Zone 51

If you enjoy "The Blair Witch Project" this one will add something to the "found footage" genre :) I liked it, although I am sure that I watched it only because of the quarantine.

A young guy obsessed with government secrets rounds up a gang to infiltrate a remote facility and uncover the dreadful truth.

Literal found footage - wait for the post-credits clip - and a voyage through the varying degrees of hand-held shakiness. I think it's well shot up to the 2/3 stage, then the jitters break loose and it gets a bit annoying.

The set-up is pretty much the tale of a depressed obsessive, and I enjoyed the characterisation. But they leave the impression he's a chosen one, which doesn't play out in the end. Also there's drama about bringing the girl on the mission, but she doesn't add to the climax.

Few sound effects - the editors very selective - and I don't think there was any music (apart from the party stuff).

Overall, it sets up well but falls short on spooks in its descent into Hardy Boys yarniness.

The way this movie starts off with the sort of frat boy vibe to it, I didn't have much of an expectation. I found myself riveted to the tv about half way in and it was definitely worth it. It's a suspenseful ride and considering lower budgeted I was very surprised. It's not the movie of 2015 but seeing some of the other reviews it's a testimony for me that consensus is not always in line with ones taste.

Oren Peli is now officially a one trick pony after his latest found footage flick called Area 51. Again, similar to the first Paranormal Activity, there is a lack of story and realistic actions by characters in Peli's latest. Additionally, characters are weak, having little to no back-story and often times unlikable. Even with Peli's out used hand-held style of filmmaking, there is a particular originality to the film based on the alien side story. There are creative imaginary thoughts and well done shots of cinematography with this film. It almost seemed the film steadily managed to save itself as the film progressed. By no means would it be a film I recommend to people looking for the latest and greatest of 2015 but it's not a total waste, even when I wanted it and expected it to be.

I love scary movies, and I really love "scary" movies-- from Blair Witch to Paranormal Activity, I've always been a huge fan of shaky cameras and found footage. Ghosts and aliens scare me, and classic terror tropes work wonders on me! Things jumping out from behind other things and unexpected screams are my idea of a fun movie night.

If you are looking for a scary movie with aliens as the focus, I would recommend picking up Dark Skies, or John Carpenter's The Thing... but not Area 51, because this is a terrible film. I put it on expecting to be shock-scared, or at least creeped out... but all I got was progressively more and more annoyed.

The first half of the film does absolutely nothing but establish that the viewer should lack empathy for the main characters-- they are vapid young men who enjoy drinking, planning ineffectively, and disrespecting professional entertainers.

The second half of the film is meant to heighten the viewer's anxiety and presumably scare us, but it falls disappointingly short in that respect. Instead it devolves into lots of running and flailing, lots of awful camera work, and terrible physical acting. When the end finally comes, it's more a relief than anything else.

The only positive thing I have to say about this movie is that the main characters' treatment of their female colleague was basically respectful, which is more than what I can say for most movies that are structured in the "x number of guys + 1 girl" model. Nobody grabs her breasts or calls her disgusting names or belittles her intelligence based on her gender. That's awesome.

The rest of the film? Really not so much.