This movie is a little confusing. Not the story, which is pretty much a simple and effective alien haunting story, but the set up. It’s a shot for shot found footage remake of a found footage tape created by the same director, Dean Alioto. Once you wrap your head around that, it’s a fun little movie with some genuine scares and very real tension.
The movie follows the McPherson family who have all gathered for Thanksgiving. That night, oldest brother Kurt (Aaron Pearl), middle brother Brian (Michael Blue), and youngest brother Tommy (Kristian Ayre) stumble across an alien craft, and Tommy records the aliens aboard, and then all hell breaks loose. The aliens follow the family back to the house and begin to torment them. Also in the house is their mother (Gillian Barber), their sister Melanie (Marya Delver), her boyfriend Matthew (Benz Antoine), Kurt’s wife Linda (Ingrid Kavelaars), Kurt and Linda’s daughter Rosie (Katlyn Ducharme), and Brian’s girlfriend Renee (Emmannuelle Chriqui). It’s a full house and it’s about to get fuller.
The movie is spliced with interviews with police officers, UFO experts, alien abductees and horror aficionados who give their take on the tape. It’s an interesting tactic, but it does spoil the illusion of found footage. The parts of the movie that really get to you are the ones after they have trapped an alien in a room upstairs. There’s no doubt that it’s not going to work, but it’s the waiting that really works in this movie, leaving you unsure.
There are some serious detractors in this movie though. While the acting is believable for the most part, Tommy (who spends most of the movie behind the camera talking and generally being annoying) either seems too calm or too manic, the mother never puts down her wine glass, and Rosie is just a child actor, so you can’t really blame her for not being great.
Overall, it’s a pretty thrilling alien abduction movie with just enough gimmick to keep you entertained.
6/10
HOLY LAND OF HORROR 