1998
Directed by Dean Alioto
Written by Dean Alioto & Paul Chitlik
Starring Benz Antione, Kristian Ayer & Gillian Barber\
Unrated - Approx 93 Min.
Taglines:
None
Alternate Titles:
Incident in Lake County - US Alternative Title
Extrañas criaturas (Strange Creatures) - Argentina
Alien Abduction - Australia
Estranhas Criaturas (Strange Creatures) - Brazil
Alien Abduction: The McPherson Tape - UK
Back in the 90's there was a resurgence in the fascination of aliens and UFO's. You couldn't change the channel without hitting on a show about UFO sightings, reports of abductions, specials about Area 51, Groom Lake and Alien Autopsies. It was a pretty awesome time to be a UFO enthusiast! It was toward the end of this extra-terrestrial boom that we were treated to this little slice of found footage terror. About a year before The Blair Witch Project took the world by storm, Incident at Lake County quietly aired in people's home via cable channel UPN and promptly freaked out people like me.
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| Just your typical dysfunction family Thanksgiving! |
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| The brothers go to check the fuse. |
If you read this blog at all, then you know I'm freaked out by aliens. Fire in the Sky nearly killed me when I saw if for the first time. Shows like Unsolved Mysteries and Sightings routinely kept me cautiously looking skyward when driving down a lonely country road by myself at night. Then this came along. It was presented the same as the Alien Autopsy special, in that a preamble states that the authenticity of the video is up to the viewer to decide, yadda yadda....you know the drill.
We are introduced to a family getting ready to sit down to Thanksgiving dinner. (Ah HA! It's a Thanksgiving themed movie! BRILLIANT! They've fused aliens with my favorite food based holiday. Those diabolical bastards!). Young Matthew is playing around with a video camera and decides that he'll film the festivities. Like pretty much any family, this one is dysfunctional. Mom's alcoholic, the oldest son is a bit of a douchebag.....another teenage son is having naked time with his girlfriend upstairs....you get the idea. As the turkey is being carved, there's a bright flash of light and the power goes out. The three boys go out to check the fuses. That's when they stumble across a landed UFO and aliens slicing open cows with a laser beam. The aliens spot the boys and follow them back to the house, launching a campaign of terror upon the household.
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| It's hard to make out, but that's an alien cutting up a cow with a laser beam. |
It seems a little odd that the aliens would dick with these people for half the night instead of just abducting them or whatever they're going to do....but then again, for all I know, aliens are a bunch of douche-nuggets who get off on scaring humans. Bunch of jerks.
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| I've got nothing. |
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| Renee ain't lookin' so good..... |
Anyway, aliens appear in the house, outside the house, etc in a series of fairly disturbing and poorly lit encounters. Remember this whole thing is being shot via camcorder (with a light attachment). The electricity in the house has been knocked out so we're pretty much seeing everything through flashlights and candles. While it can be a bit frustrating sometimes, it certainly adds to the doom laden atmosphere that this film generates. All in all, it's a pretty solid entry into the found footage genre that is worth a look. Especially if you're like me and equally fascinated and terrified by aliens.
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| That right there is Nightmare Fuel for a person like me. Thanks alot! |
Midnight Cinephile Tally
Death Toll: One for sure.....the hot chick. Why is it always the hot chick. I don't think it's a spoiler to tell you that they all get abducted....after all it's in the title. What became of them? Who knows....maybe they're all dead and laying mutilated in a field somewhere.
Nude O Meter: Well, technically there's one set of boobs. However, they are pixilated. Damn, gypped again.
Things That Go Bump In The Night: Call them what you want. Aliens, Greys, etc....these evil little bastards are definitely not just looking to phone home. Fucking aliens, man. They creep me out.
Final Thoughts
This definitely has to take the award for strangest Thanksgiving themed horror movie that I've ever seen. Just the whole merging of turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie and alien abductions seems SO wrong to me on so many levels. Oh well, at least it wasn't Christmas!
Final Rating
Three out of Five Pizza Rolls
Fire In The Sky freaks the hell out of me, too. I also enjoyed the recent theatrical Dark Skies. If you like this kind of flick and haven't seen it, Eduardo Sanchez's Altered (which I'm pretty sure is on Netflix streaming now) is an interesting low budget variation wherein the tables are turned and an alien gets "abducted".
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the new Dog Farm is up and running. Come on by.
Fire in the Sky is a film that absolutely destroyed me when I watched it for the first time. I was about 15 when it came out and I can remember renting the video. My father and my sisters had no interest in watching it, so my mother and I watched it by ourselves. I'm not sure who was more afraid that night....me or poor mom.
ReplyDeleteI have seen Altered!! I enjoyed it quite a bit, actually. The film had a certain disturbing quality to it that I enjoyed quite a bit.
I will definitely be stopping by at the Dog Farm!