Why Fire In The Sky should be an addition to the Halloween collection

When it comes to the sci-fi genre, the alien premise can be a dime a dozen. The only ones that aren't a cash-in of other sci-fi horror story premises are the ones based off of a true story. It can't steal from other stories because it is a true story. The movie lists have been changing recently, and there’s one particular movie that I’ve seen pop up on numerous lists that have to do with Alien movies or alien movies based off true accounts. After seeing a familiar title on these movie lists, it’s sparked the interest, and I had to wonder, what is fire in the sky?

Before I watch a movie, I have to do my own research to see if it was worth the online purchase to have it. Some movies can take away two hours of your time. I’m a picky movie buff, I don’t want my intrigue wasted. I went to IMDb to see what the whole plot was about, I was surprised to see it held up a good rating after nineteen years. There were mentions in high regards on the lists, the ratings matched the high regards, it was enough for me to make that purchase on eBay.

I had mentioned this movie to my boyfriend that I wanted to give this film a shot to wonder what it would be like. A biography movie that is also a horror film, it's a double combo feature presentation. If there’s anything that I love more than my fictional stories is I love to see a good biography movie because I want the real story and how is depicted and if all the facts were there. But this is the first alien movie that wasn’t Sigourney Weaver kicking alien ass. This was the first to see an actual case of an alien abduction over the years I’ve heard about various alien abduction’s if they were hoaxes or true horror survival stories.

I had to do a bit more research. But I didn't scour the internet, I went to the all-knowing of news and knowledge, my grandpa. I asked him if he had known about Travis Walton’s UFO Abduction. I didn’t know what happened in 1975. Even in my growing abundance to learn various parts of history, there's no better way then going to my grandfather first. At first, he said that he didn’t know about it because he doesn’t really read into news like that. Just as he said he didn't remember, he recanted as he did remember, it just wasn't something he had thought about for a long time. He told me “Yes I do remember some thing about that, It was in the papers. Front page.”

You wouldn’t believe this but Fire in the sky has been getting a newfound resurgence. It's popped up numerous times about alien abduction movies as well as biography movies, you’re going to be seeing a lot more of this film, and not just in this article.

Its a place on my scary shelf, but should it be on your scary shelf too? I’ll tell you why. Get your tinfoil hat ready.

So what is this underrated alien gem about?

Fire in the sky is a biography sci-fi horror film based off the book by Travis Walton. He wrote of his eerie extraterrestrial experience in 1978 called The Walton Experience. He wrote about his abduction in White Mountains, Arizona in 1975. His co-workers witnessed his abduction and told the truth to the authorities that Travis was zapped and captured by a flying saucer. Their truth was deemed to be a lie and faced the scrutiny of murder accusations as they had no proof to their truth as Travis' body wasn't at the scene where he was abducted. It wasn't until five frustrating days later that Travis is found, alive but traumatized from his abduction.

This Film didn’t just fly under the radar, it couldn’t get to the radar! At the time the film did not fare very well because of having to compete with Schindler’s list, True Romance, Jurassic Park. The film also did not do well due to the controversary surrounding the story, literally probing at the details that were proven to be true. Many people still poke and prod at the details of what Travis Walton went through if it is true or not.

This movie was extremely hard to find, I had to go to two different sites as this film is not being distributed as a product to be available, the cheapest I could find was $10 and the most expensive was $298. If the copies of this film are hard to find for a decent price and some even going for an expensive price. Find the movie when you can because not many copies are available. So I took the gamble and bought the least expensive DVD and I purchased it for me and my boyfriend to watch.

After I watched this film with my boyfriend, I watched it a couple more times the next week. As I re-watched it, I sat and scoured to see what happened to Travis Walton in the continual debate of the proof of the truth of that day.

Spoiler free thoughts

The one thing I like about this film when I re-watch is the fact that everyone always looks scared even when nothing is happening. Every one in that crew can't fathom what they've seen despite accepting what they saw, they don't try to tell each other that it was nothing. They knew it was real and it took their friend and coworker . The depiction of the story is still a little spotty, that's a given with most biography movies. But the actors did a stellar job in a range of emotions from horrified, worried, and confused all without saying generic terms or not even saying anything at all. They still can't get over what they saw. When you see something unfathomable or never thinking you'd be in a situation to explain something that you didn't believe existed until that moment. Then comes the trouble of explaining a story exactly as it was witnessed only to not be believed. They have to make the townsfolk believe in something they never chose to know so they disregard it and believe the loggers killed Travis Walton because it is the usual investigative deduction for logic that is only in their reason of reality to believe. Not something like aliens where proof is hard to find, without Travis, they had no proof. To believe something that is unbelievable, especially in cases of alien abduction. Then the authorities that the loggers went to were told what they saw wasn't true. The whole, "You expect me to believe that a flying saucer took your friend?"

Never before have I seen a movie about alien abductions that had a great focus on the desperation to be believed. How they feel to live with a truth no one will believe.

The actors

I’m not going to name everyone, but the cast can be summed up as “Hey! I know that guy!” There are a lot of familiar actors that you’ve seen from other movies that you will definitely recognize. You might not know the names but you’ll know the faces or were you might know them from. The man who plays Michael Rogers , Robert Patrick might not be the name you know, But if the name T-1000 rings a bell, then it’s going to shock you to see this man and some thing where he isn’t playing a killing machine and plays an every day man.

Henry Thomas who is known for his breakout performance as Elliot in E.T. The Extraterrestrial plays Greg Hayes. This marks the second alien movie that Henry Thomas has been in, and his casting, albeit nonintentional to reference as an in-joke. It's still funny to make the connection of the actor without having an obvious reference within the film.

If your a film buff like me you'll recognize the names and faces, but if you don't know all the names. It doesn't matter you'll still sit there and go, "Hey, I know that guy."

It’s a film that you feel you know the people, it's a biography movie so the depictions of real people have to be portrayed as true as possible. But with this film, it does feel real and genuine. The part in the beginning when Travis rides into town go and the townsfolk yell at Travis for getting his motorbike off of the sidewalk. that he’s a troublemaker but a lovable troublemaker. It’s those little niches that make you forget that you’re watching a horror film and appreciate that you’re watching a biography film too. But it’s still a sci-fi horror film so there’s moments of happiness and wholesomeness help for the final 10 minutes of the film.

The Last Ten Terrifying Minutes

If this is a horror film, then why is it taking so long for the horror film to properly horror? On the back of the cover it even clearly says. It’s entirely spoiler free I cannot tell you what happened last 10 minutes because it’s so horrifying. It is unexplainable because of the actions that happened.

I don’t say this lightly but this film scared me to my core more than any other film and it was within the last 10 minutes, its the movie centers around what is happening while Travis has disappeared. When it is revealed what he went through, it is worth the wait to see what happened, but it's also hard to watch what happened to him. This movie shifts the focus, there’s not really a focus on what’s going on with someone’s gone the focus is usually on where that person is and how are they surviving letting the imagination do the work that these people have no idea what happened to their friend and they’re trying to explain something that is deemed it to be ridiculous and false.

The last ten minutes is truly what makes this film stand out and memorable. For the duration of the film, we don't know happened to Travis Walton, the suspicions fall onto the crew. There’s been so much time focused on the crew and how they’re trying to explain what happened to Travis when we don’t know what’s happening to Travis. In horror, it is truly terrifying when we don’t know what’s going on and were kept in the dark too long. Having our imagination make the suggestion until we get our answers that were different then what was imagined.

There are a few factors we see in horror movies, sometimes people really enjoy seeing some thing that is so unsettling to see inhumane acts that. To quote the film historian, John Kenneth Muir,"We are repulsed by it but we are also attracted to it”

And it’s true there is an interest in seeing something terrible happened to someone else, it’s why people can’t stay away from the news and hear about what happened or seeing an unfortunate prank happen to someone on the Internet. So think of that for the last 10 minutes for this film everything is building up.

There a fear factor is that we have there are some basic ones like for me, I cannot do spiders or heights that’s just basic cookie cutter fears, those are easy fears to get over but then there’s some thing a bit more intense of something that you wouldn’t want to happen to yourself. I’m not going to spoil it for what happened to Travis Walton but when I was watching this film’s ten minute terrifying climax. I was gripping onto my boyfriend’s arm, I forgot how to use my lungs to breathe, and I was trying so hard not to look away. Not because I want to continue seeing it, it's the natural reaction. Usually I can joke my through and know it's only a production set with actors. But there are movies like this that truly take that out of the spectrum.

When that final scene was done in those 10 minutes that's been hailed as the most terrifying ten minutes of the film. Those last ten minutes were the most uncomfortable feeling I've ever had about a movie. I've seen my fair share of frights, thrills, and chills in movies. But after seeing the same formula and looking at the writing perspective it does take away the experience to analyze it, this is the first time I could not analyze a film it was like I got slapped in the face so fast that I had no choice but to watch some thing that terrified me and turned off the logical part of my brain.

Fire in the sky is not your typical alien movie because it’s a biography movie as well as being a horror film. It did do some tweaks to the story as every biography film has to have some different twists to a true tale. But it is an alien movie, there is a core of history that you do see in this film. The case of Travis Walton's abduction is still one of the most controversial alleged UFO abductions in United States history to this day.

Supposedly there is a remake where Travis Walton wants the rest of the story to be present.

The true story?

Not to spoil the movie for you but Travis Walton made it out alive. No that's not the spoiler. If Travis Walton didn't write The Walton Experience, then we wouldn't have the movie. If it wasn't for the book, then the experience he and his the rest of the loggers went through, there would be no story.

The film says clearly in the beginning Based on a true story. There are many factors that never came into the film that you can read about on IMDb page for the film. After you watch the film, there are several interesting reveals about what really happened to Travis Walton as well as other accounts that went untold. All we can hope for is the remake will have the whole experience of Travis Walton's account.

Fire in the sky now has a place on my Halloween bookshelf when I decorate for Halloween, I rarely find very good horror films that I can watch year after year. Now my continual intrigue has already made this film fall into my frightful feature marathons. Fire in the sky is enjoyable as a horror film and a drama film keeping the intensity but not having to watch him to be scared but watch some thing and be intrigued. It is by far one of the best alien movies, I’ve ever seen to show the truth from people who were more scared of what they saw then to explain what they saw. The struggle of the truth that still holds controversary to this day for what happened in those mountains. It's a story that once you see it, you'll never forget it.