Another Kind (2013)

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Don't waste your time, unless you like a movies with major plot gaps about morons that go on a 27 mile hike in the mtns in the middle of winter, don't know Anything about the wilderness, and have nonsense endings. If you do, then have at it!

This one appeared in my AmazonPrime all of a sudden, and had a generic enough description to not put me off too much in trying it out. Sexy young people lost in the woods have an alien encounter. The movie felt a lot like a found footage type dealy but surprisingly it wasn't, based on the camera cuts. It treaded carefully, moving at a steady pace without immediately divulging in its alien content and instead played to a more realistic set of fears of getting lost and divided, especially when one of the protagonists reveals he didn't bring a map because he knows the area well enough. Completely unsurprisingly, something happens later on to incapacitate him and thus leave the others completely lost and without a map. All throughout we get some minor incidents involving lights and malfunctioning electronic equipment that is standard of these sorts of alien encounter movies, and a lot of character interactions which shockingly turn out to be moderately intriguing, and the characters themselves aren't overtly annoying or insufferable or unrealistic.Ultimately, as calamities befall the group and the movie progresses, we start arriving near the end and we realize we haven't seen any actual alien-y stuff. We finally get one instance of someone being out and about when they should be unconscious, which then somehow turns into a fantasy dream sequence which doesn't quite go anywhere or hint towards anything. The big reveal at the end was genuinely shocking and awesome, and manages to frame the entire series of events in an even more unsettling light.But then you realize the film is basically over, and almost nothing has actually happened. We basically had a far superior movie unfolding in the background of this one, and it's only revealed to us over the course of half a minute once it's all over. I wouldn't mind this sort of movie with that sort of ending, but when so little actually happened in the movie itself, it becomes a major letdown.

You know when you see certain films and they just seem to stay with you well after you have watched them? "Another Kind" is one of those films. I really didn't know what to expect when I set down to watch-alone, at 1 a.m. but man was I I pleasantly surprised. More so than any other film I have watched that boasted claims such as the description to "Another Kind" declared. In the tradition of "Blair Witch Project" and "The X- Files". A lot of films claim to be comparable to iconic films such as these but very few really deliver. So not the case with this little indie film. Before I get into the depth of how cool, and entertaining the film is I need to give some background info on "Another Kind". The film's directed by Jonathan Blitstein and stars little known actors Jamie Law, Nate Miller, Laura Ramadei and Patrick Woodall. The story follows the four on a winter snowshoeing/camping trip into the wilderness in the Catskills to gear up for a future adventure at Mt. Everest. The adventure turns tragic as a series of mishaps prove to be more than the amateur outbackers can handle. It is a nightmare that only hints at the bigger horror happening around them. Now for my thoughts on this little gem of a thriller. "Another Kind" has one of those story elements that keeps you on the edge, guessing what really is going on from the moment the characters snowshoes get strapped on. The atmosphere of the film is one of solemn unease. You almost feel the tragedy from the beginning of the film even before anything significant happens. There is just a well conveyed sense of apprehension that seemed to infect me as I watched the film. The actors do an above apt job bringing these characters to life, it is impressive just how comfortable they seem in front of the camera. The performances are genuine and engaging. I felt invested in the characters wellbeing which intensified the chilling nature of the story. In all honesty "Another Kind" reminded me more of "Yellow Brick Road" with a surprise sci-fi twist ending. I bounced back and forth on whether the film was a nightmare flip out of psyches or if the things were really happening that I was seeing on screen. The film gives good thrills. The special effects are limited, but mostly because there are very few moments in the film that require anything extra, "Another Kind" works more on psychological horror and tension than physical gruesomeness. The sound track and nightmarish situations are what pull the punches with this film, punches are more often creepy and unsettling with almost no lull. The sounds and cinematography used in "Another Kind" is reminiscent of the classic age of horror films from the late 70's and early 80's. Not with gimmicks but with a natural style just seems timeless and recognizable. Oh and the ending on this film remains pretty elusive right up until the very end, and it is a cool ending that I was not expecting. I knew there was a certain sci-fi component because of the title and possible truth behind the events that unfold in the film, I just wasn't expecting the ending that happens in "Another Kind" and it was rewarding. This film actually made me a bit uneasy after it was over, considering I live in the mountains, surrounded by forests that can be pretty frickin' creepy at times. See this movie, it doesn't disappoint.

I can see why many people will dislike this movie. It's a bit slow if you're looking for action rather than atmosphere, many details are left unexplained, and what is explained comes way out of left field. But I felt the bizarre and unexplainable events only added to the creepy atmosphere of the cold wilderness. I actually found myself wishing the filmmakers had left even more to the imagination, as the underlying explanation seemed to cheapen the rest of the movie somewhat. I still found myself quite satisfied when the credits rolled, but I think a more ambiguous ending would have been a better fit and given this movie a more lasting feeling of horror.So while not without its flaws, overall I felt it was a much more interesting movie than its current rating would suggest. It reminded me of YellowBrickRoad, another creepy and bizarre wilderness horror with widely divided opinions.