a ton of exciting scenes throughout but the dramatic scenes in this film were intensified by the real story behind them and in most cases the real footage of them. The location of Nome, Alaska is beautiful and it reminded me of the location for the Twilight films. A lot of trees and scenery and a small town nearby. I think all of the actors were good but what I loved most was the real video footage of everything that took place. It was creepy to see what happened. Although this film was not action packed throughout it did keep my interest and I enjoyed it very much. I would easily give this film a B-!
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