I live under a rock, what can I say?
I just recently made the acquaintance of Olatunde Osunsanmi's The Fourth Kind, and, boy howdy, I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, yes, I understand the claim that this film is based on a true story is a dubious one at best...well, at least I know that now. You see, I watched The Fourth Kind with absolutely no idea what I was about to see - none, whatsoever, and because of that I was entertained, intrigued and sufficiently creeped out.
Watching this movie put me in mind of Whitley Strieber's book, Communion. I thought the same thing after watching The Fourth Kind as I did after reading Strieber's tale of extraterrestrial trickery; somebody's got one hell of a great imagination, or this really happened.
Maybe it was the split screen scenes (especially the one where the troubled husband holds his family hostage at gun point), or the Sumerian speaking alien / daemon recorded on audio tape, or the fucking creepy owls (shades of Twin Peaks), or maybe it was Milla Jovovich playing against type ... or maybe, just maybe, it was good old fashioned effective film making.
If you have not seen The Fourth Kind, give it a whirl. If, you have not read up on it, then by all means, DON'T! Wait until after you've seen it before you try to deconstruct it. Maybe, then, you'll enjoy it as much as I did.
