U.F.O. Abduction

A really under appreciated film that really was a pioneer in the hyper-realistic found footage genre. Only 1 hour long, the film is shot as a home movie during a family gathering which takes a terrifying turning after the appearance of mysterious lights in the sky. It is ultra low budget: the effects are non-existent, and costumes almost laughable but the grainy recording does a lot of favours. The acting is decent during the moments of low key family banter but is less believable as the tension increases. There is not much of a story to be found; it really is just a camera pointed at some bizarre events but the low quality production succeeds in making this quite chilling.

Ah, the infamous "real" McPherson Tape. Hugely controversial among the alien abduction enthusiasts, hundreds of people still think that this the real deal. Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but it isn't. Still, this is probably the most believable found footage movie I've ever seen, as it really does feel as if you're watching an actual VHS camcorder home video of a real Midwestern family in the early 1980s. The alien abductions themselves are not really the focus here. The focus seems to be the tension that this family feels while being scared out of their wits. I prefer this original version over the 1997 made-for-television remake, Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County, which screamed "fake" right from the get go: awful acting, no chemistry between the actors/characters, overblown effects and laughable "documentary interviews" interspersed to insult the viewer's intelligence. Even though this original version is bare bones and lacking in alien action, it still manages to be taught, atmospheric, well acted, and most of all, believable. This has been next to impossible to find for decades, but thankfully someone has uploaded a pirated copy on the internet recently. If you are a fan of the remake, aliens/UFOs, found footage or just underground cinema in general, do yourself a favor and check it out. But just remember, its only a movie! There is no REAL "McPherson Tape" floating around out there. The name of the family in this original version isn't even McPherson, its Van Heese.

This movie is a great example of a story that commits itself to the found footage format. It seems real, unscripted and is internally consistent. We don't know anything more than the person filming. The setting is great and I can feel the emotions of the actors.

All that said, it is as dull as watching your neighbor's home movies of their trip to Denver. That makes sense, because the film is real and the aliens are mostly felt, but not seen. It is mercifully only one hour long.

This could've been a totally OK 'found footage' movie, it's very naturalistic & they obviously had a ball making it, unfortunately it's very uncomfortable to watch.

It's so very, very dark & because of that the camera can't truly focus on anything, after a while, I felt slightly dizzy & nauseous, I just wanted to see something clearly, but it never improves.

So the lesson is - there's natural & life-like & unwatchably dark & blurry!

Painful to watch, painful to listen to. Way too much dialogue, these people don't shut up the entire movie. I was rooting for the Aliens.