Phoenix Forgotten

I thought I would hate this movie when I saw the trailer. I've been fooled before by found footage horror movies about people going to a secluded place in search of the supernatural, yadah yadah yadah. Usually they're terrible, but I saw this one and was pleasantly surprised. My biggest complaint is that the part of the movie focusing on the documentarian who has found this footage, the real meat of the movie, isn't very engaging at all. Half of the movie focuses on 3 kids trying to find proof of aliens, but we are gradually shown this story through the story of the main kid's sister uncovering the footage. Whenever it cut back to the sister, I just wanted to get back to the main plot. However, the long setup is very much worth the payoff at the very end. This is a slow burn film that takes a while for the important events to happen, but the final act of the film is well worth the wait. I don't often get scared by horror movies, but the ending of this films kind of terrified me. Paranoia slowly builds until we're treated to a very tense ending that gives enough closure to satisfy but also leaves a few things to the imagination. Phoenix forgotten isn't fantastic, but for what it's worth, it's much better than most of the other formulaic horror movies studios are currently cranking out. It's well acted and produced, and I liked it. Don't be expecting to much, but if you're in the mood for a good UFO movie, I'd recommend it.

Just goes to show what is someones trash is someones treasure and looking at reviews on here I nearly did not bother watching this and that would have been a shame as its a good movie and certainly as good as any other found footage movie out there and better than a lot of them to.

I started to watch this with a finger close to the stop button on the remote but I never stopped it. In fact I was riveted from beginning to end. I loved the way they blended real events and news reports with the fiction parts of the story which really grabbed you and the lead in with all the footage of the kids messing around made you want to watch until the end to see what happens.

Don't always believe the reviews on here and watch this movie you might be very surprised.... I was

The film was shot in the pseudo-documentary style. t the same time, everything is pretty well done. This is not surprising given the rather large budget for this genre of films. You cannot find fault with the quality of the shooting because the genre imposes certain requirements on the picture. There are shaking cameras and low resolution and so on. The actors should be noted separately. They play very naturally. Some moments you look like a real found footage. The plot did not disappoint much. After watching, there were quite a few questions left. This provides many reasons for negative criticism. But I looked with pleasure.

This movie really surprised me honestly. I did not expect at all to like it as much as I did. I'm a huge fan of the found footage genre when done right and it's very hard to find some good ones out there. This movie in particular was hands down my favorite "indie", as you can all it, found footage movie.

From the beginning there's already a sense of suspense to it and mystery behind what happened to the missing trio. It's kinda obvious based off of the type of movie this is that they are abducted, but what leads up to it is very interesting. A slow burner for sure, not much interesting happens until the last 30 minutes but before that is a very well crafted backstory and "mockumentary" style movie. They go in depth of the backstory of each of the kids and the protagonist of the movie is on a constant search for not only her missing brother but the other 2 that he brought along with him. Being an AZ native I was very surprised at how realistic this movie is and really, even if you're not from there, this movie is VERY realistic. The acting seems real, the way it's filmed feel very 90's, and the actual events aren't your usual CGI and jumpscare filled horror. There's a lot of suspense and mystery behind what actually happened.

This movie I would recommend to anyone with a willing eye, or just anyone in general.

'PHOENIX FORGOTTEN': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A low-budget horror flick about three missing teenagers, that were trying to find the source of a 1997 UFO phenomenon called 'Phoenix Lights' (when they disappeared 20-years earlier). Newly discovered found footage shows the teens' final hours (before they vanished). The film was directed by debut feature filmmaker Justin Barber, and it was written by Barber and T.S. Nowlin. Nowlin also served as a co- producer on the movie, alongside the great Ridley Scott. The cast features Chelsea Lopez, Florence Hartigan, Justin Matthews and Luke Spencer Roberts. The film is your pretty standard 'found footage' low-budget thriller, nothing memorable but nothing too laughably bad either.

On March 13th, of 1997, multiple strange lights appeared in Phoenix, Arizona. They were witnessed by several shocked locals, and believed to be a UFO sighting by many. Three teens (Lopez, Matthews and Roberts) went investigating the phenomenon, and went missing. This film picks up 20-years later, on the anniversary of their disappearance, when one of the missing teenager's sister (Hartigan) decides to investigate her brother's disappearance.

The movie is definitely nothing original, or scary (in my opinion). It is decently acted and directed though, for the genre. It's based on a real event too, so at the very least the film is somewhat educational. I didn't find it boring, or overly cheesy either. I'd say it's worth at least one viewing, if you're a fan of this type of movie.

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