ALIEN ORIGIN (2012)

Available On Demand from Amazon Prime!
Directed/Written by Matt Atkins.
Check out the trailer here!

ALIEN ORIGIN starts promising enough with expansive (and most likely stock footage) of an expansive jungle mixed with the disclaimer that a special forces team was sent into the jungle on a mission to retrieve some missing archaeologists accompanied by an investigative reporter and her crew. They disappeared and only the footage was found. Yes, we’ve heard that before, but I was willing to give this one a shot despite the familiar beginning. But no amount of found footage film experience could prepare me for the utter waste of an hour and a half that followed.

Are the actors successfully acting like they aren’t acting?
The acting is stiff all the way through. I can understand some desensitized grunts not showing a lot of emotion, but even the reporter and her cameraman don’t really have a lot to emote as well. Still, the group finds an alien craft halfway through the film and one would expect some kind of reaction of amazement, shock, or awe, but these guys barely bat an eye as if spaceships and aliens were as commonplace as cars and lawyers. All in all, the cast just isn’t very convincing.

Does the footage found seem authentic and untouched by additional production?
Well, they use music. That’s a huge problem because unless, along with a reporter and a cameraman, the troupe brought along their own keyboardist, it just doesn’t make sense that there is music in this supposedly footage that was filmed, lost, and untouched by any production. Even if it was recovered, there is no reason for anyone to add suspense stings to footage being studied by authorities. Most of the time, the camera doesn’t switch angles, which makes it feel authentic, as there is only one cameraman present. Still, that brings with it some other problems, which I will get into later.

Why don’t they just drop the camera and get the hell out of there?
The cameraman is on assignment and filming this footage with the reporter, so I guess that’s a good enough reason to keep rolling. They’re supposed to be like some kind of war-time reporters, so even though there’s a firefight going on with an unknown entity or entities, they’re sort of conditioned to never stop filming.

Are there any found footage cliches like an up-nose BLAIR WITCH confessional or a REC-drag away from the camera?
There is a confessional or two as the group is trapped in a cave system and survival is in question. Because we were told in the opening credits that no one survived, it basically kills all suspense as to whether they’re going to make it out alive or not. So, the confessional, which is supposed to be an emotional piece that breaks the heart of the viewer is ineffective, both because we already know the outcome, and because it’s such a cliched shot that any of the original intent is minimized to obsoletion.

Does anything actually happen? Is the lead in too long and the payoff too short?
This is where ALIEN ORIGIN really falls apart. Nothing happens. The film is fifty minutes of walking behind soldiers walking through the woods. Occasionally, they’ll get into a firefight with something off camera, but then you get more walking. With no dialog. Just walking. After a short set up introducing us to a crew of soldiers and the reporter, we are given scene after scene of people wandering through the jungle and seeing things off camera. Our cameraman is by far the worst cameramen in the history of journalism in that he is always just a second too late to capture the creatures/aliens/monsters on film. Even the most direct shots of whatever is in the woods are obscured by blurs, static, or interference so not even in the end do we have a good look at what the hell is going on. What we do see is tedious scenes of people running in the woods firing machine guns and grenade launchers. Then it switches to night vision where we are given more scenes of machine guns firing at nothing. There’s a lot of screaming, a lot of running, and absolutely no monster to be seen. It’s just people firing weaponry in the dark for an entire hour and a half. Had the makers of this film given me something by way of emotional resonance to latch onto, I might have forgiven them for obviously lacking the budget to show the creatures. But none of that effort is given.

Does the film add anything to the subgenre and is it worth watching?
Not really. If anything, it adds fuel to the fire of those who wish the found footage genre would go the way of the dodo. Just a lot of walking with no dialog. Shooting into darkness. I mean, this film was made in Belize and seeing the jungle is nice and all. Still, there must be a point, but just when you think there will be some kind of answer or maybe a hint of resolution, the film ends. To add insult to injury, an additional scene is crammed onto the end tying it to a PROMETHEUS-like plotline saying the aliens after the soldiers and the camera crew are the missing link between man and caveman from another planet. They don’t even try to put this little nugget into the story. It’s just added as new footage found at the end hoping that folks piece it together themselves as to where this fits into the narrative (and I use that loosely) and how it even makes sense. I think the main reason ALIEN ORIGIN left such a bad taste in my mouth is the horrible pacing and the fact that, after everything is said and done, nothing seen really matters or resonates, making the film feel pointless and completely avoidable.