History YMMV / AlienAbductionIncidentInLakeCounty

* OlderThanTheyThink: This film pre-dates both ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject'' and M. Night Shyamalan's ''Film/{{Signs}}''. It isn't the originator of the 'found footage' genre though - that belongs to ''Cannibal Holocaust''. The 1989 original was in fact inspired by ''Radio/WarOfTheWorlds''.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Much like ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject'', this early found footage film took its concept very seriously, and went to great lengths to try and look realistic. Many now grown up fans admitted to be terrified of how realistic it looked at the time. After a wave of more polished found footage films in the 2000s and 2010s, newer fans might not find anything too radical or special about this.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The makeout between Matthew and Linda - where it's implied that the aliens influenced them to do so. The two don't really reference it afterwards, and the aliens don't seem to have any reason to do it other than to mess with them. The scene was stated by WordOfGod to be written as {{Padding}} so they could bump the movie up to ninety minutes.

* {{Narm}}: Kurt's rather on-the-nose reaction to Mel bringing a black man to dinner is a bit too theatrical to be realistic. It's also completely unnecessary, as the next scene would have Kurt complaining about it to his brothers.
* NarmCharm: The mother thinking that the aliens messing with the house is her late husband's ghost. It should be ridiculous, but it's rather tragic if you think about it.

* ParanoiaFuel: The aliens making the appliances go haywire is understandable, if quite freaky. But the fact that Matthew and Linda start kissing, thinking they're kissing their spouses...especially if it means the aliens can MindRape from far away.

** The "static" effect in the TV Cut, which, at one point, [[EpicFail doesn't even cover up the timer]].

* TearJerker: Tommy's confessional to the camera, where he wishes his dad was still around. He's essentially realised that both his brothers are gone, and Renee is definitely dead. And he has no idea if the rest of his family will survive the night. [[spoiler: They don't]].

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Do the aliens mess with the appliances, electricity etc to troll the family? Or are they keeping their distance because they don't know how well they can fight back? Kurt for example was able to subdue one with a shotgun - so maybe the aliens are testing the water. Or perhaps they're trying to flush them out of the house, like they did to Kurt, Brian and Matthew?

* AdaptationDisplacement: ''Incident in Lake County'' is a remake of ''The [=McPherson=] Tape'', an indie horror film by the same director which saw a limited release in 1989. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBUPqnOlvZk 1989 original]] is actually far more chilling, and frankly starkly realistic, than the remake, even excluding the bad TV Cut. The crudity of the camcorder footage is only too believable for going on 25 years ago.

* OlderThanTheyThink: This film pre-dates both ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject'' and M. Night Shyamalan's ''Film/{{Signs}}''. It isn't the originator of the 'found footage' genre though - that belongs to Cannibal Holocaust.

* HilariousInHindsight: Strange beings that distort the camera? Why does that [[WebVideo/MarbleHornets sound familiar?]]

* AdaptationDisplacement: ''Incident in Lake County'' is a remake of ''The [=McPherson=] Tape'', an indie horror film by the same director which saw a limited release in 1989.
** The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBUPqnOlvZk 1989 original]] is actually far more chilling, and frankly starkly realistic, than the remake, even excluding the bad TV Cut. The crudity of the camcorder footage is only too believable for going on 25 years ago.
* HilariousInHindsight:Strange beings that distort the camera? Why does that [[WebVideo/MarbleHornets sound familiar?]]

* SpecialEffectsFailure: The "static" effect in the TV Cut, which, at one point, [[EpicFail doesn't even cover up the timer]].

* ViewersAreMorons: The TV Cut completely '''wrecks''' the film, with [[{{Narm}} narmy]] music that seems to exist for no other reason than to tell the audience "it's time to be scared now!", as opposed to the [[NothingIsScarier long stretches of silence]] in the original, which added suspense and a stark reality to the situation. There are also more TalkingHeads in the TV Cut, which are there to [[ShowDontTell explain to the audience what they just saw]].
** The film is regularly repeated in the UK, particularly on Sky Movies Horror - there's talking heads, but thankfully no narmy music. The last scene is particularly terrifying because there is no music, one can only imagine how it would be ruined by a soundtrack.

** The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBUPqnOlvZk 1989 original]] is actually far more chilling than the remake, even excluding the bad TV Cut, since the seeming crudity of the camcorder footage only adds to the realism.

* HilariousInHindsight:Strange beings that distort the camera? Why does that [[MarbleHornets sound familiar?]]
* OlderThanTheyThink: This film pre-dates both ''TheBlairWitchProject'' and M. Night Shyamalan's ''Film/{{Signs}}''. It isn't the originator of the 'found footage' genre though - that belongs to Cannibal Holocaust.

* OlderThanTheyThink: This film pre-dates both ''TheBlairWitchProject'' and M. Night Shyamalan's ''{{Signs}}''. It isn't the originator of the 'found footage' genre though - that belongs to Cannibal Holocaust.

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Though it ends up having extremely negative consequences, it's still ''really'' satisfying when Kurt [[ImmuneToBullets blasts one]] [[AvertedTrope of the aliens]] with a shotgun.
* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: Caused many a nightmare and sleepless night for kids who saw it on TV back in 1998 who didn't realise it was a hoax ([[TropesAreNotBad and even for some of those who did.]]) Examples include:
** When the aliens open fire on Tommy and his brothers
** When an ominous figure walks past the window during the dinner
** When the aliens can be heard moving around on the roof, and then one of them is briefly glimpsed climbing into the upstairs window
** The scene where Tommy is ambushed by one of the aliens in his room, during which Tommy enters a trance and doesn't seem to remember the incident after
** The sinister red glow and visual pixellation that foreshadows the aliens' presence
** When the family is cornered and mind-controlled into submission by the aliens at the end, with the camera disturbingly zooming in
** [[CreepyChild That damn little girl]]

** When the family is cornered and mind-controlled into submission by the aliens at the end

* ViewersAreMorons: The TV Cut completely '''wrecks''' the film, with [[{{Narm}} narmy]] music that seems to exist for no other reason than to tell the audience "it's time to be scared now!", as opposed to the [[NothingIsScarier long stretches of silence]] in the original, which added suspense and a stark reality to the situation. There are also more TalkingHeads in the TV Cut, which are there to [[ShowDontTell explain to the audience what they just saw]].

* ViewersAreMorons: The TV Cut completely '''wrecks''' the film, with [[{{Narm}} narmy]] music that seems to exist for no other reason than to tell the audience "it's time to be scared now!", as opposed to the [[NothingIsScarier long stretches of silence]] in the original, which added suspense and a stark reality to the situation. There are also more TalkingHeads in the TV Cut, which are there for no other reason than to [[ShowDontTell explain to the audience what they just saw]].

* ViewersAreMorons: The TV Cut completely '''wrecks''' the film, with [[{{Narm}} narmy]] music that seems to exist for no other reason than to tell the audience "it's time to be scared now!", as opposed to the [[NothingIsScarier long stretches of silence]] in the original, which added suspense and a stark reality to the situation. There are also more TalkingHeads in the TV cut, which are there for no other reason than to [[ShowDontTell explain to the audience what they just saw]].

* OlderThanTheyThink: This film pre-dates both ''TheBlairWitchProject'' and M. Night Shyamalan's ''{{Signs}}''.

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Though it ends up having extremely negative consequences, it's still ''really'' satisfying when Kurt [[ImmuneToBullets blasts one]] [[AvertedTrope of the aliens]] with a shotgun.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: Caused many a nightmare and sleepless night for kids who saw it on TV back in 1998 who didn't realise it was a hoax ([[TropesAreNotBad and even for some of those who did.]]) Examples include:
** When the aliens open fire on Tommy and his brothers
** When an ominous figure walks past the window during the dinner
** When the aliens can be heard moving around on the roof, and then one of them is briefly glimpsed climbing into the upstairs window
** The scene where Tommy is ambushed by one of the aliens in his room, during which Tommy enters a trance and doesn't seem to remember the incident after
** The sinister red glow and visual pixellation that foreshadows the aliens' presence
** When the family is cornered and mind-controlled into submission by the aliens at the end
** [[CreepyChild That damn little girl]]

** The scene where Tommy is ambushed by one of the aliens in his room