The Phoenix Tapes '97 (Video 2016) Poster

(2016 Video)

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5/10
Noise and dead pixels
kuarinofu28 December 2019
This movie is technically well done, it looks authentic and even tries to cover some of the basic FF genre cliches.

The problem is that it tries to be too authentic. This is why it barely has any comprehensive story and the events that occur are not particularly interesting or scary. It's short, gets somewhat repetitive and overall doesn't feel like an experience, but rather a short YouTube pseudo-FF film. The "father's" acting wasn't great as well.

Can't say I wasted my time (since it's relatively short), but it was essentially unable to share any sort of tension, scare or emotion with me.

I would maybe recommend it to FF genre fans, but there are much better films here to enjoy.
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6/10
Found Footage Better Than Most
wandernn1-81-68327415 December 2019
I likes this one it's better than most of the genre. A little bit short. I've actually watched it more than once so that's saying something about the 'entertainment value'.

Could have used more footage of beer drinking!
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6/10
Pretty good, but not good enough.
mwtoinc13 April 2020
I'll KISS is. Keep it simple stupid. Adam disappears w/o a trace. a. I guarantee you no man would be man enough to sleep if this were real. b. The others just happen to get caught disappearing in the same exact manner on camera? Nice try! c. Video cameras are notorious for draining batteries. d. Drinking Water? e. No dust in Arizona until the end? f. Did you hear that? Standard scary movie script. g. I liked it anyway!
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3/10
Blair witch in the desert
miah-2656318 April 2020
If Blair witch had half the budget. Huge plot holes and bad acting.
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7/10
Clever placement.
sjachimski-8789811 April 2020
I initially thought I was about to watch a documentary, being as it was in the Documentary section on Amazon Video. It seemed a little odd to me that they were showing extended footage with no dialogue from a narrator. Once I realized what I was getting myself into I decided to sit back and enjoy the ride. It was different from all other found footage movies I've seen. Well done on the bait and switch!
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3/10
Should be titled "What's that? What's going on??"
frankblack-7996114 August 2022
Starts out ok. They made it seem fairly authentic til the first real encounter. Then is falls on it's face rather quickly. Personally, I don't really care what happens to stupid people, so yeah. Lost my interest after the encounter at the RV.
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7/10
Rise like a cassette.
GiraffeDoor12 February 2020
A much better than average found footage romp that geniunely made me feel that pang of dread even when it was showing these four lads just doing casual fun things.

It really makes a convincing recreation of real home movies against the unforgiving desert backdrop. I'm going to say right now, don't expect it to keep its cards anywhere neat as close to its chest as Blair witch part 1 did. This is sort the BWP for people who were ticked at not getting to actually see more of what the characters were running from.

Far from a masterpiece, it's still a lot better than so much you could get so if you're in the mood for this kind of thing and you're feeling undemanding, this won't annoy in any great degree.

I felt we saw a bit much and that the boys become too aware that something is up way too early in the movie. I'd have preferred more of the slow burn but I think I'm pressuring this movie to be what I think it should be without appreciating it for its own unique approach.

I wish the movie had just been the tapes themselves. Maybe with a little introduction. All this talk about conspiracy right off the bat sort of kills some of the mystery. It annoyed me how they cut in an interview with some sheriff during the titular tapes. That just disrupted the flow.

Ultimately though, this may have been potentially a lot better, but there is so much worse. This is worth the price of renting and deserves to be seen so much more than a lot of overhyped stuff is.
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3/10
Yawn, fun with testosterone and poor acting
pondcarl23 June 2020
Yawn, fun with testosterone and poor acting. I was bored and wasted some time, my fault; but, I doesn't have to be yours!
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7/10
Blair Witch comes to Roswell
unyan5 February 2020
Seems very realistically done. There's even a written nod to Blair thrown in early on.
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1/10
Another lame UFO flick
jessicartim16 February 2020
Warning: Spoilers
The movie started really interesting as a quasi found footage/mockumentary. We had interview with military personnel, tapes from missing campers, very intriguing engagement between USA Air force and flying objects and then... as usual the "alien" that apparently created and now pilots this sophisticated machines is a roaring wild animal driven by killer instinct.

I really can't understand why this is such a common theme in all those UFO films. At least it wasn't usual "naked big headed zombie" creature.

And I can already hear lame excuses that maybe the creature is telepathically tide to the ship and all this jazz - NO. It's insulting to viewer intelligence. Waste of time.
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8/10
Creepy
Moviesnob41120 February 2019
Warning: Spoilers
The movie starts out with and interview of the father of a journalist (?) who insists his son was murdered and that he found tapes in the wall of his sons room. The tapes contain found footage of a trip taken by four friends that left in an RV to go to the middle of no where for a fishing trip. The first night they wake to booms and believe they are witnessing a meteor shower, incidentally it states on the screen that its 4 days before the Phoenix Lights event. The next day while at the fishing hole one of the men believes he sees a man on top of a hill hiding behind a rock but the others are convinced its just a goat. After fun at the fishing hole it starts to get dark and they decide to stay the night instead of hiking back to the camper. One man is scared by something he describes as a person in the woods while collecting fire wood (?). They proceed to hear noises and take off back to the camper. Once there they discover all the lights on and the camper completely destroyed. Unable to get it to start they are forced to hide inside. As the night goes on something terrorizes them by walking on the roof and knocking out lights until an extremely bright light engulfs the camper and a loud noise is heard. Once it stops they settle down for the night. Upon waking they find the door open and their friend Adam missing. They decide to abandon the camper and go for help. They walk through the day until dark and make camp when they hear noises and strange lights in the sky and what sounds like a man screaming. A very terrifying alien then comes out from behind a bush and the men start running. One by one they are picked off as the group runs through the woods. The last one standing is the one with the night vision camera and we see as hes taken away that there is a space ship taking off which happens to be the night if the Phoenix Lights event. The movie ends with the closure of the fathers interview.

I enjoyed this movie, it was creepy and engrossing. It's a complete found footage film which is usually irritating but this one was actually done right. I would recommend giving it a try.
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7/10
Aliens are scary
varminttank20 January 2020
If you want a good entertaining ride you can open your mind up too. This one isn't bad. If your an ufo buff, and enjoy found footage movies than this one is for you. So grab some popcorn and enjoy the ride... the truth is out there
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3/10
Typical of its kind
Leofwine_draca25 June 2021
Warning: Spoilers
A found footage sci-fi movie that tries so hard to be real. It's an open BLAIR WITCH copy about a UFOlogist going on an alien hunt. Dark greyed out filming throughout and very slow too with a lot of chit-chat and attempted atmosphere. The ending is anticlimactic to say the least.
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2/10
Don't know what to say really
jessybessy-at14 April 2024
Warning: Spoilers
I have one question: Why was this film categorized as a documentary on Prime? I was initially suspicious when it was announced that the footage had never been revealed to the public before. Given its placement in the documentary section, I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt and watch it. As the movie progressed, however, my suspicions only grew. I wanted to believe it was a genuine documentary, but then the appearance of the creature behind the tree made it clear-it took me a while, but I realized I had been ignoring all the clues. It turns out, it's a sci-fi horror film, yet Prime had it listed under documentaries. I gave it two stars because it started off quite convincingly, and the meteors were impressive.
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5/10
Will they come back?
xxxxxdarkmoon24 June 2022
4 annoying guys on a camping tour drinking alcohol and making jokes that aren't funny, until they get abducted from creatures, apparently from the mothership in the sky. Like one of these in Starcraft 2. The 4 annoying guys immediately start to panic and turn into 4 Sissies. Let's hope, they will never come back.
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3/10
Well, we know how they disappeared (said tongue-in-cheek)
I don't care for the "authentic video" experience. They're never interesting. I didn't care for the Blair Witch Project either. Who knows what happened to the four men. Perhaps they were witnesses to something they shouldn't have seen and agents of some black project absconded with them. The father's last appeal is sad: Frankly, people in this country don't really seem to care anymore.
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8/10
Was a very good and enjoyable ride.
simone_marie-6993731 March 2020
Very much suprised by this small gem of a film, Have a slight love/hate relationship with found footage films but this one stood out and as a SCIFI lover it gave me a slight biast i guess.

Would recomend.
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10/10
Very. Scary.
kkmergens24 April 2020
Scariest 👽 movie I've ever seen, and that's saying alot!
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8/10
Not bad at all
jrlosey2421 April 2020
Very interesting I'd watch it. Crazy movie, it was short but was worth watching. Unfortunate I think the footage is real.
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9/10
Great film good to see Turner clay in it as well as directing
sharonmacroun28 June 2020
Seen him in his blackaell ghost documentrys so good to see him again in this rein acting somthink that happened I think it is true anyway good acting all round another great documentry by Mr clay
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