slackline70

There are certain movies that seem to have been born on a hot weekday afternoon towards the end of the summer.

You know, when you're in high school and you're so bored you almost want to go back to school. So you turn on the TV and all that's on is a pretentious, depressing 70s sci-fi movie that you just can't see as ever having an existence prior to being run in the middle of the day when no one other than a few bored middle-schoolers might watch it.

Worse, you actually watch it all the way through - mostly because you have nothing better to do.

Well friends - 'Phase IV' is the T-Rex of that genre.

It has no real beginning, and no real end. It seems to be asking questions that you're almost curious about - only to never answer a single one of them. It makes you feel depressed - and oddly guilty. Like somehow watching this movie is your punishment for humanity's sins.

Anyway, if you're feeling guilty about something and feel you need to do some penance, Phase IV will do nicely. Otherwise I would say don't waste your time.

A primary theme of this series is that there are always (at least) two sides to every story.

And without giving away too much, I'll say that - in a very intentional move by the producers of this series - you're going to change your mind several times about who was right and who was wrong in the case of Natalia Grace - a Ukrainian child who was adopted and then later abandoned by a US family.

Also without giving away too much, none of the characters in the series are heroes.

While the series does an admirable job of presenting both sides, the reason I'm giving it an 8 is because it really sticks the landing at the end by very unambiguously saying what most of us who have read or watched anything about the real-life case have wanted to scream for years:

Yes there are two sides to this story - BUT ONE SIDE CONSISTED OF TWO GROWN ADULTS - AND THE OTHER SIDE WAS A 9-YEAR-OLD KID!!

Natalia Grace - may you have an absolutely wonderful life. You absolutely deserve it.

Out of all the countless, mostly forgotten slasher flicks of the 80s, this one has a special place in my heart.

The acting isn't great - although I do like the young lead Rachael Kelly. She's not as ridiculously attractive as the 20-somethings that typically play teenagers today, but at least she IS a teenager, and she's cute enough and plucky enough to make you want to root for her. Too bad this was the last film she ever did.

The real reason I like this movie, though, is the exact same reason that is most frequently cited as its biggest flaw. Namely, that no one believes her when she says over and over again that her step-dad is a killer, despite overwhelming evidence that she's telling the truth.

To those who say that aspect of the film is unrealistic - have you ever tried telling anyone in corporate that your boss is deliberately trying to get you fired? Have you ever tried telling a university that your professor is deliberately trying to fail you? And have you ever, ever tried telling your mom/dad that your step-mom/step-dad hates you?

The irony is that none of these scenarios is particularly rare, and most of the time the more obvious it is that you're absolutely correct - the more everyone insists that YOU'RE the one who's crazy.

Anyways, it's not a great movie - but I say give it a chance.