From: Steven Kaeser <steve.nul>
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 2009 14:44:01 -0500
Archived: Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:49:46 -0500
Subject: Re: 'Fourth Kind' Movie Review


>From: John Velez <jvelez49.nul>
>To: post.nul
>Date: Sat, 7 Nov 2009 00:21:48 -0500
>Subject: 'Fourth Kind' Movie Review

>Hi All,

>I'm going to be lazy about this and simply copy/paste the review
>of the movie I left for Errol on his FB page.

>Here's the review...

>Good movie. More of a case study than some kind of overview or
>treatise on the abduction phenomenon. It surprised me that I was
>completely unfamiliar with this particular Alaskan case.

>I liked the fact that the producers didn't go out of their way
>to (further) sensationalize UFO abduction by creating a bunch of
>CGI aliens and UFOs. Very good job by the movie-makers overall.
>They gave respectful treatment to a very complex case. No need
>to sensationalize something that is already way off the known
>charts.

>And... I've decided that I'd like to do many greasy things to
>the star of the movie, Milla Jovovich! She is what we used to
>call, 'a stone fox' back in the day. ;)

>Go see it, Errol, (and all,) it's worth the dime and the time.


John,

It's no wonder you hadn't heard of this case, since I'm not sure
it existed before the screen play was written for this movie. I
found this review of the marketing that was somewhat telling:

-----

http://tinyurl.com/yjhcqav

'The Fourth Kind' reviews and comparisons to 'Paranormal
Activity'

The 'close-encounters' alien abduction movie The Fourth Kind
hits theaters this week and early reviewers seem to gree on one
thing: It's not "Paranormal Activity."


"Found Footage"
Both films, released in just weeks of each other, have
'seemingly' real footage. The super-low-budget "Paranormal
Activity" was recorded on a hand-held camera and was filmed in a
house. The filming style of Paranormal Activity was similar to
that of "The Blair Witch Project."

The Fourth Kind begins with actress Milla Jovovich speaking
directly towards the camera stating that she is the actress
portraying "Dr. Abigail Tyler" and that the film is a
"dramatization" of real events. The Fourth Kind claims to use
real "archival" footage of the events.

Viral Marketing
Both Paranormal Activity and The Fourth Kind relied on heavy
viral marketing to spread the word of the films. "Paranormal
Activity" drummed up excitement with a limited release followed
by viral marketing ploy to have people 'Demand' screenings in
their areas. When enough people 'demanded' the film, which was
heavily promoted on Twitter, the film opened nationally.

I wrote about the 'real' story behind The Fourth Kind back in
September. Before the film's release, a phony 'Alaskan Journal
of Psychiatry' cropped up on the Internet as did accounts of
'murders' in Nome, Alaska (also from phony newspapers.)
Regardless, the buzz worked- check out the numerous comments
following the article: The Fourth Kind comments.

So now that The Fourth Kind is opening in theaters, early
screeners of the film can't help but compare the two 'real
footage' horror flicks.

"Universal, the movie's distributor, seems to be borrowing a
page from the marketing tactics of The Blair Witch Project -
and, more recently, Paranormal Activity - two movies that had
a documentary style. Part of the fun of those films was based on
the fact that they seemed real. (Both The Blair Witch Project
and Paranormal Activity were fiction.) Of course, how real-
sounding is a subplot about alien abductions, anyway? Universal
declined to comment for this piece." --Eric Kohn; 'Speakeasy'


"The flat-lining, alien-abduction thriller The Fourth Kind
offers a close encounter that buries an interesting idea under a
barrage of gimmicky, carnivallike hokum. The movie's unwieldy
mix of degraded pseudo-documentary footage and "Unsolved
Mystery"-style re-enactments is as unconvincing as it its
distancing, making the small charms of Paranormal Activity all
the more apparent by comparison."--Glenn Whipp, The Associated
Press


"While writer-director Olatunde Osunsanmi puts a lot of work
into the film's "is it or isn't it" (as in a hoax) conceit, the
gimmick proves more distracting than disturbing, with those
multiple split screens shared by supposed real-life victims and
actors playing them ultimately serving to distance viewers from
the mythology instead of drawing them inward."--Michael
Rechtshaffen; Hollywood Reporter

The Fourth Kind opens in theaters on November 6, 2009.

-----


Meanwhile, the deaths that are portrayed were attributed to
alcohol abuse and the extreme cold. These deaths spanned several
decades:

Unsolved Deaths: FBI Sees No Serial Killer, Cites Drinking, Exposure.
Tom Kizzia
Anchorage Daily News
June 30th, 2006 02:04 PM

Last Modified: September 1st, 2009 02:21 PM

Editor's note: This story originally ran June 30, 2006

---

A string of disappearances and mysterious deaths of Native
villagers visiting Nome was not the work of a serial killer, an
FBI analysis of the cases has concluded.

An FBI study of 24 missing persons and suspicious death cases
assembled by Nome police said excessive alcohol consumption and
a harsh winter climate were common ties in many of the cases. In
nine of the cases, where no bodies were ever found, state and
local investigators said they will continue to search for new
leads.

The FBI conclusions were summarized at a news conference
Thursday morning in Nome called by the Native nonprofit Kawerak
Inc., which has been working with law enforcement and other
Nome-area Native and civic groups on the disappearances.

A list of victims' names in 20 cases was released by local
officials last year in an effort to solicit information from the
public. Nome police said they plan to talk with families of the
victims in the coming weeks before releasing an updated list of
names and an explanation of what they think happened.

Of the 24 cases, three are being left alone at the request of
families, two had already been prosecuted criminally, and one
was a snowmachine accident, said Nome Police Chief Craig Moates.
In nine of the cases, a re-examination of available evidence
produced "definitive outcomes, " Moates said. He said alcohol
was a common factor in those cases.

Though Moates offered no details Thursday, some of the dead are
known to have died of exposure or from falling off a jetty into
the cold water of the Snake River. Questions had been raised
about the possibility of muggers preying on drunks. As concern
spread in Seward Peninsula villages, the unsolved cases became a
top priority two years ago for the region's Native leaders,
including the Norton Sound Health Corp. and the Bering Straits
Native Corp.

 "No evidence exists to support the conclusion that a serial
 killer has been targeting Native people in Nome, " Moates said
 Thursday, summarizing the FBI conclusions. The FBI cited the
 lack of trauma shown on recovered bodies, the four-decades-plus
 time span of the cases, and the absence of a common suspect,
 Moates said.

Kawerak officials said they hoped the conclusions -- and the
fact that the cases had received a fresh look -- would help
allay fears in many of the region's villages about the dangers
of visiting Nome.

"The fact that the FBI was able to come up with this response
hopefully will help people sleep better, " said Kawerak tribal
law specialist Karlin Itchoak.

Native officials said distrust of Nome police had reached a new
low following the murder conviction of a Nome officer earlier
this year and said efforts to rebuild relationships still had a
long way to go.

"I think there's a certain comfort level that these cases have
been looked at by other than local law enforcement, " Kawerak
president Loretta Bullard said.

But several officials cautioned that the FBI conclusions were
based only on a review of information made available by Nome
police. They said information about possible criminal links
might still be available from villagers who have been reluctant
to talk to police.

"My concern has always been that there is information in the
Native community that has not been brought forward, " said
Bering Straits Native Corp. attorney Gail Schubert, who called
the pattern of disappearances odd and disturbing.

Kawerak's Itchoak said villagers can contact him directly if
they don't want to talk to police. The FBI is not doing a
separate investigation but said it would review any new
information. The community safety group that has coordinated the
public information effort will meet again in September to plan
its next steps, Itchoak said.

Moates said the FBI had offered suggestions for follow-up
investigations in the cases. He provided no details but said
some of the work it suggested had already been undertaken by
police.

Attention to the missing persons cases has already brought some
changes to Nome. Volunteer safety patrols have hit the streets
after midnight during busy times in winter, such as the Iditarod
Trail Sled Dog Race and the week Permanent Fund dividend checks
are issued.

"This is not just volunteers from the Native community, " said
Berda Willson, chairwoman of the Regional Wellness Forum, which
organized the patrols. "People care about others in the region."

Moates has also flown to area communities with Kawerak officials
to discuss village concerns. He became police chief in 2004, and
his efforts have drawn praise from local officials.

The rollicking bars of Front Street make Nome an unusual hub for
the Alaska Bush. Kawerak chairman Robert Keith of Elim said
Thursday that the region's missing-person totals may be higher
than others because of the legal drinking in bars. The region's
villages have all voted themselves dry.

FBI profilers met with leaders of the Nome organizations for
more than three hours Wednesday to discuss their review. They
did not participate in Thursday's news conference and deferred
questions to Moates.

-----

If someone can find the real Dr. Abigail Tyler, or reference to
her on the Internet that dates back to 2006 or before; or, if
someone had more information on this as a paranormal case, I'd
be interested. But this appears to be a well marketed film,
using a viral web site to help promote its validity. "Paranormal
Activity" and "2012" both have used the Internet to hype their
prospects, and if you haven't visited the web site for the
"Institute for Human Continuity:

http://www.instituteforhumancontinuity.org/

you should check it out. It looks real until you recognize that
the scientific experts look too familiar and they're actors
you've probably seen before.

A friend who went to see the movie yesterday was very impressed
with it, but also believed it was more documentary than story.
I've tried to find this case listed and see who actually
investigated it, but so far I've come up empty with the
exception of movie hype.


Steve



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