Film review: The Fourth Kind

Published on Thursday 12 November 2009 18:24

THE FOURTH KIND (15) * DIRECTED BY: OLATUNDE OSUNSANMI STARRING: MILLA JOVOVICH, WILL PATTON, ELIAS KOTEAS

WITH the upcoming Paranormal Activity's unexpected US success dumbfounding Hollywood, the onslaught of crappy cash-ins gets officially under way with the rush release of The Fourth Kind. Purporting to be a true story of alien abduction, in reality it's a clumsy attempt to update the hoax technique Orson Welles perfected seven decades ago with his War of the Worlds radio broadcast. Debut writer-director Olatunde Osunsanmi appears throughout, interviewing "real" psychologist Dr Abigail Tyler, a basket-case convinced that strange goings-on in Nome, Alaska circa 2000 are the result of extraterrestrial activity. This "documentary" footage is frequently played in split screen alongside dramatic reconstructions starring Milla Jovovich, who introduces herself, Troy McLure-style, at the start of the movie, imploring us to make up our own minds about the story's veracity from the "facts" presented. Said facts, however, appear to have been assembled from repeat viewings of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The X-Files, The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Communion. All that's missing is an anal probe.