Review: Aliens: Zone of Silence

(imdb.com)

While news of alien abductions and UFO sightings seem to enter the mainstream in intervals, the horror industry has churned out a near constant stream of encounter films for years. While many of these have proven to be terrifying endeavors, like The Fourth Kind and Dark Skies, some have used far too many effects, leaving a product that is less than desirable, like Skinwalker Ranch. But still, the fear of the unknown has stood the test of time, whether through creepy atmosphere or the fact that if and when they come, we'll all have little power to stop whatever they choose to do. The latest film to enter the string of alien flicks is Aliens: Zone of Silence, which is currently streaming on Netflix.

Following a young woman searching for her brother after he disappears in a Mexican desert, annoyingly named the "Zone of Silence." Aliens: Zone of Silence is far too similar to alien flicks before it. Like a mixture of last year's forgettable but entertaining Phoenix Forgotten and the indie horror film Banshee Chapter, this search-and-rescue mission has an ending that anyone could have seen coming, but without the horror that'd allow you to overlook it. It stars Sarah Hestler (American Satan), Peter Gesswein (A Plea for Tenderness) and Jed Maheu (51).


Aliens: Zone of Silence might be worth your time if you're looking to lose an hour and 20 minutes of your life with little recollection of how it was spent. But otherwise, it's best avoided. Less likeable and shallower characters leave this half-baked flick feeling like a dud. Sure it's not offensively bad, but in some ways, maybe it should have been. Then maybe it'd infamously be remembered for something; even if that thing is laughable.


Sure, Phoenix Forgotten was just the desert version of the Blair Witch Project, but at least the characters felt more entertaining and the scares were at least somewhat adequate. But, this bland copycat never really makes any progression or moves that haven't been done better a hundred times over. So much of it relies on shaky, broken cameras and bright lights in the sky that the shallow characters never seem to be in the great of danger.


The fact is, Aliens: Zone of Silence is just plain and boring. There are no thrills, no interesting characters and little to zero plot line. Horror films don't have to be perfect, but they should at least fulfill something. By the time Aliens ends though, you'll have instantly moved on, having forgotten what you wasted time on and that is almost worse than wishing you had your time back. 4 out 10.