Area 51 Reviews

Jodidamente soporífera sucesora de Actividad Paranormal, sufriendo de muchos de los errores que se pueden cometer en una película, no es emocionante, no es memorable, no es acogedora, y quizás algo interesante para lo polémica que era antes de que viera la luz, Area 51 es un truño.

Initial Thought: Well I was intrigued by the concept of this film. It looks and sounds like it would be interesting. It also helps that it's produced by the people who brought us The Purge. My only problems here are that it's directed by that Paranormal Activity guy which is a big no no for me and also the fact that this should have been out 6 years ago.

Characters/Acting: I've noticed most of these found footage films have a bunch of dumb young people trying to explore in the dumbest ways. We do have a little bit of a horror icon here with Suze Lanier-Bramlett from the original Hills Have Eyes movies which is kind of cool. We also get David Saucedo who had been in Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (which was one in the series I actually liked and everyone else hates). I really couldn't care less about the characters here. While most of the movie is pretty much character driven they are all one dimensional bore fests.

Story: We have a found footage film that tries to show us the horror that is within Area 51. The camera seems to go back and forth between good quality in well lit areas to quite fuzzy looking in the dark. Not sure what the deal with that was, but I would prefer to be able to see the whole film with the same quality. There are jump scare moments galore here with literally nothing of interest for a majority of the film. Stuff finally starts to get a little bit more interesting at a little over an hour. The ending made me so annoyed. I did like that the credits had no music I thought that was a good touch. There is a little scene after the credits. Nothing at all important so you don't necessarily have to watch that if you even plan to check this out. I had questions that never got answered unfortunately.

Directing/Writing: Oren Peli has a really up and down hold on me. Sometimes I enjoy his work and sometimes I wish he would just stop. He has only directed this and the first Paranormal Activity the latter of which I wasn't pleased. If that is anything to go by then this will not be good. His writing however I tend to like a bit more with Chernobyl Diaries, The River series, Paranormal Activity 3, and Marked Ones. I hope these will reflect on him instead of his first attempt at directing. Well as a director he still didn't provide a plentiful story even the writing here was pretty bad. So many questions very little answers.

Final Thought: The premise of this film was really an interesting idea that got executed way too poorly. The characters were card board cutouts with no one really interesting among them. Of course we barely get to see the aliens as usual. Why did he feel the need to go to Area 51? Was he abducted before or something? It seems likely, but that doesn't make sense for his need to see Area 51. What is with Reid and everything reacting to him but not the others? Was he abducted by the aliens and brainwashed into helping their kin escape Area 51? Why then would the aliens abduct him and his friends? I really am so confused by this movie and I hate that. I highly recommend never watching this. It's a complete waste of time.