Movies
[BD Review] Run, Hide, Repeat With Found Footage Thriller ‘Alien Abduction’
You don’t get more straightforward with movie titles than Alien Abduction. Unless the filmmakers were being cute, you can be fairly certain it’s not going to be about teen vampire romance or polterghouls. Matty Beckerman’s debut film is as direct as its title, which is a double-edged sword. The film follows a tedious pattern of run, hide, abduct, repeat – a motif that becomes quickly monotonous. However, it does lead to some fun set pieces. Based around the Brown Mountain Lights phenomena of western North Carolina, Alien Abduction is a found footage mixed bag of drags and entertaining gags.
After an effective prologue that mixes real interviews with alien enthusiasts and a disorientating bit of “recovered footage” from the U.S. Air Force, Riskay’s hit song “Smell Yo Dick” is played. You can hate on found footage all you want, but any film that uses “Smell Yo Dick” as a way to introduce a family dynamic gets bonus points in my book. The song is being played in the minivan of the Morris family as they drive to their rustic camping destination in the Brown Mountains.
The clan is comprised of Katie and Peter Morris, and their children Corey, Jillian, and Riley, the youngest. Riley is the one filming the whole thing – the cameraman of the footage that is found. Y’know how everyone always wonders why the cameraman keeps filming in found footage movies after shit goes down? Like, when people are getting slaughtered, the goofball behind the camera wouldn’t just drop the damn thing and take off? Well Alien Abduction at least makes an effort to explain why Riley clutches to the camcorder for dear life. He has autism and in order to cope with an overwhelming situation like being out in the woods, he’s taking it in through a lens. It’s a pretty solid reason that adds a nice little dimension.
The ball gets rolling really quickly for the Morris family. Their first night camping, the kids see abnormal lights in the sky. The second day, their GPS goes bonkers and directs them to some shady back roads until they get to the first of the film’s handful of set pieces. This first one is the best and certainly the most potent as far as horror goes. It takes place in a tunnel with a bunch of abandoned cars, á la that great scene from The Stand. It’s dark and claustrophobic, with a great use of suggestion rather than balls out jump scares. It’s a genuinely creepy sequence that builds up with palpable tension.
From there, Alien Abduction starts dragging its heels terribly. It goes from one set piece to the next, and none of them are as effective as the tunnel. The Morris clan high tails it then holes up where they can while the aliens scope out the scenery, then they run to the next place. They do shack up for a while in the hunting cabin of a redneck named Sean (Jeff Bowser), but before long they’re out on foot again – running and screaming. The on location shooting in the woods is done pretty well, although far too many times the camera is too shaky to take anything in.
The aliens themselves are standard greys, with oversized heads and big eyes. We’re only treated to glimpses of them, but they look pretty cool and like they would smell really bad. That’s one of my criteria for a solid alien design – if it looks like it would smell awful. I feel like they missed an opportunity during one of the alien encounters though. Eldest son Corey should’ve yelled “Let me smell yo alien dick!” at one of the greys. Man, that would’ve been great.
It would’ve been cool to delve into the legends surrounding the Brown Mountains as well. Sean talks about his grandma telling stories about the lights, but that’s about it. There’s a missed opportunity there to add some dimension to the narration. It has its fun moments and the tunnel scene is really well done, but overall Alien Abduction keeps repeating the same motif until its inevitable closing act.
The holiday weekend means a light week for new horror releases, but it does bring the return of Dark Castle Entertainment to select theaters. It’s being joined by 6 new horror movies.
Here’s all the new horror releasing June 29, 2026 – July 3, 2026!
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
You wished for it. The highest-grossing horror movie of the year (so far), Curry Barker’s Obsession, arrived on Digital on June 30.
In Curry Barker’s theatrical debut Obsession, after breaking the mysterious One Wish Willow to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.
Michael Johnston (“Teen Wolf”), Inde Navarette (“Superman & Lois”), Cooper Tomlinson (“That’s a Bad Idea,” Milk & Serial), Megan Lawless (The Death That Awaits), and Emmy Award-nominee Andy Richter (“Conan,” Elf) star.
Based on a story by director James Kondelik (Behind The Walls) and a screenplay by Canadian writer Victor Rose, survival thriller Pitfall headed home to Digital on June 30. Family is murder in this Cineverse release.
In Pitfall, a young man becomes separated from his friends in the woods and plunges into a ten-foot pit lined with spikes, impaling his leg and leaving him helpless. As reality sinks in and his situation grows dire, he realizes the fall wasn’t an accident.
The film stars Richard Harmon (Final Destination: Bloodlines), Alexandra Essoe (The Pope’s Exorcist), and UFC champion Randy Couture (The Expendables) as the ruthless killer who stalks his prey in the woods. Marshall Williams (The Ice Road), Jordan Claire Robbins (The Umbrella Academy), and Matt Hamilton (Murder for Sale) also star.
The Amityville IP leans into Jaws with Amityville Shark House, just in time for the Fourth of July holiday too, as it released on Digital June 30.
Will Collazo Jr. (Amityville Thanksgiving) and Shawn C. Phillips (Amityville Karen) co-direct from a script they wrote with Julie Anne Prescott.
In the movie, after discovering an ominous shark idol hidden beneath the decaying floorboards, Richard unknowingly awakens an ancient and savage force. As the entity begins to merge with him, a quiet coastal town descends into blood-soaked chaos.
With each victim claimed, the monstrous predator grows stronger, fueling a cult’s belief that their dark god has been reborn. Now, the race is on to stop the carnage before evil consumes everything in its path.
Phillips and Prescott also star alongside Tasha Tacosa, Maritza Brikisak, Gigi Gustin (The Retaliators), Adam Marino, and Carl Solomon.
Available on Digital, Blu-ray, and DVD as of June 30 is Jacked, directed by John Fucile from a script he co-wrote with Simon Fraser.
The synopsis: “Set in the summer of 1987, JACKED follows two small-town teenagers whose day at the lake turns into a fight for survival after their car breaks down and they encounter a violent stalker.”
Marla Jean Robison, Tom Koch, Anthony Cipriani, Wynn Reichert, Kam Perez and Bella Marie star.
Get ready to work up a killer sweat and maybe spill some blood with Slashercise, a workout meets slasher hybrid that arrived exclusively on Bloodstream on July 1.
Written and directed by Ama Lea (Deathcember), the retro-styled feature follows “a masked killer known only as Meathead as he stalks the fitness clubs of Los Angeles, turning workout sessions into blood-soaked nightmares. As the city’s top trainers are picked off one by one, a group of determined fitness fanatics must fight back before they become the next bodies on the mat.”
Vanessa Decker (Stiletto), John Bloom (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Spencer Charnas (Ice Nine Kills), Sarah French (Blind), Kelli Maroney (Night of the Comet), Sarah Nicklin (V/H/S/Halloween), Diana Prince (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Jared Rivet (The Once and Future Smash), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Tiffany Shepis (Victor Crowley), and Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master) star.
After a record-breaking box office run, A24 and director Kane Parsons’ feature debut is heading back to theaters with bonus footage. AMC Theatres is unleashing Backrooms: Everything Must Go Editiontoday, July 3.
In the film written by Will Soodik, the owner of Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire discovers a strange doorway in the basement of the furniture showroom. He sets out to explore the mysterious, liminal space, walking headfirst into a creepypasta nightmare.
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsvestar.
AMC describes this release as a “theatrically exclusive post-credit” with additional footage from Kane Parsons. Expect 16 minutes of bonus footage, with the new version clocking in at 2 hours and 6 minutes.
The Last Exorcism director Daniel Stamm and Dark Castle Entertainment are back with Lockbox, in select theaters July 3. It adapts Soren Narnia‘s Knifepoint Horror Podcast story “Winthrop” by Emmy-winning playwright Justin Yoffe.
In Lockbox, “Seeking peace after her mother’s death, Ellen retreats to a rural town and takes in her severely traumatized cousin Winthrop. Their fragile domestic balance shatters when an erratic neighbor warns that Winthrop is dangerous. As strange phenomena escalate, Ellen must put everything on the line to defend Winthrop from a dangerous otherworldly entity determined to track him down.”
Lou Taylor Pucci (Touch Me, Evil Dead), Carla Gugino (The Haunting of Hill House, Gerald’s Game, The Fall of the House of Usher) and Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps, Backrooms) star.
This week’s new release roundups are presented by Lockbox.
Be careful who you let in. Carla Gugino and Lou Taylor Pucci star in Lockbox, only in select theaters this Friday. Get tickets.
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