- Director: Oren Peli
- Writers: Christopher Denham, Oren Peli
- Stars: Reid Warner, Darrin Bragg, Ben Rovner
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 31 Minutes
- Link: https://amzn.to/3p4voyz
Synopsis
We start with various people talking about Reid and his crazy friends, who appeared. Three months before he disappeared, he started getting really crazy for UFOs. There may be some kind of conspiracy going on, as the three friends tried to get into Area 51.
We flash to some found footage of Reid, Darrin, and Ben. Darrin carries a video camera with them to the bar and the pool party afterwards, as one does. Reid disappears partway through the party, and they nearly run him over on the way home. He’s very quiet and doesn’t talk.
Three months later, the guys are going out of town on a “secret mission.” Reid plays with a cell phone jammer. They have wearable cameras and lots of other equipment. They might get arrested, but they probably won’t get shot. They really do plan to break into Area 51, but first they stop in Vegas and do the usual Vegas-y things.
They meet Jelena, who’s father used to work at Area 51 and wrote a book about it before he killed himself. She shows them her father’s paperwork, including maps and photos.
They follow a guy who has access to the base. The follow him home and break into his house when he leaves. They search his house for his access card, which the man would obviously carry with him or keep in the car. One hides in the bathroom as they family comes back home and has to brush the child’s teeth. The family dog which attacked them earlier seems to forget all about them. After the family goes to sleep, they steal his ID and leave.
They head to Area 51 and stop at the tourist area, where we watch numerous interviews with alien crazies who came to see the tourist stuff. They pick up a guy named Glen who knows all about the approach to the place and the security patrols. They meet up with Jelena, who is going to go with them from here.
Ben insists that Reid tell him why they are doing this. Reid explains that he has missing time from that night at the party and that he’s inexplicably drawn to this base. Ben drops the other three off at the base that night. They crawl under the fence and hike through the desert, avoiding electronic sensors and helicopters. They climb another fence and then dodge cars, guards, and spotlights.
They finally get inside one of the hangers and use their stolen ID to open the key-card door. They go down into the complex and explore. They find records of injured workers and a bulletproof vest that looks like it had a bite taken out of it. They continue downstairs and see large rooms that might be holding cells. They find a lab with weird floating rocks and biological weirdness. They find a flying saucer which proves everything.
The alarm goes off and the guards start to pursue them. They find some rubbery “Grey” aliens, but they are only suits of some kind. What wears those? They start randomly opening doors until they find some tunnels. They find a creepy room full of toys down there. They also find dozens of sleeping pods like they saw on the saucer. At this point, there’s lots of running around, heavy breathing, and Blair-witchy visuals.
We see an alien grab one of the guards from behind. Another one breaks down a wall and chases Darrin. Darrin actually makes it outside, but Reid and Jelena are trapped in a bright white area. They float around and suddenly their camera is falling through the air outside. Darrin finds Ben’s car, but the mothership takes them both.
Commentary
There’s a lot here that doesn’t make sense or is completely illogical. They actually broke into a guy’s house and robbed them while the family slept. That’s pretty dangerous and stupid thing to do for what seems like a big prank anyway.
There are numerous mentions of ammonia pills and ammonia sensors on the base, which makes no sense to me at all. The only ammonia-based medication I can Google is smelling salts, which doesn’t seem to apply here.
If the aliens could get out this easily, how would there be any guards alive? Why don’t they get out every day? Reid and his friends didn’t release them, they were just sort of “out.”
It’s found footage, so there’s lots and lots of low-light and infrared imagery, but it’s not excessive. The shaky cam toward the end in the tunnels is annoying, but again, it’s not excessive. It was pretty low-budget, but overall I liked it. The acting was fine, the locations and sets were excellent, and it was well-paced. There were some impossibly unlikely coincidences and situations, but hey, it’s Area 51.