THE MOVIE

Talking through events in The Fourth Kind.

The Fourth Kind is a film that will catch you completely unaware. The movie is promoted as a film that is based on actual case studies and chronicles the disappearance of several people in the small town of Nome in Alaska.

The theory is that the disappearances are linked to alien abductions. The movie begins by introducing Dr. Abigail Tyler, a psychologist who interviews her patients and gets them to reveal more information on their experiences. The Fourth Kind is unique in that in the movie Milla Jovovich plays Dr. Abigail Tyler for reenacments, but the film also contains 'actual' footage of Dr. Abigail Tyler interviewing her patients.

Dr. Abigail Tyler is looking a little terrified.

As The Fourth Kind progresses it becomes quite terrifying. Children go missing, patients die and the 'actual' footage of the alien abductions is horrifying, especially as it is all supposedly based on actual footage.

As a science fiction horror film The Fourth Kind is a success, it's confronting, intriguing and will genuinely have you believing in alien abductions. As a true story however, the film is a complete an utter fabrication. Going into the movie believing everything is true is the best way to approach the experience, but those who are expecting a true story are sure to be disappointed, despite the authentic look The Fourth Kind is not a true story and there are no actual case studies.

The Fourth Kind is a film that will entertais some wild theories about aliens and alien abductions, some of the footage will sent a shiver up your spine and some of the footage will have you genuinely shocked, anyone with even a passing interest in aliens owes it to themselves to see this movie.

Milla Jovovich stars in The Fourth Kind.

VIDEO
The video quality in The Fourth Kind is difficult to describe. At times the film can look wonderful, especially the scenes with Milla Jovovich, there is very little grain and the colours are rich and the blacks are wonderful. However, the video bitrate on my PlayStation 3 jumped up and down, from 21Mbps to 30Mbps, but generally hovering around 26-28Mbps.

At times though The Fourth Kind looks horrible. The interviews with the ‘real' Abby Tyler are grainy and old and simply horrid. This was of course the director's intention and the director succeeds, but this does mean that the video quality in The Fourth Kind can be good, great, bad and ugly, all in the space of 120 minutes.

AUDIO
Audio in the film does fare a lot better. The movie comes with a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and the audio in the movie is simply excellent. There are highs and lows and the music in the film is eerie and involving, at the same time. You will need to keep your hand on the remote though, as the film will often jump from quiet whispery voices to loud noises that will deafen those in the next room.

Something isn't right here...

The audio in the film was clearly given a lot of thought and it suits the film perfectly. Beware though, this is the type of film where you'll need to make sure everyone is awake before watching, or you'll have some angry family members.

EXTRAS
A film like The Fourth Kind begs for special features, an audio commentary or extended interviews would have been simply fascinating. While the US Blu-Ray release of The Fourth Kind includes a 23 minute collection of deleted and extended scenes the Australian release contains no special features whatsoever, which is a severe disappointment.

OVERALL
The Fourth Kind is a scary science fiction film, but it's certainly not based on a true story and the claim that it is is just a wild fabrication. However, if you're open to being entertained about aliens and alien abductions then this is certainly worth a viewing.

Review By: Luke Van Leuveren

THE MOVIE	7.5/10
THE VIDEO	6/10
THE AUDIO	8/10
THE EXTRAS	0/10
OVERALL	7/10