Area 51 (film)
Found footage horror film about infiltrating Area 51.
Area 51 is a 2015 American found footage science fiction horror movie. Oren Peli directed and shot the film, and co-wrote it with Christopher Denham. The cast includes Reid Warner, Darrin Bragg, Ben Rovner, and Jelena Nik. Jason Blum produced it through his Blumhouse Productions company. Paramount Insurge gave it a limited theatrical release and made it available on video on demand starting May 15, 2015. This is Peli’s second and most recent directorial effort. Unlike his earlier film *Paranormal Activity*, this one received harsh criticism from both reviewers and viewers.
The plot follows three friends—Reid, Darrin, and Ben—who attend a party. Reid suddenly disappears. Ben and Darrin leave without him. While driving on a dark, empty road, they nearly hit Reid, who stands dazed in the middle of the street. After this event, Reid becomes obsessed with aliens and Area 51. Over three months, he plans to break into the base. His fixation causes him to lose his job and drift away from his family. He recruits Darrin, Ben, and Jelena, a conspiracy theorist whose father worked at Area 51 and died, she believes, because he sought too much information. The group prepares signal jammers, night vision goggles, Freon-treated jumpsuits, and pills to hide their ammonia levels. They follow a high-ranking base employee home from the airport, break into his house, and steal his security badge.
Late one night, Ben drops Reid, Darrin, and Jelena off in the desert near the base. The three bypass perimeter defenses and use the stolen badge to enter. Deep underground, they find a lab with anti-gravity material and a lifelike liquid. They also discover an alien spacecraft in a hangar, which only Reid can enter or touch. Reaching the S4 level, they trigger an alarm. Guards swarm the area, separating Darrin from the others. Darrin evades the guards and narrowly escapes a predatory alien, retreating to higher levels. Reid and Jelena go deeper and find a cavern with clothes, toys, and pods containing human blood and organs. They stumble into a colony of sleeping aliens. One alien wakes and chases them into a white chamber. As Reid examines alien symbols, an unseen force drags Jelena away. She becomes unresponsive. The chamber loses gravity, revealing they are on a silver alien spacecraft. Reid’s camera falls and hits the ground.
Quick Facts
- Director
- Oren Peli
- Producer
- Jason Blum
- Writer
- Oren Peli / Christopher Denham
- Starring
- Reid Warner / Darrin Bragg / Ben Rovner / Jelena Nik
- Editing
- Blake Maniquis / Jake York
- Studio
- Insurge Pictures / Blumhouse Productions / IM Global / Incentive Filmed Entertainment / Solana Films / Room 101, Inc.
- Distributor
- Paramount Pictures
- Released
- 15 May 2015
- Runtime
- 91 minutes
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Budget
- $5 million
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The film follows three close friends, Reid, Darrin, and Ben, after Reid vanishes at a party and later appears dazed on a road. Reid becomes obsessed with aliens and Area 51, spending three months planning to infiltrate the base, losing his job and becoming detached from his family. He recruits Darrin, Ben, and Jelena, a conspiracy theorist whose deceased father worked at Area 51. The group uses signal jammers, night vision goggles, Freon-laced jumpsuits, and pills to mask ammonia levels to sneak onto the base. They steal a security badge from a high-level employee and enter the complex, discovering a lab with anti-gravity material, a liquid substance, and an alien spacecraft. Deep underground, they find a cavern with pods containing human blood and organs, and a colony of sleeping aliens. An alien awakens and chases them; Jelena is dragged away by an unseen force, and the chamber loses gravity, revealing they are on a silver alien spacecraft. Darrin escapes but finds Ben waiting; their car engine dies, and the camcorder captures their abduction. In a post-credits scene, an old man finds Reid's camcorder still recording.
Reader's Guide
Area 51 is notable as the second and most recent film directed by Oren Peli, who gained fame for the original Paranormal Activity. Unlike that film, Area 51 was heavily panned by critics and audiences. Production began in fall 2009, with rewrites by Christopher Denham in April 2011, re-shoots in 2013, and final post-production tinkering until March 2015. It was released exclusively at Alamo Drafthouse theaters and on video on demand on May 15, 2015, earning only $7,556 in its limited theatrical run. Critical reception was overwhelmingly negative: on Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 13% approval rating from eight critics. Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com criticized its generic plot and pacing; A. A. Dowd of The A.V. Club gave it a 'C' and noted its lack of originality compared to Paranormal Activity; James Shotwell of Under the Gun Review gave a D−; and Bob Brinkman of HorrorNews.net gave it no stars, calling it lazy filmmaking with zero scare factor. The film's long delay and poor reception make it a cautionary example in found-footage horror.
Did You Know?
- The film was directed and shot by Oren Peli, co-written by Peli and Christopher Denham.
- It was released on May 15, 2015, in a limited release and through video on demand by Paramount Insurge.
- The film made a total of $7,556 for its weekend-long run in Alamo Drafthouse theaters.
- On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 13% based on reviews from eight critics.
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