From gaming guru Keith Arem comes a convincing, chilling, and downright scary found footage thriller chronicling a US military cover-up of a fierce firefight with extraterrestrial forces, based on a real-life UFO sighting.
On 13 March 1997 four hikers went missing in Phoenix, Arizona after a series of unexplained series of lights appeared in the night sky. Recovered military footage, eyewitness accounts and whistleblower testimony is used to construct a documentary that reveals the truth behind what really happened…
Now, when it comes to the found footage genre, I try to give it a wide berth and The Phoenix Incident certainly doesn’t start well as the characters (four shouty All-American buddies) are wholly unlikeable, and are too stupid to realise they have just stumbled into what looks like a military training exercise.
But when they come under fire (using footage of real-life A-10 Warthog jets) and seek refuge in a wacko Jesus freak’s high security compound, that’s when the awesome alien abduction scares kick in. Cue alien bug/pig creatures that sound like warring elephants chasing the shit-scared dudes around in the dark on quad bikes as the military open fire. It’s pretty tense and exciting stuff. While the CCTV, helmet cams and military footage move the narrative along nicely, the fake video corruption is annoying and there's one point of logic that doesn’t ring true: if the documentary makers have the footage as proof of the ET engagement, how can the military deny it’s a cover up?
The Phoenix Incident is out on Digital Download (31 August) and DVD (7 September) from Signature Entertainment in the UK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOFQp-6XHRg
