‘Holes in the Sky: The Sean Miller Story’ Is One Scary Alien Found Footage Film
Giallo Julian
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Aliens. Found Footage. Go together like shit on a heel, don’t they? Such fun times I totally enjoy and am not tired of at all.
Yeah, I’m not the biggest fan of the “found footage” sub-genre, if you couldn’t tell. That’s not to say I’m totally opposed to it. I do like a decent amount of these recovered recordings.
Savageland is my particular favorite, though it’s more a found “picture” film disguised as a documentary. Lake Mungo is pretty damn good, arguably one of the best. Be My Cat: A Film For Anne receives high praise from people out there. Noroi: The Curse, The Last Horror Movie (thanks, Austin!), The Last American Broadcast, REC; all fun features. And of course, for better or worse, The Blair Witch Project is pretty much the codifier for most of these.
Despite all that, this is just a handful in the hundreds (if not thousands) of bad found footage movies out there. Not bad in a fun way either… at least, not to me.
Related: ‘The Backrooms’ Is A Found Footage Nightmare Freaking Out The Internet
And one of the most popular antagonists for this (subjective) bargain-bin fodder are those of an extra-terrestrial origin. I mean, why not? Accounts of alien sightings/abductions/relations have been happening forever, it just lends itself to the “shaky cam” experience given that most of the actual “evidence” is presented in the same way. Funny how that is, right?
Look, I’m not saying I’m a UFO denier. It’s just I haven’t been convinced yet. Get on it, my alien expert Fright Fiends out there! Convince me!
Anyway, I’m not here to talk about my personal disdain for the majority of found footage flicks or my skepticism of contact with other-worldly visitors. No, no, no, that would be a waaaaaay longer article. I’m here to talk about a really good found footage film about alien encounters! Look at that, flipped it around! Back on track!
Director/writer/editor/Awesome Guy Ash Hamilton let yours truly take a sneak peek at his new film Holes in the Sky: The Sean Miller Story a bit early, and let me tell you… it’s out of this world!
Get it? Because aliens, and… you know… alright, let’s just do the rundown.
Holes in the Sky: The Sean Miller Story (Directed by Ash Hamilton; Starring Sean Ed, Ash Hamilton, Chanell Hamilton; 2021)
“In July of 2013 Sean Miller disappeared for four days. Seven years later a documentary film crew found out why.” – via IMDB.
The first thing that grabbed me was how sincere this flick was. During my initial watch, it felt like it was an actual documentary detailing strange events that happened in the middle of Illinois (I’m told the “s” is silent). So much so, I had to look it up to see if it was real or not after the first 20 minutes because it was bugging me. Very fucking effective, and I mean that sincerely.
Everyone acts fully honest about the subject matter, like it’s just another job to add to the list of numerous other film projects. Which is true. Mr. Hamilton is a filmmaker after all, both in the film and reality (he portrays himself in the flick, forgot to mention that).
What I’m getting at is that for the most part, the acting doesn’t seem like acting, but real people that happened to be caught on film. I wonder how much of it is improvised… I guess I could ask Ash Hamilton. But I kind of like not knowing. More mystery that way.
Next up is just the way everything is presented. As was previously alluded to, one way to keep me invested in a found footage flick is to go the faux-documentary approach, as opposed to the whole “we-just-found-a-tape-and-are-showing-it-to-you-now” gimmick. It personally feels more genuine, which goes a long way into making it feel authentic. Again, I wasn’t sure if it was fake at first, so it pulled the wool over my eyes for a bit. It keeps the atmosphere going for pretty much the whole runtime. While the climax does kind of falter a bit, it doesn’t derail it enough to ruin anything.
Related: ‘Alien Abduction: Incident In Lake County’ Is The Perfect Thanksgiving Horror Movie
Now, I’ve been watching horror movies since I was real young, having watched my first creature feature somewhere between my stay in the maternity ward and the first night I spent in my crib. To say it’s hard for a film to scare me would be an understatement. But, this flick got me once. No spoilers, but let’s just say lingering shots of nighttime rural desolation are always prime real-estate for some scares.
When it comes down to it, I can say with utmost certainty that Holes in the Sky: The Sean Miller Story was well-done and that I enjoyed it thoroughly. Granted, I’m not a found-footage expert, so it’s possible that I don’t understand all the “finesses” and “nuances” of the sub-genre. But as someone who’s not a huge fan of it all, the fact I genuinely like it must mean something, right?
Anyway, yes, I think Holes in the Sky: The Sean Miller Story is fun, great, and well worth a watch from fans and critics alike of the genre. Where can you watch it? Well, so far, it’s doing the rounds in the festival circuits, so unless you can snag a pass to one of those, you’re out of luck for the time being.
No worries! As soon as they announce a release date for it, I’ll be sure to let y’all know. I got your back!
Ciao, friends!
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