I love alien movies. I also love found footage movies. So imagine my delight when a few years ago I stumbled upon a movie that not only offered both of these things but also was legitimately good and unsettling. The Fourth Kind is a 2009 movie that mixes traditional cinematography with found footage, documentary-style scenes to create an immersive narrative look at the world of alien theory. Starring one of my favorite actresses, Milla Jovovich, the movie takes place in the city of Nome, Alaska, a town that can be described as the Mecca of extraterrestrial experiences. The movie follows Milla’s character, psychologist (??) Abigail Tyler, as she completes psychohypnotism therapy with several clients who claim bizarre supernatural experiences. As the movie goes on, Dr. Tyler encounters her own unexplained events and begins to explore the world of alien encounters, specifically abduction, a supposed phenomenon that was classified as the “fourth kind” of extraterrestrial encounter by real-life astronomer and UFO expert J. Allen Hynek.
The Fourth Kind gives a legitimately immersive view of the the world of alien experiences, and it really does atmospheric horror as well as any other movie I’ve seen. Many of the scenes are quite goose bump-inducing, and the inherent creepiness of aliens and abductions give the movie an effortless flow of strange, unsettling, and downright disturbing material even just with the simple exchanges between characters. The fact that the movie is portrayed as a documentary increases the creepy factor, and while there are no jump scares in this movie, the end will leave you feeling both uncomfortable and paranoid if not completed unsettled.
Speaking of the documentary style, I must be the bearer of bad news: The Fourth Kind is “based on true events” in the same way that the 6 bowls of honey nut Cheerios I ate last night are a part of a heart-healthy diet. While there are evidences of missing persons in Nome, Alaska, as well as accounts of alien encounters, the footage used is nothing more than special effects and an impressive cinematography. I know this confused several people at first when the movie came out, and as good as The Fourth Kind is, no need to avoid Alaska, friends. I’ve actually heard it’s quite nice this time of year.
