Customer Reviews

The Wicksboro Incident

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

My wife and I popped this "movie" in this past weekend. I was hoping for a good old fashioned X-filesian alien fright, and my wife just wanted some veg-time before bed. We had no idea it was in documentary format, and after a minute we both said, "What is this junk!?! Turn it off!"

So we did. I turned it off and told her to take it back to the video store.

The next day I came to Amazon and read the reviews. One said that the Wicksboro Incident was quite scary. So...I got on the phone to my wife and asked her not to return the movie just yet.

The Wicksboro Incident is a movie that plays as a documentary. It is in the style of the Blair Witch, but much more raw and believable as a documentary.

An interviewer and a cameraman set out to talk to a scientist; one who claims to have a device that proves aliens are among us. The only problem is that the scientist is rather flaky, and has a love of the drink. At one point he exits a store with 5 bottles of wine in tow.

Anywho, in documenting the scientist's story, the 3 men are taken on a chilling ride that will have you engrossed.

I found the acting in the Wicksboro Incident to be marvelous. I kept waiting for it to fall apart or get hokey, but it never did. The actors are highly believable. If they wouldn't have been, this style of story would have crumbled in seconds into a joke.

The second half is quite scary, especially the ending 10 minutes. There is one particular scene where something happens to the scientist that nearly threw me from my chair. I can't say that any scene from a horror movie shocked me more that that one. I never saw the fright coming, and the way it happened and was filmed was brilliant!

All in all I highly recommend the Wicksboro Incident to fans of sci-fi, and to those who want a good fright. But please, give it a chance. It isn't a long movie and starts out slow. It starts slow so you can't see the chills that are coming. Don't watch it if you aren't willing to watch it all; you will be disappointed.

I have now added the Wicksboro Incident to my Amazon Wishlist and will be buying it shortly. It is a wonderful, well-acted and directed addition to any sci-fi fan's collection. Move over Blair Witch. This is one of my favorites this year.

Total Score (out of 100) = 95

47 (out of 50). Enjoyment. A rating based on my overall enjoyment of the film.
10 (out of 10). Acting. How good was the acting?
10 (out of 10). Immersion. Did the movie suck me into the story?
9 (out of 10). Intangibles. Special effects. Movie pace. Is the movie forgettable, or something you will talk about and remember for weeks? Years?
10 (out of 10). Must see. Is this movie worth seeing/renting?
9 (out of 10). Must buy. Is this movie a must buy/purchase?

I picked ths movie out, purely on the plot synposis offered by Amazon.com, and hadn't heard anything about it at all. So it was a sort of unknown quantity once it arrived, and I wasn't teribly keen on watching it.

But once I finally did, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. I for one, hated Blair Witch Project, simply because the ending left alot to be desired, based on all the build-up of first parts of the film. But this film seems to have the opposite effect; rather than starting big and ending shamefully, The Wicksboro Incident starts slow and somewhat weak, then the last fifteen minutes it grabs you and takes you for a ride.

Succinctly speaking, this movie is a Blair Witch [imitation]. Two amateur filmmakers start off with an interview with an old Texan who reveals he was employed by the government, inventing some sort of 'Alpha-wave' detector, which has the unfortunate side-effect of revealing aliens among us, in human guise. The entire town of Wicksboro is wiped from the face of the earth; people, buldings and all. But Lloyd is spared from that fate by chance, and gets away.

Fifty or so years later, he takes these two young filmmakers back to the supposed town of Wicksboro (which doesn't exist on any map), where the do some snooping, and unfortunately run afoul of the government, who begins to chase them through the desert countryside of Texas (actually, Palmdale CA)

I will admit the film suffers from the shaky-cam syndrome that Blair Witch had, and many scenes are so dark, you have no idea what you're supposed to be looking at. But keep with it until the end, and you won't be disappointed.

This movie I rented from Netflix becasue it sounded interesting. My husband and I are movie buffs, but he didn't seem too interested in watching it. So I watched it by myself, and was blown away. That night I told him he had to watch it, so he said ok, and he was blown away too!
You have to look around the way it was made, obviously it was a cheaply done indie film with a small budget, but let me tell you, that is the only thing that is small about it. It's a documentery type film, shot a la "Blair Witch" but the story and acting is MUCH better, especially the Scientist, he was so believeable.
If you watch this movie, don't turn it off, let it run, and you will get a pleasant surprise!

Ended up buying this based on some of the other reviews on here. That ended up being a mistake. This is another example of a shaky-cam/found footage movie. It follows the Blair Witch formula right up to the very end. There is nothing new to see here and the story is not at all compelling. If you find an old mans apartment, an empty field and the dark interiors of cars interesting, then this is the movie for you. In short, don't waste your money on this one like I did. You have been warned.

Its starts off like an interesting legit documentation, then tails off into a poor Blair Witch copy. A bit dissapointing.
This is NOT a documentary.

I try to keep my eye open for movies that I might have missed in theatres or that went straight to DVD. The majority of these are hardly worth the time to even watch them, but every once in awhile you come across a gem. I had never heard of THE WICKSBORO INCIDENT before, but after reading the back cover thought that it was worth checking out.

The movie proposes to be a documentary about a former military engineer named Lloyd (Bobby Harwell). The first fifteen minutes of the movie actually look and feel like a real documentary as Lloyd tells his story about his early life, his time in the military, and working as an engineer on some top-secret government projects. The most unusual aspect of his story is when he talks about the town of Wicksboro, Texas where he and two other men spent time working on some secret gadgets for the government that were intended to ferret out extraterrestrial life that was living among us. According to Lloyd, he was in the underground workstation one day when he was attacked by a loud ringing in his ears. His watch starting burning into his skin and he tore it off. Once the ringing stopped, he went above the surface to see what happened and discovered that everyone in the town had mysteriously disappeared. He fled to L.A. to hide among the large population there and has decided that before he dies he wants his story to be told to the world.

After this opening interview with Lloyd, the movie turns into some raw footage with the two friends making the documentary, Mike (Dan Brinkle) and Gary (Kyle Nudo) traveling with Lloyd to Texas in attempt to locate this mysterious town of Wicksboro (which doesn't exist on any maps from the 1940s on) to either validate his claims and continue filming or have to give up and start a new project. At first it seems like Lloyd is just a crazy drunk. He falls asleep smoking cigarettes and drinks often. But, when Lloyd, Mike, and Gary uncover Lloyd's old bunker, they begin to realize that he might be telling the truth. There just might be aliens all around and they don't want their presence known by the masses.

The first fifteen minutes of the film are a long interview with Lloyd and this footage looks and feels most like an actual documentary. There are points that it's obviously not, such as all the photos that are shown, but have the central figure shown just as a black silhouette. Still, the look and feel is right. With that said, this is the part of the movie that many people will find most boring. After this interview, the film's approach changes a bit and though it's never explained you soon realize that you are supposed to be viewing raw footage that was never edited for the documentary.

There are moments of comedy and some moments of creepiness. However, very little of it feels real and most of it lacks the suspense factor that a movie like this should have. There are things that are never explained, such as exactly what has Lloyd been doing (besides trying to stay underground) for the past fifty years. There are also elements that just don't make any sense. After finding the town of Wicksboro apparently razed to the ground, the trio decides later that night to go back and try to locate the door to Lloyd's old lab by using a witching rod. It makes no sense why they would go back in the middle of the night instead of waiting until morning. One of the members has a cell phone. Even if he doesn't use the phone, there's still a GPS device in it and the phone could be tracked, so I'm not sure why he keeps using the phone even after he realizes that they are being tracked through it. There are also points in the movie where there is no light and it's not clear what is going on. At one point there's apparently a car crash, but only two of three people in the car escape from the car.

I was a little disappointed by THE WICKSBORO INCIDENT. After the pace of the movie starting picking up, I thought it was going to turn into a kind of low-budget THEY LIVE. Had the film followed that premise a bit more, I think it would have been more interesting. Instead, THE WICKSBORO INCIDENT is more like a low-budget Blair Witch Project (and that's saying a lot because that film was really, really low budge) but with aliens instead of witches and a long chase scene at the end. The movie's not a complete waste of time, but you're probably only going to want to rent it when the two movies you really want to see are already rented out.

Steer clear of this movie. It was excruciating to watch, and I only watched
the entire movie because I'm one of those people who "never" give up on a movie,
thinking that it will get better and be worthy of the good reviews. Two reviewers
went so far as to say "If you watch this movie, don't turn it off, let it run, and
you will get a pleasant surprise!" (remind you of those lame emails you are supposed
to forward or else your wish will not come true), and "But keep with it until the
end, and you won't be disappointed." --> I was surprised alright. Surprised at how
truly bad it was, from beginning to end (with a couple of momentary exceptions) and
disappointed at the time and money I spent watching/buying this drivel.

I can appreciate low-budget independent films. However, this is a a truly dreadful
movie on so many levels. Poor acting (with the exception of a fair performance by
the scientist), script, lighting, and camera work (with the editing and sound being
somewhat decent). But worse of all, the plot is so unbelievable. We are supposed
to believe that the human race is being taken over by aliens. OK...been done
countless times. However, in this movie, it is implied that with a device the
scientist has developed he can determine that most of us (it seems) have already
been taken over. The movie doesn't bother explaining any details, like "how" we
are being taken over, for "what" purpose, and "why" no one has noticed. And it only
gets worse, but I've already wasted enough life energy.

There are so many other worthy movies to watch. Just be careful in the reviews
you read. Skip this movie and opt for something where the reviewers share both
enthusiasm and enjoyment for their experience. Life is too short to waste otherwise.
Savor the moment.

Yeah, it's a rip-off of Blair Witch. So what? I still thought it was pretty fun and effective. It was surprisingly funny at times, too. Lloyd, the central figure of the film, was pretty hysterical. The Plot: In an attempt to uncover a decades-old conspiracy involving alien-cover-up, old guy Lloyd enlists the help of some amateur documentary filmmakers. In the process, Lloyd inadvertantly unleashes a seemingly omnipresent gaggle of shadowy, violent federal agents who chase them down at every turn. As the tension builds, so does the fun. However, the last fifteen minutes of the movie are shot in virtual blackness. All you can do is pretty much listen to what's happening in the film. However, if you're like me and you love alien-related junk, you'll probably dig this little movie. All those expecting special effects and violence, however, beware! There is none. Check it out if you like X-Files and Blair Witch or Paranormal Activity or The Fourth Kind. You might like it.

Well obviously The Blair Witch Project inspired this film, but while Blair delt with being lost in the woods with a witch/ghost... Wicksboro deals with a government cover ups and aliens. The film focuses mostly on story and tension but there is a few chills throughout the piece. This movie is one of the better Blair Witch copycats out there and fans would most likely enjoy this one too.

I saw this at the Hollywood Film Festival a year ago. It really crawled under my skin and a part near the end made the audience jump a mile. A couple of people behind me had to leave because they were too creeped out. It's made like 'Blair Witch', but I liked this better. It had the kind of story and effect on you that made you think about it long after it was over.