The Fourth Kind Review

Posted by Bryan Kristopowitz on 11.09.2009

A bunch of hooey

"The Fourth Kind" Review

Milla Jovovich- Abbey Tyler
Will Patton- Sheriff August
Elias Koteas- Abel Campos
Hakeem Kae-Kazim- Awolowa Odusami
Corey Johnson- Tommy Fisher
Enzo Clienti- Scott Stracinsky
Mia McKenna-Bruce- Ashley Tyler
Raphael Coleman- Ronnie Tyler

Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi
Screenplay by Olatunde Osunsanmi, based on a story by Terry Lee Robbins and Olatunde Osunsanmi

Distributed by Universal Pictures

Rated PG-13 for violent/disturbing images, some terror, thematic elements and brief sexuality
Runtime- 98 minutes

Website: http://www.thefourthkind.net/



"The Fourth Kind," written and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi, is a big pile of cinematic hooey trying to pass itself off as depicting an actual, real life event. Using "dramatic reenactments" and alleged video footage of actual events, it tells the story of Dr. Abbey Tyler (played in the "reenactments" by Milla Jovovich), a troubled psychologist in Nome, Alaska that believes the disturbed patients she's treating were abducted by aliens. She doesn't come to that conclusion right away, though. She notices that several of the people she's treating have the same essential issues (severe sleep deprivation and they also report seeing a weird beard white owl staring at them through windows at night) and that it can't be a coincidence that they all have the same issues/problems. Or can it? That's what she plans to find out with the help of hypnosis.



But why the heck do these hypnosis trials in Nome, Alaska? Apparently, Nome has one of the highest disappearance rates in the country and no one has ever figured out why that is. Just what the heck is it about Nome that has caused so many people to go missing for the past forty years? And what's the deal with all of the FBI visits over the years (something like 2,000 visits)? Does someone in the government know something? What do they know?

Meanwhile, Dr. Tyler is being treated by her own psychiatrist, Abel Campos (Elias Koteas), as she tries to deal with the aftermath of her husband's death (she insists that he was murdered by someone or something, the police believe otherwise). Dr. Tyler's husband started the hypnosis trials, which she decides to keep doing so her late husband's work is completed. Things go haywire when one of Dr. Tyler's patients, Tommy Fisher (Corey Johnson), completely freaks out during a hypnosis session, then goes home and kills himself and his family. The local cops, headed by Sheriff August (Will Patton), are concerned that Dr. Tyler is up to something nefarious and are looking for any way to blame this on her hypnosis trials. August also has an adversarial relationship with Dr. Tyler, as she believes that the cops aren't investigating her husband's death enough (August insists repeatedly that the case is closed but Tyler doesn't want to hear it).



So, some bad stuff happens. More of Dr. Tyler's patients freak out, her family life deteriorates (her daughter, Ashley, as played by Mia McKenna-Bruce, has some kind of shell shock blindness caused by the death of her father, and her son Ronnie, as played by Raphael Coleman, is a smart ass little douchebag that resents his mother for his father's death), and she eventually has her own freak outs (which are recorded). Just what the heck is going on here?

Along with the "dramatic reenactments" and "real" video footage working in tandem (sometimes in split screen, where the "real" video footage is seen right next to the "dramatic reenactment") is an interview conducted by the director himself and the alleged "real" Dr. Abbey Tyler, which attempts to go into further emotional detail on what the events depicted in the movie have done to her and her family (the movie's events take place in 2000, the interview takes place months afterwards). Suffice to say, she's a destroyed person.



Now, as I said at the beginning, this flick's "reality" is just a bunch of hooey. It's very obvious at the beginning, when Jovovich comes out and speaks directly to the audience and tells everyone that she's acting in dramatic reenactments and that we should "draw our own conclusions" while also telling us that what we're about to see is "extremely disturbing" that the flick is a scam wrapped in a gimmick. But if, for some reason, you end up believing that the movie is on the up and up there are several moments that give it all away. The family massacre footage is a big giveaway (what police organization in the world is going to allow a movie company to use actual footage of a murder suicide in a movie?). The "static interference" that occurs whenever "actual" potential evidence of alien abductions/encounters happen is also a big one (the "UFO hovering over the house" sequence is a great example of this). And the interview with the "real" Dr. Tyler is just ridiculous. It's a creepy fake interview, sure, because the actress portraying Tyler looks like a cross between a zombie and one of those ghost things from an Asian horror movie (it's the pale skin and the vacant bug eyes that do it), but there's just no way in hell any of it is true. I mean, think about it, why is this movie the first time we've heard any of this stuff, especially considering that the events depicted "happened" nine years ago and something like this no doubt would have been covered by "20/20" or "Dateline" or "The Discovery Channel" (heck, I bet even "Frontline" on PBS would have done something by now). Don't you think Stone Phillips would have covered this story back when he was still working for NBC? Don't you think Larry King would have had this woman on his show? And what about Geraldo? He would have been all over this story.

But is the movie, as a movie, any good? Is it worth seeing? Yeah, I think so.

The performances in the "dramatic re-enactments" are pretty decent. Jovovich does a great job as the beleaguered Dr. Abbey Tyler. It's kind of odd seeing the usually ass kicking Jovovich vulnerable and unsure of herself, but she nails the part beautifully. Her best scene is probably the interrogation scene she has with Will Patton's Sheriff August. She somehow manages to maintain her composure despite being yelled at repeatedly by the belligerent Sheriff. Jovovich is also actually believable as a mother, too (has she ever played a mother before?). She works well with kids. Elias Koteas is his usual awesome self as Tyler's psychiatrist Abel Campos. And Will Patton does a decent job as Sheriff August (his part gets a little hokey at the end but Patton gets through it and makes the most of it). And Hakeem Kae-Kazim does a good job as the college professor/researcher guy that Tyler calls to help decipher the weird beard language heard on one of the audio tapes (it's all very Gozer the Gozerian).



There are a few fun jump scares, in both the "dramatic re-enactments" and the "real video footage." The sound work and the soundtrack, while seemingly overbearing, actually helps make the "scary parts" work. There's also a pretty nifty scene towards the end of the movie involving "shadow men" and a trip aboard a spaceship. And the end credits sequence, all by itself, is worth seeing (stay all the way to the end and listen to that final audio recording. Freaking hilarious).

So should you go out of your way to see "The Fourth Kind"? Probably not. The movie, in the end, will likely play better on a big screen, in a darkened theatre, but it's not a necessary, cultural event kind of thing. The incredibly awful and stupid and terrible "Paranormal Activity" already beat "The Fourth Kind" to the punch on that, which is a shame, because "The Fourth Kind" is infinitely a better movie going experience than the pile of shit that was, is, and always will be "Paranormal Activity." The zeitgeist really can't handle two cultural events at the same time. However, "The Fourth Kind" does have, at least, a slightly more plausible idea behind it. Aliens are more real than goddamn ghosts.

All in all, despite its bullhooey, I liked "The Fourth Kind." I'd like to see director Olatunde Osunsanmi make a straight up alien abduction horror flick that's just a horror flick and not a "fact based docudrama" that isn't fact based at all. Maybe that'll be his next movie. I can't wait.



So what do we have here? Gratuitous Milla Jovovich, gratuitous Milla Jovovich talking directly to the audience, gratuitous movie director talking to a scary looking woman, gratuitous Elias Koteas, gratuitous split screen hooey, gratuitous hypnotism, a sex dream that ends badly, gratuitous "Nome, Alaska," gratuitous Milla Jovovich flying a plane, gratuitous creepy stories about a creepy white owl, praying to Jesus, gratuitous Milla Jovovich as the ultimate MILF, lamp destruction, side table destruction, fish in a fish tank, gratuitous Will Patton, gratuitous "real" video footage of a family massacre, more hypnosis, a gurgling nightmare, "putrid cinnamon," gratuitous alien abduction statistics, some weird beard screaming on a tape, gratuitous "alien God" story, a weird arm burn, a decent jump scare, gratuitous alien abduction, chair smashing, a shadow man attack, neck breaking, back breaking, more actors talking directly to the audience, and a nifty little end credits sequence.

Best lines: "Please be advised that some of what you are about to see is extremely disturbing," "Do you want it on video?," "If I could just see his face," "When did Ashley go blind?," "Dad never forgot," "When was the last time you had trouble sleeping?," "There's something outside my door!," "Sit down!," "We're going home," "What the hell was that?," "Do you believe in abduction theories?," "It's not my voice! It's not me!," "Do you honestly believe you were forcibly removed from your room by members of an alien race?," "How can they remember what they're being forced to forget?," "It's not an owl," and "You just can't stop being insane when you want to."

The 411: "The Fourth Kind," as truth and reality, is a bunch of hooey. But it's not a bad movie. It's not great, it's not something you have to absolutely see, but it's a pretty okay movie going experience. If you do see it you may like it. Maybe.

Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]