★ 6 / 10
Based on a true story (!) by Whitley
Crazypiglady
Based on a true story (!) by Whitley Streiber. He and his family come to realise they may have been visited by aliens. This is far from the zap and blast…
Based on a true story (!) by Whitley Streiber. He and his family come to realise they may have been visited by aliens. This is far from the zap and blast effects of much of this genre and instead takes a subtler, darker and more personal (it's not an alien invasion, more like the personal accounts) approach. In doing this, it becomes much more sinister without being a horror film, there are some truly dark moments. I remember the 'blue doctor' visiting his son very clearly. It has dated somewhat and has its imperfections but in not relying too heavily on special effects, it invites the viewer to share the emotions.
★ 5 / 10
Worthwhile for camp value
cornflakeboy20
Christopher Walken gives a distractingly bizarre performance in this trippy alien abduction movie. At times, he is bizarre and manic, going from a Dad joke…
Christopher Walken gives a distractingly bizarre performance in this trippy alien abduction movie. At times, he is bizarre and manic, going from a Dad joke making fuddy dud, to a somewhat menacing dangerous character (such as when he shoots up his home, and receives a muted reaction from his wife). He seems unfocused and indecisive, as he is both convinced of his alien abduction but on the fence about receiving therapy. This kind of day to day indecision may be common in real life, but it is odd to see a character change his mind with each scene in a movie. As in Fire in the Sky, the characters' positive traits are overemphasized so as to make them seem like everyday Americans and not alien abduction kooks. This is somewhat undone by the strange nature of Walken's performance. The director also throws in seeming Easter eggs to cast doubts on the story, throwing in references to alcohol and making the dream sequences ridiculous, campy and trippy. We also know the lead character is a writer, and that this would make a compelling book. At one point, when Walken is journeying to the cabin to perhaps commune with the aliens again, he is passed by a Miller Lite truck. The dream sequences are some of the most bizarre I've seen committed to film. They are trippier than David Lynch, and various camp musicals like The Apple. There are costumed gorilla aliens and dancing slim aliens that invite Walken to an orgy replete with anal probing, all while Walken recites lyrics from The Beatles. This makes it rather hard to believe. I have heard the author feels that the movie was not entirely accurate to his story, but his name is all over it, so he could have exercised greater control. I can only recommend this as a camp film. I will say it is far more entertaining than Fire in the Sky, but the one alien scene we get in Fire in the Sky is more frightening than the alien activity we see here.
★ 4 / 10
O.M.G.
P3n-E-W1s3
I have always been a Whitley Strieber fan. And when the news broke about his alien abduction people were sceptical, myself included. Then he published the…
I have always been a Whitley Strieber fan. And when the news broke about his alien abduction people were sceptical, myself included. Then he published the books Communion and Transformation under none fiction. I would like to consider myself broadminded. After all, I've seen a few things that cannot be easily explained away. I've yet to read his factual accounts so I thought what better way to catch-up (kinda) than by watching the film. All things considered, it does have a great cast... what can go wrong.
As the opening credits rolled I noticed Strieber had written the screenplay, so this movie should be sticking close to the book. If this is the case then I'm in no rush to read the novels. Strieber is a strange man, to begin with. He videos practically his every move, even most of his working day. I couldn't think of anything more numbing than watching videos of me typing this or other reviews. I can understand it from the aspect of creativity and idea creation by why while you work? And where was the camera during these abductions?
Walken does his usual wonderful job of adding to Strieber's character. Though, most of the time it makes him more irritatingly bizarre. I also would have thought Strieber to be a little more open to the situation he finds himself in considering the subject matter he writes. He comes off strangely closed and apathetic. Walken's styling only hinders the film and the story.
The strongest cast members were Lindsay Crouse, as Anne Strieber, and Frances Sternhagen, as Dr Janet Duffy. These added some glue to the whole proceedings. Though, at times, some of the scenes were so badly written and directed that no acting skills would have saved them.
Now to the directing. Phillipe Mora (he of those classic films Howling II - Stirba - Werewolf Bitch and Pterodactyl Woman From Beverly Hills) is okay at the normal point and shoot stuff. I have to give him credit for trying to use light and shadows to create atmosphere and tension... which came nowhere close to working. Truthfully, these attempts only caused more problems with the scenes. When the little blue men come and cart off Strieber you recoil in shame - in empathy to the director and the actor. It's not shocking, scary, or tension-ridden. It's laughable.
Strieber does little to put up a fight and appears to be a bored crowd surfer at some tiresome third rate garage band rock concert. I'm sure I saw Walken stifle a yawn or two.
Then you get to the aliens themselves. These are the worst looking creatures to ever be filmed. It didn't take too long to realise that each of the alien's facial features was fixed. There's one animatronic blue who's eye's and eyebrows move - wow. The rest, well, is just pure rubbish. Even the grey turned out to be a lovely shade of boring magnolia. Though, towards the climax of the film, we are shown the reason why their features don't move. It's a mask... so what's hiding underneath. Well, by this time you don't care. You just want it to be over.
Now we're at the juicy part, the abduction scenes... There's a moment in the story when Anne asks her husband if he's on drugs? These sequences backup her need to ask. I think they're supposed to be dreamlike and nightmarish. However, Mora and Walken take them a step further into a weird and outlandish locale. I was flabbergasted at the nonsense I was watching. At parts, it's unintentionally funny, at others it's awkward, but overall, they're dull.
So what we get here is a film with unbelievable characters, plot holes fly a 747 into, continuity errors in script and reason, badly directed main characters, awful special effects, and mind-numbing dream sequences or alien abductions.
The major trouble is the bad stuff doesn't become evident until halfway through the film. So, if you're like me. If you're over twenty minutes into the film you'll stay with it in the hopes it'll get better. BE WARNED: This film doesn't. Even at the conclusion, it stutters to an end.
There's nothing about this film that I would recommend. I am now quite upset that I wasted over an hour and a half watching this film. Well, it's not a total waste of time, hopefully, you've been warned away. Take a look at my lists to see where this film placed in my charts and to find a better film to watch - There's plenty out there.
46%
TOMATOMETER
· 13 reviews
46%
AUDIENCE
· 2.5K ratings
5.5/10
9K
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Christopher Walken is scarier than the Aliens.