This SOV mini-epic was one of the first-ever found footage horror films. Initially released in 1989, it received a fair amount of notoriety due to the fact that many UFO-ologists claimed its footage was real (that footage was even passed off as “documentary evidence” in a paranormal themed TV program).
U.F.O. ABDUCTION is even better known for the fact that it was remade in 1998 by its own director Den Alioto as the popular Dick Clark produced TV movie ALIEN ABDUCTION: INCIDENT IN LAKE COUNTY, which added a Thanksgiving time frame, a more drawn-out runtime and superfluous mock interviews. The major difference between the two films is that, simply, the cheaper, shorter (66 minutes) and altogether more efficient U.F.O. ABDUCTION is better.
Harkening back to the famous unfilmed Steven Spielberg project NIGHT SKIES (which was pitched as “STRAW DOGS with aliens”) while foreshadowing the “Slumber Party Alien Abduction” segment of V/H/S 2 (2013), the film begins with the by-now expected “nonfiction” text, explaining how the following footage hails from Northwoods, Connecticut in October 1983.
The teenaged Michael (who we never see, and who was “played” by director Den Alioto) has just gotten a new video camera, and is making a video recording of his niece Michelle’s fifth birthday party. The power goes out and Michael, along with his two brothers, heads outside to check the transformer. A mysterious flash inspires them to investigate the surrounding woods, where an alien spaceship is spotted, with big headed alien figures seen emerging from it.
The guys run back to the house and attempt to inform the family of what they saw, but aren’t believed. The birthday party goes ahead as planned, even though the power is still out. It’s not long, though, before alien faces are seen peering in through the living room window, and the festive atmosphere quickly turns ominous and threatening. In the melee one of the aliens is shot with a rifle and brought into the house as panic overtakes the place, until eventually the surviving aliens enter the residence and we’re informed that the people we’ve been watching have gone missing.
U.F.O. ABDUCTION’S biggest problem? That the found footage format has grown so tired the film is no longer as innovative as it once seemed. It contains a number of what have since become annoying conventions (cryptic shots of twigs and brush, distractingly shaky running-with-the-camera footage) but as far as found footage cinema goes it’s fairly good, with an aura of mounting alarm suffusing the proceedings that’s extremely well maintained.
The sense of realism is reasonably strong (even if the acting, in another example of what has become a found footage convention, often leaves much to be desired), complete with performers frequently turning to the camera and yelling at its operator to “get that fucking thing out of my face!,” leaving the viewer with the conclusion that if an ordinary person were to make a video of an alien abduction this is probably what it would look like.
One last complaint: the opening and end credits are as tacky as can imagined, having been created with ultra-primitive 1980s video technology and scored with what sounds like public domain music cues. The pic was initially exhibited (via greymarket VHS) without credits, and it’s that format in which it undoubtedly works best.
Vital Statistics
U.F.O. ABDUCTION
Axiom Films
Director/ Producer/Screenwriter/Editor: Den Alioto
Cinematography: Barney Colangelo
Cast: Tommy Giavocchini, Patrick Kelley, Shirly McCalla, Stacey Shulman, Christine Staples, Laura Tomas, Dean Alioto, Kay Parten, Ginny Kleker, Rose Schneider