In the literary world, plagiarism can end a career - in the movie industry, it's just another way to fleece the public. The makers of 'Phoenix Forgotten' show off their creative bankruptcy by churning out an anemic Sci-Fi version of 'The Blair Witch Project' without offering a single moment of originality.
In the original film, three college film students disappear while searching for a ghost in rural Maryland. In this lifeless re-tread, a trio of high school teens vanish when they go hunting for UFOs after some lights are seen in the Arizona skies. Twenty years later, a documentary film-maker discovers a video tape which reveals what happened. The Blair Witch copycatting is shameless - invisible ETs in the Southwest desert stand in for the unseen poltergeist in Maryland - spooky aliens moan in the darkness instead of an evil backwoods spook. Apart from these minor variations, the two films' plots and climaxes are creepily similar as both threesomes get lost, bicker and panic in identical fashion. The second-rate script, third-rate acting, fourth-rate direction and fifth-rate shaky camera fakery of 'Phoenix Forgotten' are all inferior imitations of the original. The movie runs for 80 minutes, but feels a lot longer.
In the original film, three college film students disappear while searching for a ghost in rural Maryland. In this lifeless re-tread, a trio of high school teens vanish when they go hunting for UFOs after some lights are seen in the Arizona skies. Twenty years later, a documentary film-maker discovers a video tape which reveals what happened. The Blair Witch copycatting is shameless - invisible ETs in the Southwest desert stand in for the unseen poltergeist in Maryland - spooky aliens moan in the darkness instead of an evil backwoods spook. Apart from these minor variations, the two films' plots and climaxes are creepily similar as both threesomes get lost, bicker and panic in identical fashion. The second-rate script, third-rate acting, fourth-rate direction and fifth-rate shaky camera fakery of 'Phoenix Forgotten' are all inferior imitations of the original. The movie runs for 80 minutes, but feels a lot longer.