10 More Amazing Trailers That Tricked You Into Seeing Terrible Horror Movies

4. The Fourth Kind

Spiral from the book of Saw trailer
Universal Pictures

The Fourth Kind revolves around an Alaskan town with an unprecedented amount of reports surrounding alien abductions. While counselling the abductees, Dr. Abigail Tyler (Milla Jovovich) concludes these extra-terrestrial encounters are more than a mere delusion.

Although the plot screams B-movie, the trailer emphasises the subject matter would be dealt with seriously. Milla Jovovich speaks to the audience directly, informing them how "Every scene in this movie is supported by archival footage, some of which you are about to see." Based on the way The Fourth Kind was presented, the pseudo-documentary was expected to be an authentic dramatisation of real events, rather than a brainless sci-fi flick.

But since it ended up on this list, it's obvious The Fourth Kind fits more into the latter. Firstly, all the "archival footage" is fictional. Now, that's not a problem in itself. The Blair Witch Project was a fake doc but still managed to scare an entire generation.

However, the problem lies with how unconvincing the so-called real interviews come across. The hokey dialogue and poor performances make it impossible to believe any of this is legit, severely undercutting the tension.

The clever presentation deserves top marks, but The Fourth Kind never lives up to its potential.

 
Posted On: 
Contributor

James Egan has been with Whatculture for five years and prominently works on Horror, Film, and Video Games. He's written over 80 books including 1000 Facts about Horror Movies Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about The Greatest Films Ever Made Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Video Games Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts About James Bond 1000 Facts About TV Shows