Geeks on Film: The Fourth Kind – Fact or Fiction?
Lately there has been a resurgence of the docu-horror genre, first with the film Paranormal Activity and now with the upcoming film The Fourth Kind. But where Paranormal makes no bones about the fact that it was indeed staged, The Fourth Kind is claiming to be the “Real Deal”. The Fourth Kind is the upcoming film starring Milla Jovovich as a psychiatrist trying to find the truth behind a rash of disappearances in Alaska that were later attributed to alien abductions.
The film is told through various recorded media, audio and video. Where video footage or audio was not available the story is told through reenactments based on testimony by those involved. Some are claiming this film and its marketing to be a throw back to the pioneer of this genre The Blair Witch Project. Where the movie was sold in the beginning as a genuine lost film, some time later we were let in on the fact that it was indeed a well-constructed hoax and one of the greatest marketing campaigns ever.
One thing The Blair Witch did not have to contend with in its time, was the Internet savvy audiences we have today. Audiences that came home from advance screenings of The Fourth Kind only to jump on the computer and research the film, have only found sites that were part of the films viral marketing campaign which have since been taken down by the studio. This has led to heated debate on many forums as to the actual validity of the facts in this film and whether its footage was indeed real. The main argument being that since the footage is so convincing – why has it never appeared anywhere else?
The film opens November 6, and most feel after a wide release our questions about this film will be answered. But one thing I have to say in the films favor, is the fact that it is getting this much debate. I have to say that the film has accomplished what The Blair Witch did so far, and created such a convincing story that I feel people really want to know it’s fake just so they can sleep better at night, myself included.
this was a great film!
i screened it early and was fortunate to see what the buzz was all about and i’m glad i saw it for myself because the real footage was really convincing.
im assuming that it was never released cuz not everything goes on youtube just because. plus it was private video study videos from a psychologist. not exactly easy to piece together without the backstory.
loved it though and now i cant sleep either… lol
I agree, this film was well made and got me thinking. I was questioning fact or fiction still. And clever marketing or not, this film definitely caught my attention and I wanted to see for myself.
And I was not disappointed. Great movie.
I might just have to check this out now.
yeah same here, i am REALLY EXCITED to see this!
the trailer looked freaky as hell
Ummm, a psychologist won’t release this type of video to be scrutinized by a) peer review b) the media or c) the Internet…yet, somehow it’s MORE credible that it’s released as a major motion picture? No, that is not credible, not in the slightest.
What makes more sense? Advanced creatures from another star kidnap isolated bumpkins in Alaska, or a Viral marketing campaign that, while ingenious, still does the disgusting job of perpetuating people’s delusions about alien abduction theories based on the flimsiest of evidence, allowing the gullible and credulous public to give up their reasoning abilities (always a dangerous thing) just for a quick buck.
in agreement with michael n. studios know that the hint of true story will get more butts in the seats, you could believe what you want, but evidence is a tricky thing, and where it can’t be provided it can’t be proven
Michael N. you have some great points. I agree with you on a few of them but when looking at what this is after all, I only have to ask myself did the director accomplish what he set out to do? Quite honestly I have to say yes, people are talking and writing about it. Even if the film is fake the premise that it is factual will still fool some people and get them in the seats. It is alot harder to do that whole thing with the proliferation of the internet, but I mean look at the Texas Chainsaw Massacre some people still think that really happened.
I just saw the movie and was very impressed
As I am doing my research I am less and less impressed, but am waiting for the time elapsed truth to come out fact/fiction
The primary question would be “why would they bother with us?”
the answer? why do we bother with “lesser” beings here? We experiment and test on other animals all the time. What would we do if we got to another planet where there was life? Pick it up examine it, dissect it etc
As for any technology issues; we can’t conceive of a way to travel to other stars because of our current technology. Could george washington conceive of an ipod?
As for life on other planets: there are more galaxies than there are grains of sand on earth. So even if life here was one in a million or one in a billion or trillion, there is still a pretty good shot at it
I’m from Alaska and I am here to tell you that 24 people did dissapear in Nome. Of those 15 bodies were recovered. All were proven to be deaths by a mix of alcohol and extreme temperatures. This movie was good I’ll admit but at the same time I can’t help but think that there are 24 families out there who were not amused. Not in the least.
I loved the movie when I thought it was real. I really like the article and take that this guy wrote. Thought you might enjoy.
http://toast-jam.com/taste/?p=1211
If the writer’s and producer’s motives were solely to make money that’s O.K. but they should have had the decency to say upfront that it was primarily fiction. Because by spreading disinformation—fiction interwoven with a few real facts—the viewer is confused and does not know what to believe unless he does some research. I wonder if there was another motive–to make people believe that we must fight these most evil of evil aliens (who not only kidnap children )and never return them) but murder, even dare to call themselves our god–as in the movie). True, abductions do occur and some, with partial memories, are traumatized.
In my mind, evil is in distorting the truth.
Dena Blatt, non-fiction writer and author of The Artist and the Alien
Guidance, Warnings and Hope from an Alien Living Among Us
The true story of contactee Shirle Klein Carsh..
fake.
i dont know about this film i just finished watching it but i will have to ask, if you are in anyway a religious believer in any sense i believe there is a higher power then you got to use that as a focal point on the story. hollywood pocket puncher for sure but the fact does remain the same you cant disprove the unknown just speculate
The most convincing thing that helps me see what the real story is, is the fact that the main character who is on “real” footage has her own IMDB profile. Psychologist by day, actor by night.
Case closed.
Guys, why is everyone so set out to discredit OR credit a movie or it’s facts or fictions. You ALL forget that the WHOLE point of going to watch a movie is STRICTLY ENTERTAIMENT !! Whether it’s meant to be FACT OR FICTION … It’s ENTERTAIMENT. If you LIKED the movie then it served it’s purpous. ANY movie that you watch that is meant to be a true story will ALWAYS have the facts stretched to make it a GOOD movie because let’s face it.. there are very VERY little interesting enough things in the world to make a movie with ONLY the facts at hand. That’s why any movie that you watched claiming to be fact will always say “BASED” on a true story or true events. BASED meaning the movie’s FOUNDATION was set on true events. It’s ENTERTAINENT guys so for once.. If you liked the movie, just enjoy it & if you didn’t like it, then you didn’t but STOP disecting it !! Who cares what they claim IS or ISN’T real.. What it IS… is a movie meant to entertain you. THAT is the ONE fact I think everyone can agree with. I don’t know about the rest of you.. but I go to a movie to be entertained… not to be informend on something.. if you’re looking to learn facts about anything.. Try going to a library or to SCHOOL instead of sitting on posts like this bashing a movie or it’s directors for making a movie. Not only that, but they’re not forcing any information down anyone’s throat. In fact, they made it VERY clear in the begining of the movie that the decision on what really happened is YOURS to make.. It’s so irritating that we can’t enjoy anything because we have idiots out there that enjoy talking trash about anything they can possible throw jabs at.. Lighten up !
I saw the Film and i was pretty disturbed about the fact that the live video footage(s) of these people said to be abducted by aliens are outcomes of Hypnosis. when we use hypnosis on a patient we tend to touch their INNER memories and records of the past through psychological processes and nothing more effects may occur on the patient(s), UNLIKE on the footage… we can see LEVITATION, OPENING OF THE MOUTH like HELL, BULGING FLIPPED EYES, VOICES WITH ANCIENT LANGUAGES, ETC,… these facts are not psychological as i would say, for me something beyond reason intervened during this Hypnosis Treatment………..me myself cannot utterly conclude what happened but we can’t deny the fact that when we touch the inner part of the person and tried to enter in them we will come to the point that EVIL SPIRITS may enter or Intervene with the Process.
coooooooool movie i think its real dont tel me y
OK, this is not my usual kind of thing but i totally agree with MARCO. i watched this with the light off alongside my 2 very reliable friends. they really helped me through the movie. once my girlfriend showed up i tried to look more solid towards the situation. ” i ……. am god “. i was traumitised by that last seen her eyes were red and she was smiling. if this is fact, then what on earth is fiction. this movie is controversial towards the catholic church. if people watch this they could come to believe in a new religion based on what they here in the last seen. again if this is real. i would believe that the events were based on the satanist religion. A.K.A, contact with el diablo or, the devil………………………………………………… .
@Dena You make me think that you didn’t watch the movie at all. Before and after the movie started, there were scenes of milla jovovich talking in front of the camera, basically telling you that whatever you want to make out of the movie is not their fault so don’t go running around telling everyone that they didn’t tell you so.
Movie actually exceeded my expectations, the fact that I’ve seen it free in one of the movie channels. I thought it was going to be something Aeonflux-ish thing.
The film showed someone being awakened at exactly 3:33am and experiencing the events. In the movie they made a point of showing the the bedside clock (3:33am), as if the time had some significance.
I have a friend who, years prior to this movie, was repeatedly experiencing the same thing. She would awake at 3:33am on the dot, with a feeling that she should be aware of something.
Any one else here having that same experience?
yeah I have been waking up at 3:33 on the dot too my advice……… plug in your headphones and and get some rest………relax gods in control