The Fourth Kind (2009)

Director:

Olatunde Osunsanmi

Writers (WGA):

Olatunde Osunsanmi (screenplay)
Olatunde Osunsanmi (story) ...

Release Date:

6 November 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

There are four kinds of alien encounters. The fourth kind is abduction.

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Abduction | Alaska | Disappearance | UFO

Cast

Milla Jovovich	...	Abbey Tyler
Will Patton	...	Sheriff August
Hakeem Kae-Kazim	...	Awolowa Odusami
Corey Johnson	...	Tommy Fisher
Enzo Cilenti	...	Scott Stracinsky
Elias Koteas	...	Abel Campos
Eric Loren	...	Deputy Ryan
Mia McKenna-Bruce	...	Ashley Tyler
Raphaël Coleman	...	Ronnie Tyler
Daphne Alexander	...	Theresa
Alisha Seaton	...	Cindy Stracinski
Tyne Rafaeli	...	Sarah Fisher
Pavel Stefanov	...	Timothy Fisher
Kiera McMaster	...	Joe Fisher
Sarah Houghton	...	Jessica

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violent/disturbing images, some terror, thematic elements and brief sexuality.

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #44661) | Japan:G | Ireland:15A | Singapore:PG | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Gold Circle Films

Trivia:

The movie's hoaxed interviews have angered the families of real missing persons in and around Nome, Alaska, for trivializing their loss. Melanie Edwards, Vice President of Kawerak Inc (an organization representing tribal peoples in Alaska) described the movie as "insensitive to family members of people who have gone missing in Nome over the years". Universal has refused to discuss the movie with that organization or with local journalists.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the film, there is a sheriff and deputies that provide police service to Tyler's home. This is wrong, as Nome has a police department, and there are no sheriffs in the state of Alaska.

Movie Connections:

References Communion (1989)

Prepare to be lied to by a terrible film.

The Fourth Kind goes to great lengths to convince you that everything in the film has actually happened. The commercials for the film claim it to be a true story, and the movie opens with Milla Jovovich vouching for the truth of the story. No "based on a true story". Milla Jovovich suddenly appears at the beginning of the story amid a spinning camera to inform you, in an all too familiar PSA style, that "Hi, I'm Milla Jovovich, I'm an actor portraying a psychologist". Long story short, her and the director inform you that what you are about to watch is "real" and "serious".

Then the movie plays, and you get shots of the Milla playing her character sharing split screen with the "real" archive footage. The archive footage works for a while, until the story decides to kick in and the footage gets more bizarre. In a method used more conservatively by shows like The X-Files, and films like paranormal activity, the camera cuts out during any action and you get "VHS blur" that obscures the entire screen. The entire screen is obscured for upwards of 30 seconds at a time, and it becomes obvious that they are abusing this effect to avoid using actual special effects.

Actual on-screen special effects are poorly done. They are obviously computer edited, and what's worse is that they consist of effects easily available in consumer level products like Adobe After-effects and Sony Vegas.

The sheriff who works against Milla throughout the film is a terrible actor. Enough said. Milla herself looks more like an owl than the owl aliens her clients report seeing. The film also adds lots of nonsensical morals and metaphors that are completely pointless. I won't spoil anything, but the aliens at one point say "I am... I am ______", blank being the most obvious thing they could say. Of course, this metaphorical plot line is dropped instantly, just to make sure this film has no depth.

And then after several scenes of what is supposed to be Milla Jovovich's character in real life (who looks more like a crack addict than an abductee) the film abruptly ends. We get another PSA scene where Milla Jovovich gives you facts about FBI visits to the town from the film completely taken out of context, (She implies the visits related to abduction, when in fact they related to drinking and exposure to elements related incidents) and then proceeds to inform you that made-up missing little girl was never found.

What would truly be an emotional ending is, however, in no way emotional the second you learn that the film and all the characters were completely fabricated. There is no evidence that any of the characters exist. No one in Nome remembers any of these events. Nome's sheriff which the film informs you couldn't be reached for comment, was in fact reached for comment, in which he reinforced that the movie was nonsense and truly a stain on the town that would hurt tourism.

In the end, it's a truly week film that's only shining grace is that it is a true story.

The only problem being that it isn't.

The worst part of the entire film however, is when the credits roll and the film offers no disclaimer to inform you that it was fictional. The film effectively lies to you. The end.