Line #43 Film/AlienAbductionIncidentInLakeCounty


1	[[quoteright:295:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alienabductionincidentinlakecounty_8150.jpg]]
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3	''Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County'' is a made for {{Found Footage\| Films}} TV horror movie which aired on Creator/{{UPN}} in 1998. It is a remake of a lower-budget predecessor known as ''UFO Abduction'' (which had been circulated in ufologist circles, sans opening and closing credits, as "the [=McPherson=] Tape"), filmed a decade before by the same director. This is sometimes the source of confusion as to which version people have seen.
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5	The story focuses on Tommy, the 16-year-old son of the [=McPherson=] family, filming his family's UsefulNotes/ThanksgivingDay dinner on home video. When Tommy and his brothers set out to investigate a power outage, they come across a UFO and spot [[TheGreys aliens]] using a laser to dissect a cow. After the aliens [[OhCrap notice them]] and open fire, the [=McPherson=] family spends a harrowing night fending off an extraterrestrial home invasion.
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7	Like ''Radio/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' before it, ''Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County'' incited controversy, as the found footage style it was presented in caused many people to believe it depicted an actual alien abduction. The premise is similar to that of ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject'', which it predated by a year, and the film is quite sinister and surprisingly frightening. Parallels can also be drawn to the famous Hopkinsville Goblin incident.
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9	!!''Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County'' contains examples of:
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11	* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Dean Alioto comments on this re: the transition from his original film to the made for TV remake. The former cast local, unknown stage actors for their improv ability, while the latter cast working professionals - who were more conventionally good looking.
12	* AgentScully: One of the Talking Heads - a filmmaker who dismisses the tape as a hoax.
13	* TheAlcoholic: Mom. She's at the stage where she's hiding vodka bottles from her sons.
14	* AlienAbduction: It's in the title. [[spoiler:The [=McPhersons=] plus Renee and Matthew all get abducted… and the [=McPhersons=] maybe were abducted once prior to the events of the film.]]
15	* AliensAreBastards: Played with. They instigated the conflict and often appear to be deliberately screwing around with the [=McPhersons=] at several points. [[spoiler: But one of the brothers rationalises that the Aliens invaded the house to assess a threat as they may have thought Tommy's camera was some sort of weapon - certainly the behaviour of the first 'intruder' seems to hint at this. It's only after Kurt guns down said intruder that things become more threatening and violent]].
16	* AliensStealCattle: The boys first see the aliens dissecting what is presumably a cow since it can't really be seen and the boys have to explain what's going on.
17	* ApocalypticLog: Used and mildly deconstructed. Its strongly implied - and explicitly stated by some of the characters - that the aliens thought Tommy's camcorder was some type of weapon which leads to them investigating the family and everything that comes after. ''Its the logging of the apocalyptic log that's triggering the apocalypse.''
18	* ArtisticLicence: At one point in the film, Tommy's battery is running low and a message 'Low Batt' flashes on the screen. Anyone who's ever used a video camera could tell you that such a message wouldn't appear on the recorded video.
19	* AsYouKnow: Linda informs Kurt, Tommy, Rosie and grandma - and by extension, the audience - that the [=McPherson=] father is dead. Beyond that though, this is averted, and the general lack of exposition is highlighted by the TalkingHeads as proof of the footage's authenticity.
20	* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: The film's supposed authenticity is undermined by credits at the end for the actors who played "Alien #1, Alien #2", etc.. This is largely because the film wasn't meant to be advertised as "authentic" and the director openly acknowledged it as a work of fiction from the start; [[ExecutiveMeddling it was the network which pushed the "it really happened" angle]].
21	* BlackDudeDiesFirst: [[spoiler: The mixed race Renee]] is the first to get hit by the aliens' laser. [[spoiler: She's the only character whose death is confirmed]]. Downplayed, however, as [[spoiler:she's far from the first person to disappear, and the first people to do that are two of the white guys.]]
22	* BlackComedy: What little humor appears after the siege begins is firmly of this sort, like Tommy having to sheepishly return to his room to change his pants because he — quite understandably — pissed his pants when attacked by the aliens.
23	* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: [[spoiler:After Kurt, Brian, and Matthew disappear, the family finds their guns on the ground melted and ruined, suggesting the aliens either shot them out of the men's hands, or destroyed them after killing or disarming them.]]
24	* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Linda (blonde), Mel and Renee (brunettes), Mom and Rosie (redheads). If one includes the boys then Kurt is the blond, Brian is the brunette and Tommy is a sandy blond filling in as the redhead.
25	* BringMyBrownPants: Tommy pees his pants during an early encounter with the aliens.
26	* ButHeSoundsHandsome: A meta example, PlayedForLaughs. The special effects guy who praises the footage as very realistic and impressive is played by the director.
27	* ButNotTooBlack: Kurt is annoyed at Mel bringing home a black boyfriend. But he doesn't show any ill-will towards his brother's girlfriend--who is black, but much lighter skinned. Could add [[DoubleStandard another layer to his prejudices]].
28	* CastingGag: One of the interviewees is a special effects director who says "It's unnerving because if it’s a hoax, I should have been the one that directed it." - he's played by Dean Alioto, director of this and the original 1989 video.
29	* ClosedCircle: The house quickly becomes this as the aliens' siege begins, with the family car having its battery melted to prevent them from driving away and any attempts to flee on foot ending badly.
30	* ClusterBleepBomb: Pretty much anytime something scary happens, various members of the family quite understandably tend to start swearing like sailors.
31	* CreepyChild: Kurt's daughter, Rosie, who is [[DissonantSerenity disturbingly calm]] during the ordeal and later [[spoiler:actively assists the aliens by doing things like disarming Kurt's gun or implicitly helping unblock the barricade at the end]]. The film never explains what's up with her.
32	* DemonicPossession: One of the commentators suggests that Rosie's bizarre behavior is because the aliens are psychically manipulating her.
33	* DevelopingDoomedCharacters: Subverted since it's only about ten minutes before something happens and then we see the characters develop along the incident.
34	* DisappearedDad: The [=McPherson=] father has died some time ago. [[spoiler: A literal example halfway through the film with Kurt]].
35	* DissonantSerenity: Rosie, Kurt's very young daughter, is [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior disturbingly calm and serene throughout the entire night]], and that's before [[spoiler:she starts apparently assisting the aliens against her family]].
36	* DrivenToMadness: The aliens seem to engage in psychological warfare against the family, doing a lot of freaky things that serve little apparent purpose beyond terrorizing them, presumably to make assailing the house easier and break morale by driving them into panic-induced madness. It takes awhile, but it works, especially [[spoiler:all of the men except Tommy are taken]].
37	* DwindlingParty: [[spoiler:There are nine people at the house at the start. They disappear or die off until there are only a few left by the end… and those who're are left quickly join the others.]]
38	* ForegoneConclusion: It's said at the start that the family disappeared and the video was all that was left.
39	* {{Foreshadowing}}: The aliens' appearances are typically foreshadowed by pixellation in the video, audio distortion or an eerie red glow.
40	* FoundFootageFilms: One of the first and a major TropeCodifier for them. Also a bit of an UnbuiltTrope; this film includes some rather interesting distinctions meant to add into the immersion, such as a documentary FramingDevice involving TalkingHeads of various experts and people linked to the case examining the footage, a "missing persons" segment at the end, and more in that vein.
41	* FromBadToWorse: [[spoiler:The behaviour of the creatures seems to suggest at first they are just analysing a threat - one of the brothers thinks that they thought Tommy's camera was maybe a weapon. He could be right - a single creature infiltrates the house, and corners Tommy in his room, putting him in some sort of trance, and it seems to pick up and look at Tommy's camera before it leaves the room. It's more than likely that the family would have been left unmolested - but then Kurt barricades said being in a bedroom, and shotguns it. '''Then things get really sinister.''']]
42	* TheGreys: The aliens featured in the film fit the description to the letter — lithe, humanoid, pale skinned with black, soulless, almond-shaped eyes.
43	* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: Aliens attack on Thanksgiving.
44	* ImmuneToBullets: Shockingly averted for a movie of this type. [[spoiler: Kurt guns down one of the aliens with his shotgun and apparently kills it. Later on, the body is gone, but it's highly unclear if this is because the alien was NotQuiteDead or because its compatriots retrieved the corpse.]]
45	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Kurt initially seems like a bit of a racist dickhead with his reaction to Mel and Matthew's relationship, but as the night goes on and everything goes to hell, any possible prejudices disappear entirely and he places absolute trust in Matthew to help keep the family safe.
46	* JitterCam: Particularly when the boys are running from the aliens.
47	* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: Renee]] is the only character whose death is confirmed - as she dies towards the end and has her body covered by Mel. Everyone else is just missing - though [[spoiler: Renee's body]] is unaccounted for as well.
48	* KissingUnderTheInfluence: The aliens screw with Matthew and Linda to make them start kissing, each thinking the other is their spouse.
49	* LadyDrunk: The mother. It's a common source of fun for fans to point out that she's never seen without a glass of wine in her hands. The only time she actually puts it down is to sweep up some glass.
50	* TheLawOfConservationOfDetail: Lampshaded by one of the TalkingHeads, who notes the footage's tendency to ignore this trope as evidence that it's for real, arguing a scripted film wouldn't typically have such a RandomEventsPlot.
51	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: One of the commentators is a special effects artist who praises the realistic effects in the footage and effectively declares "if it's a hoax, I'm jealous because I wish I had made it". Said commentator [[CreatorCameo is played by Dean Alioto]].
52	* TheLostLenore: The [=McPherson=] father for his wife. Late in the film she starts wondering if it's his ghost causing trouble in the house.
53	* ManlyTears: Tommy breaks down crying while recording his final message on the camera.
54	* MeaningfulName: The family were given [=MacPherson=] as a surname because it had 'fear' in it.
55	* MenAreTheExpendableGender: The two alpha male figures [[spoiler: are abducted early on, quickly followed by Matthew]] leaving the rest of the family in fear.
56	* NarrativeFiligree: There's an entire ten to fifteen minutes of the film just being a normal video log of a family's perfectly mundane Thanksgiving dinner before even the first hint of alien activity, and even after everything starts going to hell, the movie progresses in roughly real time with no distinction between "important" and "unimportant" events. This even gets lampshaded by the commentators, who point it out as evidence of the footage's authenticity, arguing that a scripted film wouldn't typically bother including seemingly pointless sequences like Tommy spying on Renee or the aimless conversations around the dinner table.
57	* NeverFoundTheBody: [[spoiler: Renee]] is listed as missing at the end along with the rest of the family, despite apparently dying on camera. The body is unaccounted for.
58	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The most common interpretation is that, as it turns out, shooting one of the aliens only made the situation worse.
59	* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[spoiler:Matthew bravely goes out to try and assist the disappeared Kurt and Brian, or failing that, do what they intended to do and get the car ready so the family can escape. Tragically, all he succeeds in doing is getting himself taken next, leaving the remainder of the family mostly undefended.]]
60	* NoNameGiven: The [=McPherson=] mother, who is only credited as "Mom" and only addressed by her children and granddaughter. Though at one point Linda does say "Rosaline, let's sit down" so that's probably her name.
61	* NoodleIncident: Its very heavily implied towards the end that [[spoiler:the [=McPhersons=] have been abducted by aliens before, as they discover they all have triangle-shaped implant marks on the backs of their necks, not to mention Rosie's increasingly weird behavior as the night goes on where she seems to start actively following commands from the aliens.]]
62	* NothingIsScarier: The aliens are rarely seen, and we're never given a clear look at them, because everytime they're shown, or near, the camera starts pixellating and distorting. The film prefers to have long, tense moments of silence and subtle implications over constant, in-your-face horror.
63	* OnlySaneMan: Of the family, Matthew composes himself the best in the face of the crisis, which is what leads to Kurt entrusting him with keeping everyone safe while he and Brian try to fix the car.
64	* TheOphelia: The mother certainly veers close to it towards the end, not helped by all the wine she's been downing nonstop.
65	* PapaWolf: Kurt towards his family.
66	* ThePeepingTom: Tommy appropriately enough spies on Brian and Renee with his camera, and pretends he's erased it from the video.
67	* PoorCommunicationKills: The whole incident is implied to be kicked off and escalated by both [[spoiler:the aliens mistaking Tommy's camera for a weapon and Kurt mistakenly assuming the first alien that entered the house was there to hurt them rather than just scope things out.]]
68	* PowerOutagePlot: The plot is kicked off by the [=McPherson=] house suffering a sudden outage in the middle of their festivities, which Kurt, Brian, and Tommy go out to investigate, leading to the first encounter with the aliens. The cause of the outage is never revealed, but is implied to have been accidentally caused by the aliens; the men find the fusebox practically ''melted''. The power stays out the entire night.
69	* ProtectThisHouse: What the family tries to do as much as escape. It doesn't go especially well.
70	* PsychicPowers: The aliens possess a variety of them, which they utilize in psychologically tormenting the family throughout the siege on the house.
71	* RandomEventsPlot: Lampshaded by one of the Talking Heads and used to vouch for the tape being real - that's there's no real plot other than "getting the hell out of the house".
72	* RayGun: The primary weapons of the aliens, though far from their only ones.
73	* {{Recut}}: The TV version is only 45 minutes long, cutting out a ton of significant content compared to the home video release. "[[{{Narm}} Creepy]]" music was added, scenes were re-arranged, some scenes at the beginning were trimmed, and there are additional TalkingHeads. Thankfully they only show the original version in the UK.
74	* RuleOfScary: It's never explained why the aliens cause the appliances in the house to go haywire, other than thoroughly terrifying the protagonists. This may, in fact, be the entire point, as a form of psychological warfare.
75	* SanitySlippage: The longer the night drags on and the worse things get, the more the family's conversations devolve into terrified, confused, and unhinged arguments.
76	* ScreamingWoman: Linda towards the end suffers SanitySlippage and starts freaking out.
77	* ThanksgivingDayStory: The entire film takes place on a Thanksgiving dinner.
78	* TheThreeFacesOfEve: Linda - prone to freaking out and SanitySlippage - is the Child. Mel - who assumes charge after Matthew leaves - is the Wife. Renee - who shows her breasts on camera - is the Seductress.
79	* TimeStandsStill: One of the aliens seems to freeze Tommy in place while he looks at the camera.
80	* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness: [[spoiler:Kurt's impulsive decision to trap and gun down the first alien to enter the house is implied to be what turns the incident from a simple misunderstanding into a night of deliberate violence.]]
81	* TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour: Rosie at one point rather easily takes the shells out of her father's shotgun. In general, she's disturbingly and bizarrely calm throughout the whole ordeal, and towards the end, [[spoiler:is apparently directly assisting the aliens]].
82	* TheUnreveal: Given the nature of the film, a lot is purposefully left unanswered by the end about the nature of the aliens, [[spoiler:what happened to the family, and the implications that they were abducted before.]]
83	* WhereDaWhiteWomenAt: Black Matthew is dating white Mel. Which her brother Kurt is not very happy about.
84	* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: While the film is entirely fictional and meant as such, it does take a lot of influence and inspiration from real ufology and supposed alien encounters, most notably the famed [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly–Hopkinsville_encounter Hopkinsville Goblin Case]], in which a family claimed to have their farmhouse laid siege to by aggressive aliens.
85	* YoungestChildWins: Tommy the youngest sibling is the protagonist and lasts longer than his brothers.

Context Film / AlienAbductionIncidentInLakeCounty