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.