The McPherson Tape

Ah, the infamous "real" McPherson Tape. Hugely controversial among the alien abduction enthusiasts, hundreds of people still think that this the real deal. Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but it isn't. Still, this is probably the most believable found footage movie I've ever seen, as it really does feel as if you're watching an actual VHS camcorder home video of a real Midwestern family in the early 1980s. The alien abductions themselves are not really the focus here. The focus seems to be the tension that this family feels while being scared out of their wits. I prefer this original version over the 1997 made-for-television remake, Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County, which screamed "fake" right from the get go: awful acting, no chemistry between the actors/characters, overblown effects and laughable "documentary interviews" interspersed to insult the viewer's intelligence. Even though this original version is bare bones and lacking in alien action, it still manages to be taught, atmospheric, well acted, and most of all, believable. This has been next to impossible to find for decades, but thankfully someone has uploaded a pirated copy on the internet recently. If you are a fan of the remake, aliens/UFOs, found footage or just underground cinema in general, do yourself a favor and check it out. But just remember, its only a movie! There is no REAL "McPherson Tape" floating around out there. The name of the family in this original version isn't even McPherson, its Van Heese.

Ten years before BW three years before The Last Broadcast this was made and while it has a couple of big issues it's entertaining and not because it's unintentionally funny. Horrible lighting, very raw acting and a time after the spaceship and aliens are seen and an initial bit of reasonable hysterics for a chunk of time it's like what they saw is forgotten. And during said hysterics the lead actor does a much to long impression of an obscene phone call fitting incredibly heavy breathing in between lines. It's absolutelyi not a waste of time and considering this was long before every horror movie was filmed using the shakey cam it deserves point for being ahead of it's time. I heard about this movie for years and when social media began to rule the world more and more people were talking about it, it then popped up on YouTube and it's now on many streaming sites and it's built a nice pool of fans. The moment I heard about the ability to remaster films and TV shows this movie popped in to my mind but I'm not sure if doing that with this to add some light so you can see things better I thought maybe it's better this way because the movie had a budget of like $16 a clearer view of both the spacecraft and the alien might not be the best thing. Despite its goofy everything it's really a nice little movie and if you can restrain your inner movie critic you can enjoy this quiet a bit.

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.

A really under appreciated film that really was a pioneer in the hyper-realistic found footage genre. Only 1 hour long, the film is shot as a home movie during a family gathering which takes a terrifying turning after the appearance of mysterious lights in the sky. It is ultra low budget: the effects are non-existent, and costumes almost laughable but the grainy recording does a lot of favours. The acting is decent during the moments of low key family banter but is less believable as the tension increases. There is not much of a story to be found; it really is just a camera pointed at some bizarre events but the low quality production succeeds in making this quite chilling.

This could've been a totally OK 'found footage' movie, it's very naturalistic & they obviously had a ball making it, unfortunately it's very uncomfortable to watch.

It's so very, very dark & because of that the camera can't truly focus on anything, after a while, I felt slightly dizzy & nauseous, I just wanted to see something clearly, but it never improves.

So the lesson is - there's natural & life-like & unwatchably dark & blurry!