Area 51 (film)

{{Short description|2015 American found footage horror film by Oren Peli}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Area 51

| image = Area_51_Film_Poster.jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = Oren Peli

| producer = Jason Blum

| writer = {{Plainlist|

Oren Peli
Christopher Denham

}}

| starring = {{Plainlist|

Reid Warner
Darrin Bragg
Ben Rovner
Jelena Nik

}}

| cinematography = Oren Peli

| editing = {{Plainlist|

Blake Maniquis
Jake York

}}

| studio = {{Plainlist|

Insurge Pictures
Blumhouse Productions
IM Global
Incentive Filmed Entertainment
Solana Films
Room 101

}}

| distributor = Paramount Pictures

| released = {{Film date|2015|05|15}}

| runtime = 95 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget = $5 million{{cite web|url=https://dreadcentral.com/news/34729/paramount-and-oren-peli-taking-us-area-51|title=Paramount and Oren Peli Taking Us to Area 51|date=November 30, 2009|first=Steve|last=Barton|work=Dread Central }}

| gross = $7,556{{cite web|url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=area51.htm|title=Area 51 (2015) |work=Box Office Mojo }}

}}

Area 51 is a 2015 American found footage science fiction horror film directed and shot by Oren Peli and co-written by Peli and Christopher Denham. The film stars Reid Warner, Darrin Bragg, Ben Rovner, and Jelena Nik.{{cite web|url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/news/18073|work=Bloody Disgusting|title=Details on Oren Peli's Top Secret 'Area 51' Uncovered!|date=November 11, 2009}} The film was produced by Jason Blum under his Blumhouse Productions banner, and was released in a limited release and through video on demand on May 15, 2015, by Paramount Insurge. It is the second and most recent film directed by Peli, and unlike the original Paranormal Activity film, it was panned by both critics and audiences.

Plot

Three close friends, Reid, Darrin, and Ben, attend a party together, during which Reid vanishes. Unable to locate him, Ben and Darrin leave. Driving home on a dark, secluded road, the two nearly run over Reid, who is inexplicably standing in the roadway in a daze.

After the incident, Reid becomes fascinated with aliens and Area 51. Reid spends months planning to infiltrate Area 51 to uncover the base's secrets. However, Reid's obsessive extraterrestrial research leaves him detached from his family and he loses his job. Reid recruits Darrin and Ben to help him infiltrate Area 51. Together with Jelena, another conspiracy theorist whose father worked at Area 51, they contrive to sneak onto the military base using signal jammers, night vision goggles, Freon-laced jumpsuits, and pills to mask their ammonia levels.

Jelena's father advises the group to investigate a man who works at Area 51 in a key position. Ben, Reid, and Darrin follow the man home from the airport, sneak into his house, and steal his security badge. Ben drops his three friends off in the desert outside the base and waits for their return. Reid, Darrin and Jelena bypass the base's perimeter defenses. They use the stolen security badge to enter the complex. Exploring the base, the trio discover a lab containing anti-gravity material and a lifelike liquid substance. They also find an alien spacecraft in a hangar, which only Reid can enter or interact with. The three reach the 'S4'-level of Area 51, which stores the complex's most secret information and experiments. They trigger an alarm and are swarmed by guards. Darrin gets separated from his friends. Eluding the guards, Darrin narrowly escapes a predatory alien and retreats to the base's higher levels.

Reid and Jelena venture deeper into the complex to discover a cavern-like structure beneath Area 51. There they find articles of clothing, toys, and later, pods containing human blood and organs. The two stumble on a colony of sleeping aliens. An alien awakens and chases them out of the cave into a different section of the complex where they find themselves in a white chamber. As Reid examines a series of alien symbols, Jelena is suddenly dragged away by an unseen force. Reid locates her, but she is unresponsive and in a trance. The chamber suddenly loses gravity, revealing them to be on board a silver alien spacecraft, from which Reid's camera falls and plummets to the ground.

Darrin successfully escapes the complex to learn that all base personnel are evacuating Area 51. He exits back into the desert, where he finds Ben waiting. Darrin explains their group was separated, and he frantically urges Ben to drive away; however, the car's engine dies. The camcorder captures the pair's abduction from the car.

In a post-credits scene, an old man the group previously interviewed finds Reid's camcorder, which is still-recording.

Cast

Reid Warner as Reid
Darrin Bragg as Darrin
Jelena Nik as Jelena
Ben Rovner as Ben
Sandra Staggs as Mother
Roy Abramsohn as Father
Frank Novak as himself
David Saucedo as Town Local
Glenn Campbell as himself
Jamel King as Jamel Bragg
Nikka Far as Nikki
Norio Hayakawa as himself

Production

Production for the film began in the fall of 2009.{{cite web |title=Paramount lands 'Area 51' |work=Variety |date=November 29, 2009 |first=Michael |last=Fleming |url=https://variety.com/2009/film/features/paramount-lands-area-51-1118011925/ }} In April 2011, CBS Films hired director and actor Christopher Denham to do some rewrites on Area 51.{{cite web|work=Bloody Disgusting|title=[Remember This?] Oren Peli's 'Area 51'|date=February 13, 2013 |url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3218774/remember-this-oren-pelis-area-51/}} Peli filmed re-shoots in 2013. In August 2013, Jason Blum stated that the film had finished production and that Peli was "tinkering" with the film in post production.{{cite web |work=/Film |url=http://www.slashfilm.com/jason-blum-offers-update-on-oren-pelis-area-51-it-exists/ |title=Jason Blum Offers Update on Oren Peli's 'Area 51': "It Exists!" |date=August 20, 2013 |first=Angie |last=Han }} On March 14, 2015, Blum confirmed that the film was officially done and would perhaps be released on VOD.{{cite web |url=https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/jason-blum-confirms-oren-pelis-area-51-finished-releasedsomeday/ |title=EXCLUSIVE: Jason Blum Confirms Oren Peli's Area 51 Is Finished And Will Be Released...Someday|date=14 March 2015 }} On April 23, 2015, it was announced the film would open exclusively in Alamo Drafthouse theaters and through video on demand platforms on May 15, 2015.{{cite web |url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-first-trailer-for-paranormal-activity-director-oren-pelis-long-delayed-area-51-20150423 |title=Watch: First Trailer For 'Paranormal Activity' Director O - The Playlist |author=Kevin Jagernauth |date=23 April 2015 |work=The Playlist |access-date=23 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150425185207/http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-first-trailer-for-paranormal-activity-director-oren-pelis-long-delayed-area-51-20150423 |archive-date=25 April 2015 |url-status=dead }}

Release

=Box office and sales=

The film was released in Alamo Drafthouse theaters exclusively for a weekend-long-run, and on video on demand platforms beginning on May 15, 2015, courtesy of Paramount Insurge and Blumhouse Tilt.{{cite web|url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3341520/long-lost-area-51-uncovered-trailer/|title=Long-Lost 'Area 51' Uncovered On VOD! (Trailer) -|work=bloody-disgusting.com|date=23 April 2015 }} The film made a total of $7,556 for its weekend long-run.

=Reception=

Area 51 was heavily panned by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 13% based on reviews from eight critics.{{cite news |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/area_51/ |title=AREA 51 (2015) |work=Rotten Tomatoes |date=2015 |access-date=2020-05-18 }}

Brian Tallerico writing for RogerEbert.com gave the film one and half stars and mainly criticized the film's generic plot and pacing.{{cite news |last=Tallerico |first=Brian |url=https://rogerebert.com/reviews/area-51-2015 |title=Area 51 Movie Review and Film Summary (2015) |work=RogerEbert.com |date=2015-05-15 |access-date=2017-05-18 }} A. A. Dowd from The A.V. Club gave Area 51 a 'C'-rating and criticized the film's originality when compared to Oren Peli's previous film, Paranormal Activity.{{cite news |last=Dowd |first=A. A. |url=https://avclub.com/review/area-51-offers-close-encounter-very-familiar-kind-219513 |title=Area 51 offers a close encounter of the very familiar kind |work=The A.V. Club |date=2015-05-15 |access-date=2017-05-18 }} James Shotwell of Under the Gun Review gave the film a D−.{{cite news |last=Shotwell |first=James |date=May 19, 2015 |title=MOVIE REVIEW: 'AREA 51' SHOULD REMAIN OFF LIMITS |work=Under the Gun Review |url=http://underthegunreview.net/2015/05/19/movie-review-area-51-should-remain-off-limits/ |accessdate=May 18, 2017}} In a review where he gave the film no stars, Bob Brinkman of HorrorNews.net wrote: "Area 51 is an interesting concept, with mediocre delivery, and a scare factor of zero. It is lazy film making at its worst, and it is easy to understand why the movie sat in the can so long (six years) prior to being released. It was not worth the wait."{{cite web |last1=Brinkman |first1=Bob |title=Film Review: Area 51 (2015) |url=https://horrornews.net/101623/film-review-area-51-2015/ |website=HorrorNews.net |date=5 September 2015 |access-date=5 May 2024}}