SKINWALKER RANCH (2013)

Studio:       Deep Studios
Director:    Devin McGinn, Steve Berg
Writer:       Adam Ohler
Producer:  Ken Bretschneider, Devin McGinn, Murphy Michaels, Steve Berg, Tobijah Tyler
Stars:     Jon Gries, Kyle Davis, Erin Cahill, Devin McGinn, Matt Rocheleau, Steve Berg

Review Score: 

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Summary:

A research team investigates claims of paranormal activity on a ranch where a boy mysteriously disappeared in an orb of light. 

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

November 11, 2010 – While celebrating his birthday on his family’s ranch, eight-year-old Cody Miller disappears in a blinding orb of light while his parents watch in horror.

August 1, 2011 – Modern Defense Enterprises (MDE) sends a research team to document and to study the occurrences at Hoyt Miller’s Utah ranch. The footage that they shot would later be found in the possession of journalist Jacob Rundels, who obtained it through an undisclosed source. Rundels then disappeared inexplicably on January 18, 2013. The MDE footage begins by interviewing local residents for their thoughts on the Miller family and the rumors about the property.

August 2, 2011 – Sam Green leads the investigation. Cameron Murphy observes as an investigative journalist from Los Angeles. Britton Sloan operates the camera. Matt Johnson is a technical assistant. Lisa is a field veterinary technician. Ray Reed sets up the motion sensors and remotely monitors the security cameras. Ranch owner Hoyt Miller shows the team a dead deer found on his 1,000-acre property, but Lisa identifies the animal as having expired from natural causes.

August 3, 2011 – Shortly after 3am, a shrill noise rouses everyone from their beds. Several thuds are heard above the ceiling. The team investigates and finds dozens of dead bats on the roof. During the afternoon, a Hummer without license plates is seen parked in the distance. A Native American shaman agrees to bless the land after warning everyone to leave, but he falls ill during his blessing.

August 4, 2011 – As a storm approaches, Lisa discovers the carcass of an animal that died strangely. Odd animal sounds are heard in the distance.

August 8, 2011 – At 11:11pm, a little boy is seen running behind Lisa in the kitchen right before she gets a nosebleed.

August 12, 2011 – Acting on a hunch, Sam has Ray check the footage and they discover that the boy appears in the same place at the same time every night. Everyone assembles near the kitchen as the boy appears again. Thinking it is his son Cody, Hoyt and the others chase the apparition to the barn where it disappears. While searching the barn, the team finds an empty metal box labeled with the words “for emergencies only” and “MDE.” Sam calls MDE and learns that they conducted research on the ranch from 1957 to 1971. Sam offers excuses on MDE’s behalf while the others grow suspicious of the organization’s true motives. Matt finds another MDE box with an old videocassette inside.

August 14, 2011 – Bright orbs appear in the sky over the pasture. Wolf-like shadows fall across the house. Hoyt takes a gun and searches his property with the team. They encounter a large wolf-like creature and track it to an underground cave system. The group descends into the subterranean tunnel and finds a cave painting of what appears to be a UFO encounter. They also fight off more wolves before escaping. Hoyt, Cameron, and Sam investigate a light flash in the barn, but find nothing.

August 16, 2011 – Hoyt’s dog is killed in the barn by an invisible force. Matt is thrown by an invisible force while fixing the security camera in the pasture. Matt leaves the investigation. Ray shows the team the contents of the videocassette that Matt previously found in the barn. It shows an MDE team in HAZMAT gear taking a girl named Rebecca into a quarantine area on the ranch. Rebecca becomes possessed and uses psychic powers to kill the MDE team. Cameron, Ray, and Lisa try to leave the ranch, but they become trapped in Hoyt’s truck when it is surrounded by the wolf creatures. They make it back to the house and everyone except Sam agrees to leave.

August 17, 2011 – Hoyt chases a vision of Cody into the pasture. Cameron, Lisa, and Ray discover that Hoyt’s truck has been mysteriously totaled. Sam calls MDE for help and they agree to send a rescue van in the morning. Ray loses his mind and shoots himself in the head. A bright light appears outside the kitchen window before an alien being appears and chases the others throughout the house. Lisa disappears in a flash of light. Cameron is pulled into the darkness outside. Britton disappears next. Cody stands in the field for hours until a spaceship appears overhead and beams him aboard on August 19th.

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Review:

The real world location of Skinwalker Ranch has the outward appearance of being an innocuous expanse of Utah pasture rife for cattle herding and a quiet country lifestyle.  In actuality, UFO enthusiasts believe the property is a hotspot for paranormal activities that include animal mutilations, crop circles, glowing orbs, poltergeists, and unidentifiable creatures.

The horror movie “Skinwalker Ranch” has the outward appearance of using the “found footage” format to tell a story about an extraterrestrial encounter instead of retreading the usual sub-genre ground of a paranormal haunting.  In actuality, its plot ends up being no different than any of those overused haunted asylum investigations, except “Skinwalker Ranch” takes place on 1,000 acres of farmland instead of inside an abandoned mental hospital.

After Hoyt Miller’s eight-year-old son Cody disappears in a blinding orb of light, a shadowy organization known as MDE dispatches a team of researchers to Miller’s ranch to look for evidence of unusual phenomena.  That investigation into a possible close encounter turns into a fight for sanity and for survival when animals start turning up dead and strange creatures begin stalking the perimeter.

“Skinwalker Ranch” is populated by well-defined personas that push things along.  Those characters are also strictly limited to the confines of the definitions from which they never make an effort to escape.  Hoyt is a typical rancher with a dirty baseball cap, an oversized belt buckle, and a proclivity to reach for a shotgun at the first hint of trouble.  Local townsfolk consist of country types perched atop an overturned bucket with a fishing rod in one hand and a can of Natural Light in the other.  And the investigative team consists of the cutie science skeptic, the determined at all costs believer, a put upon assistant, and a technician chock full of ‘tude.

With two others to boot, the film has a bigger cast than it needs, particularly when considering that the extent of interpersonal development is one lone scene of two bunkmates getting to know each other.  At just over 70 minutes in length without credits, “Skinwalker Ranch” does not have the time to establish its roster as much more than meat for the beasts.  They all have their individual personalities, but none of them are seen long enough to develop a connection with the audience.

The story itself is a series of loosely connected vignettes that include discovering dead animals, pursuing fanged creatures, puzzling over cave drawings, and encountering aliens from outer space, among other seemingly unrelated events.  Indeed, legends and rumors about the real-life Skinwalker Ranch have covered all of these same things.  But when they are all stirred into the pot of a “found footage” thriller, it feels like the story is missing a central focus.  By the time the movie ends, there is no rational explanation for how such disparate phenomena relate to one another, leaving an unsatisfying conclusion that “Skinwalker Ranch” does not have a clear plot in mind.

For a low budget, the production value is high.  Some of the digital effects are too crisp to work as completely believable, but a sincere effort is on display.  Several setups work effectively and the sudden movement jump scares can tweak a rise out of jittery viewers.  The issue with “Skinwalker Ranch” is that it plays everything too safe.  “Based on true events” is not the hook that it used to be and the movie never finds a memorable moment that leaves a lasting impression.  It follows the “found footage” formula to a fault, although it at least does so with a decent enough amount of cinematic sense.  At the same time, it carries a disappointing patina of having nothing much to offer that has not already been seen many times before.

Review Score:  55

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