"Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County" Movie Review

    I have always been interested in the subject matter of the paranormal even as a kid.  I found the stories interesting and frightening all at the same time, especially if the subject matter involved aliens.  Just seeing pictures of aliens used to scare me but for some reason, I felt drawn to the subject matter.  I read about incidents both famous and not so well known and watched countless shows and documentaries.

    One such special aired on the now defunct UPN channel.  The special was called “Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County”.  The special is also known as “Alien Abduction: The McPherson Tape” since the family in the video was supposedly the McPherson family.  As I later found out, it was a remake of a video known as “The McPherson Tape”.

    The film focuses on the McPherson family as they enjoy a family gathering (a Birthday party).  Things quickly turn topsy turvy as members of the family explore the woods outside and find a UFO complete with alien occupants.  The family than had to fight off the aliens as they try to abduct the family.

    The film was presented on UPN as genuine footage (even though they clearly knew it wasn’t real).  This misrepresentation caused a great deal of controversy.  I remember seeing this and thinking it might be real as a kid.  I won’t lie, it scared the heck out of me. This was a time before the internet was widely available so fact checking footage like this was difficult.  Interestingly enough, one of the actors later appeared in “Battlestar Galactica” during the Pegasus episodes.

    The film remains scary to this day due to the fact that it feels real.  It is a found footage film in the vain of “The Blair Witch Project” but with aliens.  During the night, watching this in the dark, it’s hard not to be frightened and the film still holds up as a result.

Grade: B

"Cloverfield" Movie Review

    When the first trailer hit for the mysterious project that was later to be revealed as "Cloverfield", the internet went wild with speculation and theories.  Was it a secret "Godzilla" remake?  Was it a "Voltron" movie?  J.J. Abrams was producing it, so was it connected to "Lost"?  So many people were sure they knew what "Cloverfield" was going to be.  I mean, the trailer didn't even reveal a title, so it had to be connected to something, right?  Almost all of them were wrong.

    "Cloverfield" turned out to be something original and not connected to any other franchise.  It was it's own beast, so to speak.  "Cloverfield" is basically just a found footage style movie about a large monster who decides to destroy New York.  We aren't given much detail about what the monster is doing here or how it got here, but we just know it is causing havoc.  So basically, if you throw "Godzilla" and "The Blair Witch Project" together in a blender, you end up with something like "Cloverfield".

    The cast was made up of largely up and coming actors like T.J. Miller, Jessica Lucas, and Mike Vogel.  Out of the cast, Miller is the notable standout.  Of course, the real star of the movie isn't the human cast, it's Clovie!  The movie waits until the end to give us the final reveal of what the monster looks like and it appears as if it could have stepped right out of a H.P. Lovecraft book.

    This movie's biggest fault is what also makes it original ironically.  The found footage camera work is effective to almost a fault.  The shaky cam vibe makes you feel like you might just get sick watching it.  This was a common complaint among audiences of the film.  It's not easy enjoying a film that makes you want to throw up.

    The movie is original and definitely worth watching assuming you can stomach the experience.  “Cloverfield” is on par with the modern day monster movies like the Gareth Edwards directed “Godzilla” and it’s connected sister movie “Kong: Skull Island”.

Grade: B-