The McPherson Tape

If you ever need a good fright, definatly try and get a hold of the McPherson tapes. Very Blair Witch style in direction etc (and it was made before BWP). This is basically about a group of americans having thanksgiving dinner when Aliens attack the house. It's amazing. The acting is very amateur, but very real feeling, u can actually feel their fear. Definatly 10/10!

This movie is a great example of a story that commits itself to the found footage format. It seems real, unscripted and is internally consistent. We don't know anything more than the person filming. The setting is great and I can feel the emotions of the actors.

All that said, it is as dull as watching your neighbor's home movies of their trip to Denver. That makes sense, because the film is real and the aliens are mostly felt, but not seen. It is mercifully only one hour long.

THE MCPHERSON TAPE is an early example of the "found footage" movie subgenre. As such, it's pretty good. The acting is far more natural than in many other FF films. The characters speak with each other in overlapping conversations, and the ruse of using a birthday party is a sound reason to keep the home video camera rolling. The style also fits the way in which home movie enthusiasts recorded just about anything and everything they could during the VHS "camcorder" days of the 1980s.

The rising panic level is quite believable, and the family members neither act too heroic nor too imbecilic. They seem normal.

A well-made film with a nice, creepy finale...

I think when watching this you must be prepared to realise it is done on a micro budget so taking less notice of the somewhat shoddy alien costumes and special effects. Appreciate what was done with what they had. And onto this, what they did was create a piece that is edgy, creepy and realistic and the low budget approach actually aids the ending result. If made using state of the art camera, special effects and a big budget this film would lose its charm and character which is essential in this sort of film.

And for the people downgrading as they say its clearly fake footage.... yes it is..... WOW!

The McPherson Tape (also known as UFO Abduction) follows an average family recording a little girls birthday party when all of a sudden a spacecraft lands near their remote Connecticut mountain house. This film has both pros and cons, but more cons for sure.

What it does right:

This movie is extremely cozy and nostalgic, as it really feels like an average 80s home video. Obviously it's clear to see that it's fake, but watching it on yours grandmothers TV set in 1989 could absolutely freak somebody out.

What it misses on:

This film is extremely slow, even with a 63 minute runtime, and tends to kill its tension almost instantly. Almost every time something "scary" happens (like seeing an alien outside the window) you can't actually see anything so you're just looking at nothing. Also, it's way too dark at times and an awfully shaky camera, but it's an 80s FF so who can really gripe at that.

Overall, it's cozy and entertaining enough for one watch, but loses most of its audience quickly.