Movie Trailer: The Shadow (1994)

Ask JKM a Question: The Shadow (1994)

A reader, Ed, writes:

"I recently read your review of Dick Tracy (1990)  and you seemed pretty conflicted about it. 

What are your thoughts about another  1930s superhero movie: The Shadow?.

I am a strong defender of the film. I feel it is so much better than its reputation suggests. It has everything you need: humor, romance, and great style. 

To me, it is what Dick Tracy should have/could have been.

How about writing a review?"

Ed, thank you for writing. 

When you submitted this question back in March, I went back to watch The Shadow (1994), and will do just as you say.

I will be featuring a review of The Shadow on Tuesday morning, here on the blog, as well as a look back at the collectibles from the film on Wednesday.  

What do I think of the film?

Check in again on Thursday, but for right now, only The Shadow knows...

Don't forget to ask me your questions at Muirbusiness@yahoo.com.

Cult-TV Theme Watch: Crash Landings

A good landing is any one that you can walk away from, right?   

Well, the crash landings in cult-tv history would definitely not qualify as "good landings," even if some survivors manage to escape them relatively intact.

A crash landing might also be termed an "emergency" landing, but generally a crash landing is defined as a descent that ends with an air craft or space craft reaching terra firma...indelicately.

In terms of sci-fi TV, a crash landing is also an opportunity for special effects artists to strut their stuff. 

One of the greatest "crash landing" stories in cult-TV history, unsurprisingly, comes from The Twilight Zone (1959-1964).  

In "Death Ship," a spaceship crew led by Jack Klugman makes the startling discovery that their ship has already crashed on a desolate planetary surface.  Now, they must unmake that particular (and terminal...) future.

The Robinsons' Jupiter 2 spaceship crashed on a near-regular basis in the fifty-year old Lost in Space (1965-1968): once in black-and-white, and at least twice in color.

The Planet of the Apes (1974) TV series commenced with the crash of a spaceship, as human astronauts Virdon and Burke passed through a time warp and arrived on Earth of the distant future...an Earth populated by intelligent simians.

Space:1999 (1975 - 1977) visualized some of the greatest crash scenes in cult-TV history.  Eagles came to unfortunate, and violent, ends in episodes such as "Breakaway" "Missing Link," "The Last Sunset" and "Devil's Planet," to name just a few. 

Sometimes Eagles went down on the moon, and other times they plowed through planetary surfaces, but the effects always were spectacular.

The Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979-1981) episode "Journey to Oasis" commences with a shuttle fro the Searcher going down on a barren world, far short of its destination.

In Galactica: 1980 (1980), the final episode, "Return of Starbuck" tells of Lt. Starbuck's final mission, and crash landing on a distant world.  

In Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994), the first season episode "Skin of Evil" involves the rescue of Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis) from a downed shuttle-crafted "guarded" by a malevolent entity called Armus. A fourth season episode of the same series, "Final Mission" also involves a crash landing as a key narrative element.

Deep Space Nine (1993 - 1999) features plenty of Runabout crash landings.  The first season episode "Battle Lines" is one example.  A later episode, "The Ascent" also involves such a crash.

In Star Trek: Voyager (1995 - 2001), one spectacular scene in "Timeless" features the crash of the Voyager on an alien arctic shelf.

The X-Files (1993 - 2002) episode "Biogenesis" involves the discovery of an ancient alien saucer that presumably crash-landed on the South African beach at the beginning of life on Earth.

The Cult-TV Faces of: Crash Landings

Identified by Pierre Fontaine; The Twilight Zone: "Death Ship."

Identified by Pierre Fontaine: Thunderbirds.

Identified by Pierre Fontaine: Lost in Space: "The Reluctant Stowaway."

Identified by Pierre Fontaine: Planet of the Apes: "Escape from Tomorrow."

Identified by Pierre Fontaine: Space:1999 "The Immunity Syndrome."

Identified by Pierre Fontaine: Space Academy.

Identified by Pierre Fontaine: Jason of the Star Command

Identified by SGB: Galactica 1980: "The Return of Starbuck."

Identified by SGB: Buck Rogers: "Journey to Oasis."

Identified by Pierre Fontaine: Star Trek: The Next Generation: "Power Play."

Identified by Pierre Fontaine: Space Precinct

Identified by Pierre Fontaine: Star Trek: DS9

Identified by Nicolas Fraser: SGU: "Justice"

Identified by Chris G: The X-Files: "The Sixth Extinction."

Advert Artwork: The Shadow (1994; Bally Edition)

At Flashbak: Milton Bradley's Battleship (1967)

This week at Flashbak, I also celebrated the (almost) 50^th anniversary of Milton Bradley’s strategy game Battleship.

Here’s a snippet and the url (http://flashbak.com/sank-battleship-celebrating-milton-bradleys-beloved-strategy-game-58200/ )

“Difficult though it may be to believe, 2017 will make the 50^th anniversary of the Milton Bradley strategy game Battleship.

As early as World War I a variation of this beloved game Battleship was actually played by gamers using nothing more than pen and paper.

In 1967, however, Milton Bradley made Battleship official, and in the process produced one of the most beloved games of “all time,” one played by multiple generations, and in multiple formats.

This famous game of strategy pits two players against each other as they attempt to sink their opponent’s naval fleet using red and white pegs and a map grid.

For the disco decade, Battleship was advertised with a TV commercial which became famous (ubiquitous) to my generation; one in which two male audience members at a fancy opera performance actually play Battleship to pass the time, and one player interrupts the performance, announcing -- indignantly -- “You sank my battleship!”

This exclamation became something of a catchphrase, and the game was advertised as “one you can take anywhere…”

Please continue reading at Flashbak.

At Flashbak: Powerful Living Rock! (The Rock Lords)

This week at Flashbak, I remembered an awesome toy line from the 1980s: The Rock Lords.

Here’s a snippet and the url: (http://flashbak.com/powerful-living-rocks-remembering-tonkas-rock-lords-58069/ )

“Thirty years ago, in 1986, toymakers Bandai and Tonka introduced a generation of kids to…the Rock Lords.

The Rock Lords were a strange if not-entirely successful spin-off from Bandai's and Tonka's successful GoBots line that proved opular in the mid-1980s, at least before being eclipsed in the pop-culture by the very similar Transformers.

In 1986, an animated feature film called GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords (1986) was produced, and it involved the GoBot Guardians (essentially the Autobots of this universe…) protecting "powerful living rocks" from the likes of the Renegade Cy-Kill and the leader of the evil Rock Lords; a gent named Magmar (and voiced by Telly Savalas). Margot Kidder voiced the Rock Lord Queen, Solitaire, and Roddy McDowall played Nuggit, who was the R2D2-like character of the group.

Now, unlike Transformers or even the GoBots, the Rock Lords didn’t actually transform into vehicles...they just transformed into...rocks. That may sound highly uninteresting and totally lacking in creativity, but the action figures were extremely well-made and durable, and could function as either ‘character,’ essentially, or puzzle.

The protagonists in the Rock Lord universe -- in addition to those named above -- included Boulder, Crackpot, Marbles, and Pulver-Eyes.

The minions of Magmar included Brimstone, the two-headed Styx-and Stones, Slimestone, Tombstone, Stoneheart, to name just a few.

The denizens who had not yet picked a side, and whom I guess were supposed to be like the animals of the rock world, were called rockosaurs.  “Terra roc” was a pterodactyl, or something like one.

Another intriguing thing about the Rock Lords line of toys is that there are apparently class differences at work in the "rock" culture. There's a whole subset of these guys from the planet Quartex called Jewel Lords (with names like Solitaire, and Flamestone), and another subset called "Fossil Lords" as well. These variations are difficult to find...and really, really expensive.”

Continue reading at Flashbak.

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: Jason of Star Command: "Mimi's Secret" (November 24, 1979)

In Jason of Star Command’s “Mimi’s Secret,” Jason (Craig Littler), Samantha (Tamara Dobson), Professor Parsafoot (Charlie Dell) and young Heidi (Heather Connell) escape an attack by Dragos’ (Sid Haig) drones, and then return to Star Command.  

Once there, they meet with Queen Medusa (Francine York), who, under a flag of truce, promises to exchange Heidi’s missing father for her doll, Mimi.

By this point, Parsafoot has realized that “Mimi” is actually a code-name for M1M1, an acronym which pinpoints the location (planet M1) of a secret “guardsman” mineral vein. The valuable material is used throughout the galaxy as a power source, and Dragos would find it incredibly valuable.  Meanwhile, Heidi stows away on Medusa’s ship.

Finally, Jason and the others rescue Heidi and her father on the surface of M1, and fight to keep the mineral out of the hands of Queen Medusa…

“Mimi’s Secret, the second-to-last Jason of Star Command episode, boasts some nice flourishes.  

One of those is the visual of Queen Medusa’s starship. It discharges energetic particles while traveling through space; particles that are pink and purple, the very colors of Medusa’s skin tight, spandex uniform (a hand-me-down from Julie Newmar.)

Another point of interest is the episode’s brief commentary on prejudice based on skin color.  Young Heidi asks Commander Stone (John Russell) why his skin is blue, and he responds with a comment about not judging people by color, because color doesn’t reveal their true selves. It’s a brief moment, but a good one that feels, perhaps more in keeping with Space Academy (1977).

In terms of production values, “Mimi’s Secret” is a noticeably weak episode. M1 is represented by the same studio planet set we’ve seen a dozen times this season.  Worse, the interior of Medusa’s ship is just a re-dressed Seeker/Star Fire interior, with the seats white instead of red. Kind of a disappointment, and it’s one of the few instances in the series where the miniature work doesn’t match a live-action interior.

No monsters or stop-motion aliens this week, but “Mimi’s Secret” opens with a pitched space battle between Dragos’ drones and Jason’s Star-fire.  Jason defeats the enemy fighters by tapping into their control panels and jamming their “control frequencies.”  It sounds a little like what Admiral Kirk did to Khan aboard the Reliant a few years later in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

As far as Mimi (and her secret…) go, it turns out the doll is hiding information about the important power source, but the episode never really explains how she lives.  

In this segment, Mimi even shoots laser beams out of her eyes. But, unlike many of her cult-tv brethren, she’s not an evil doll, just a living one.

One last JOSC episode to go, next week: “Battle for Freedom.”

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: Flash Gordon: "King Flash" (December 1, 1979)

More "peril and adventure await us" on this week's Flash Gordon (1979) episode, Chapter 11, "King Flash."

When last we left our stalwart hero, he was trapped in the caverns of the Blue Magic witch queen, Azura. She had cast a spell on Gordon making him believe he was "Gor-Don," a conquering King of Mongo from years past...and her lover.

As "King Flash" opens, Gordon and Azura lead their war chariot and magical sorcerer minions into battle against Vultan and Barin. Dr. Zarkov has concluded that Azura's spell is "electrical," but is still unable to free Flash from the clutches of his new queen. Zarkov then determines he must "fight magic with magic."

Gor-don's army is triumphant and Vultan and Barin are captured.But when Barin says "Flash...remember," something of his true character comes through Gordon's psyche. Azura attributes this to weariness and sends Flash off to bed. There, Zarkov, Thun and Dale capture him and restore his memory, leaving in his stead a hologram. 

Unfortunately, Zarkov notes, Flash will retain a double personality for some time, even after he is healed. Another side effect of the restoration: Flash Gordon literally becomes "a shadow," a tool he will use to defeat Queen Azura.

When Azura realizes she can never own Flash Gordon body and soul, she releases the ancient "Fire King," Talors, from the cavern to destroy him. But Flash is able to defeat the lobster/dinosaur creature in battle, and thus wins freedom for himself and his friends. Azura is now his new ally in the war to overthrow Mongo's despot, Ming.

Free and triumphant, Flash, Barin, Vultan, Dale, Zarkov and Thun leave the blue magic caverns...only to be captured by Princess Aura and Ming the Merciless.

So, another kingdom down, another Queen converted, and more monsters defeated in battle.  Yep, just another week on Mongo, for the exceptional Flash Gordon. By this point in the series, the storytelling and plotting are absolutely rote. 

Next Week: "Tournament of Death."

Book Review: The Interrupted Journey (1966)

This riveting fifty-year old account of the Barney and Betty Hill Abduction is a cause celebre in UFO literature and lore. The story, told expertly by journalist John G. Fuller, has also become fodder for TV movies such as The UFO Incident (1975) and fictionalized hour-long dramas such as Dark Skies (1996-1997).

The Interrupted Journey (1966) recounts (in meticulous detail) the events of the evening of September 19, 1961, a span when an unassuming interracial couple -- the Hills -- saw their weekend drive in New England interrupted by a...flying saucer.

A UFO not only shadowed these unlucky sojourners for a time, but aliens actually took the humans aboard their craft, the Hills alleged. There, a slew of medical exams were conducted before the couple's release.

After this event, as Fuller recounts, the Hills returned to their home and their jobs. Life went on, but they both felt mysteriously unsettled, with significant gaps in their memories. Betty experienced nightmares for a time. Barney saw a flare-up of his ulcer.

Soon, Betty began to remember bits and pieces of the unnerving experience, even as Barney resisted the idea of aliens and flying saucers all together, fearing that friends and family would find his story ludicrous.

But slowly and surely, the couple began to come to terms with the bizarre, inexplicable events of that night.

The Hills were aided in this endeavor by a reputable, rock-solid psychiatrist, Dr. Benjamin Simon, who utilized hypnosis to excavate the Hills' buried (or blocked?) memories of the close encounter on September 19th 1961.

Their stories -- told separately in marathon individual sessions -- matched one another's very closely. Husband and wife both spoke of an alien visitation that featured missing time (a span erased by the aliens...), medical exams (including a painful pregnancy test for Betty...) and so on.

These thorough hypnosis sessions -- which often read as decisive, even prosecutorial cross-examinations -- are featured in The Interrupted Journey in the form of transcripts. These word-for-word accounts make for absorbing, provocative and even anxiety-provoking reading.

Fuller does well with the remainder of the text too, his prose devoid of unnecessary or distracting drama,

hysteria, or silliness. In fact, Fuller downplays everything in a just-the-facts writing-style that disarms the inner skeptic and generates a fair bit of, well, uneasiness. The idea of alien visitation is rendered entirely believable here...and palpable.

Ultimately, we come to judge this oddly disturbing story on a human basis, a personal basis. The Hills don't seem like craven attention-seekers (on the contrary actually...). They waited for years to come forward in the public square to tell their version of the story, and then only after an unscrupulous journalist published their story without permission or input.

In The Interrupted Journey, when Barney first sees the alien leader's inhuman black eyes glaring down at him (pressing telepathically into his skull), the reader shares Barney's sense of primal terror; mainly because Fuller's sketched the man in such realistic, human fashion.

The Interrupted Journey is a remarkable work of literature, and I recommend the book as such. Just don't take it at face value or as a priori, Gospel Truth. On the (admittedly-limited) basis of literature, however, The Interrupted Journey is entirely successful. You sympathize with the characters; you're caught up in the drama, and the book evokes a strange feeling that somehow, some way, you're being watched while you turn the pages. It's not good material to read while you're alone in the house.

Or after dark. The book makes you feel paranoid; like you're under a microscope.

Yet the inner skeptic in me still had some questions and concerns about the veracity of the Hill tale. Let me play devil's advocate for a bit, if you don't mind.

To start with during her encounter with the aliens, Betty is offered an extra-terrestrial book as proof of the aliens' existence. The aliens ultimately take the book back, however, conveniently defying Betty any hard evidence of the encounter.

But my problem is with the idea of the alien book itself. We're nowhere near the advent of interstellar flight, but in a few short years, print books will go the way of the dodo on Earth, totally extinct; relics. Would aliens capable of interstellar flight and mind-bending amnesia tricks still carry around books on their space ship (where space and weight would presumably be at a premium....)?

Wouldn't they at least have Kindle?

Secondly, there's the alien confusion about "time." To The Interrupted Journey's credit, the book openly and fairly acknowledges this paradox. Specifically, the aliens tell Betty to "wait a minute" at one point but later, during her exam, confess no knowledge and/or understanding of time or even of the passage of time.

For instance, concepts such as "years" and "old age" are beyond the Saucerites. If the aliens could translate thought well-enough to use the phrase "wait a minute," why couldn't the same technique bring them an understanding of time?

Thirdly, the physical description of the flying saucer -- Barney and Betty's mutual description -- feels uncomfortably like a 1960s phantasm of "future" technology. Barney sees (through his binoculars...) a group of aliens standing at a large black control panel. Again, in the decades since this book's publication, we've seen the revolution of miniaturization, not to mention the development of touch screen consoles.

So why would aliens from a futuristic society (a society advanced enough to possess interstellar flight...) rely on old-fashioned, bulky, non-touch screen computer panels? More to the point, perhaps, why would four-foot tall aliens have laboratory bays with human-sized examination tables?

When Barney first detects the aliens (as reported in a startling hypnosis session) he briefly mistakes the uniformed extra-terrestrials for Nazis. In another portion of the book, he admits that he has a deep-seated affinity for the people of Israel. He identifies with them deeply, apparently fearing a similar form of persecution (as a black man married to a white woman in 1960s America).

Given his initial description of the aliens as "Nazis" -- in tandem with this self-acknowledged psychological affinity for Israelis -- the intrepid reader may begin to suspect that this alien encounter could, in fact, be an hallucination, a folie-a-deux...an event entirely psychological and not what we would consider "real."

Also, there are a few notable difference in Betty and Barney's story that do bear a casual mention. Betty initially claims that the aliens possess "Jimmy Durante"-type noses. By contrast, Barney says that the aliens have no noses...only recessed nasal slits. I'd be willing to chalk this up to the fog of abduction, but it's a discrepancy nonetheless.

Finally, Betty admits that she and Barney do have some at least sub-conscious awareness of the burgeoning sci-fi pop-culture of the 1960s. In particular, she mentions The Twilight Zone by name during one of her hypnosis sessions. And then there's this little factoid, straight from Wikipedia:

"Entirely Unpredisposed author Martin Kottmeyer suggested that Barney's memories revealed under hypnosis might have been influenced by an episode of the science fiction television show The Outer Limits titled "The Bellero Shield", which was broadcast about two weeks before Barney's first hypnotic session. The episode featured an extraterrestrial with large eyes..."

But listen, I'm no debunker. I have no interest in that job assignment.

In terms of UFOs, let's just say......I want to believe. I really do. More than that, I'm inclined to believe. But to protect myself, I also set a pretty high bar for that belief.

Disappointment can be a bitch.

My feeling on the subject of UFOs has always been that, given the size of the universe, it seems entirely plausible that alien civilizations might indeed exist....somewhere.

It is also entirely plausible to me that some life forms "out there" would be sufficiently advanced for interstellar travel. There's a caveat, however. Space traveling requires considerable resources, not to mention a tremendous amount of energy, and it seems to me you would only travel some place far away (like Earth...) for a matter of great import.

Which leaves me to consider three options in regards to the Hills.

One: the abduction happened in exactly the way the couple described, and I'm incredibly wrong in whatever skepticism I harbor. I sure hope that's the case.

Or Two: the abduction happened all right, but it was a top secret government or military experiment. Probably one involving mind-altering drugs.

Or, lastly, the Hills (now both deceased, unfortunately...) experienced something traumatic but entirely human on September 19, 1961; something that they didn't understand, and that their minds couldn't adequately process. That mystery accounts for the story of The Interrupted Journey.

Again, I want to believe. And while reading this book -- for a time -- I did believe. Betty and Barney Hill seem like good people, caught up in a terrible mystery. I don't know that you could ask for better, more credible eye-witnesses. But in the end, one couple's word -- even word of honor -- is simply not good enough. Not to sway me, anyway.

I wish desperately that the Hill Abduction could be proven conclusively; that The Interrupted Journey could be respected as something more than a fine, remarkably frightening campfire tale.

Perhaps one day it will be. But for now, that’s the purpose (ably) and literately served by The Interrupted Journey.

Cult-TV Movie Review: The UFO Incident (1975)

The unsettling and inexplicable experience of Barney and Betty Hill -- of alien abduction -- was recounted meticulously in John Fuller's best-selling book, The Interrupted Journey. The same tale was also memorably adapted for American TV screens in October of 1975 by writer Hesper Anderson and frequent TV-movie director Richard Colla.

The film's title was changed to The UFO Incident, and actors James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons were cast in the lead roles. The late Barnard Hughes co-starred as the couple's stolid psychiatrist, Dr. Simon.

The UFO Incident commences a few years after the alleged alien abduction, as a troubled Barney and Betty Hill, an interracial couple living in New England, feel a strange compulsion to re-trace their steps from the night of September 19, 1961, the nights their lives were forever altered. There are gaps in their memories that they can't explain, and this fact vexes them both.

Since September '61, The Hills have driven the same stretch of New Hampshire road eight or nine times, but on this particular occasion (an event translated directly from Fuller's book...), something unexpected occurs. The presence of a group of men on the side of the rural highway causes a usually calm Betty to fly into a spasm of hysteria and panic. We see an alarming quick cut -- as she screams in terror -- of a gloved, grey hand reaching into the car...as if to grab her.

Meanwhile, Barney is still reluctant to face the possibility that he and his wife encountered a UFO at all. He is insecure living in an all-white community with Betty, and fears ridicule and isolation should the story of flying saucers come to light. 

"Your dreams are your dreams," he tells Betty, "and reality is reality." Later, Barney angrily acknowledges "I know it happened...but I can't get myself to believe it."

The couple goes to see Dr. Simon, a psychiatrist, to aid in resolving their "anxiety problems" and "double amnesia." 

But what the Hills ultimately reveal in long, detailed hypnosis sessions is something extremely terrifying: a close encounter with the crew of an alien spaceship. 

Aliens stopped their car by moonlight, and escorted the alarmed humans aboard their flying saucer. There, these curious, inhuman creatures conducted a variety of invasive medical exams, including a pregnancy test, before sending the Hills -- with wiped memories -- on their way home.

Over time, Dr. Simon helps the Hills contextualize and accept the events of September 1961, even if it can't be fully or even adequately explained. The cloud of anxiety lifts (especially for Barney...), and some sense of normalcy returns to the Hills, despite the oddness of this weird event in their history.

The UFO Incident inter-cuts a series of tension-provoking hypnosis sessions with more routine views of Barney and Betty's domestic life, to good effect. James Earl Jones and Estelle Parsons share a number of sweet, well-written scenes together at the Hill residence, strongly registering as likable, "real" people under unusual duress. These relationship scenes purposefully contrast in tone with the horrific recitation of the fascinating, you-can't-look-away abduction details.

For the most part, the hypnoses scenes in The UFO Incident admirably eschew spectacle for intimacy. Colla's camera remains pinned to Jones' expressive face in intense, sustained close-up photography. Barney grows ever more disturbed during his account of the alien encounter, and the performance is stunning. 

Watching Jones "live through" Barney's experience, you are absolutely riveted. And when Jones breaks the carefully-staged close-up composition, suddenly lunging from frame "trying to escape," you'll feel your adrenaline kick in. This is scary, scary stuff.

There are also occasional cuts to flashbacks during the hypnosis session; to Barney worriedly studying the night sky, clutching his binoculars, for instance. 

Intermittently, the audience can make out a light shining down on forest trees, but other than that, we never actually see the UFO in flight. This is an effective technique simply because we seem to be remembering "fragments" of the experience at the same time Barney or Betty does.

The medical examination scene aboard the alien space craft is vetted with similar tact and dramatic flair. Colla's camera cuts to a variety of insert shots: close-ups of alien surgical tools and other instrumentation, for example. When these shots begin to flash by, faster and faster, we feel as though we are being overcome by a flurry of images, literally overtaken by the experience.

The UFO Incident's most chilling image, however, arises during Betty's hypnosis session. She describes (again, in committed close-up), a group of "men" appearing ahead of the car; coming out of the forest and slowly nearing. 

Here, the film flashes back to a sort of wooded glade, and at first we don't see anything distinct. Then, appearing in shadow -- in the blurry, darkened distance at first -- black-garbed creatures loom, eventually coming into plain sight. Again, it's very chilling.

Colla and Anderson rigorously and faithfully follow the events and experiences in Fuller's written account, a fact which makes this TV movie an unusual artifact in a medium that prefers to tart things up. But, The UFO Incident isn't exactly a documentary, either. Instead, the film seeks and ultimately locates the core of the Hill drama: the manner in which the encounter with the aliens plays into Barney and Betty's already-existing fears.

For instance, Barney is a pragmatist, afraid of that which is real, meaning racial prejudice, intolerance and hatred. He's also grappling with another very real fear -- his health. The men in Barney's family all died young from strokes and he fears the same fate. For Barney, acknowledging that the UFO experience is actually real proves a traumatic and difficult thing. If it's real, then he has to deal with it the same way he has to deal with bigotry or his illness.

Coming from a more privileged background, all of Betty's fears are based not in the real, but in the unknown. She's not alone; but she fears being alone (of losing Barney). She fears the "unknown" of death too. For her, the UFO experience means countenancing and accepting the unknown in her life.

The UFO Incident could have easily proven a really lurid, sensational bit of business. However, the steadfast focus on character, on performance, and on effective camera-work renders the movie not merely respectable, but actually admirable. The movie could have been an over-the-top geek show, but The UFO Incident understands it doesn't need to embellish, enhance or "stylize" the story of Barney and Betty Hill to render it attention-grabbing and suspenseful.

On the contrary, all the drama -- all the anxiety -- we can handle is abundantly present. In close-up. In the expressive, human faces of Jones and Parsons.