![]() Alioto would think the film was entirely lost until he received a phone call in 1994 confirming that screeners of the film were sent to video stores. I think the owner probably set it on fire for insurance reasons.”Īmong the elements lost were the main master of the film and the artwork for the film. ![]() A couple of months later before the film got released the distribution company burned to the ground. The distributor took the film and all the artwork and everything. We did our trip to San Francisco and actually got a distributor if you can believe it. “We were trying to sell UFO Abduction in 1988 or early 1989-I’m a little murky on the exact time. In an interview with director Dean Alioto conducted by the FoundFootageCritic, Alioto explains: Only one distributor expressed interest in the film after Alioto pitched the film. Part of why The McPherson Tape was confused for a real film was due to its scarcity. Here, we have an almost lost film without any real hype behind it confused for something real by an audience who, as Agent Mulder claimed, wants to believe. This is what makes The McPherson Tape so fascinating. The film was filmed mostly in a single night, with the actors improvising their lines. The film was made for an absurdly low-budget (the primary investor only invested $6,500). He cited the book Communion as a core element of inspiration. The McPherson Tape was heavily inspired by these real alien stories. But The McPherson Tape was always a work of fiction, confused for reality by alien enthusiasts who traded the tape without knowing the context of its creation. Communion and Fire in the Sky are both based on alleged real stories. While 1989’s Communion and 1993’s Fire in the Sky stand as the main films in this cycle, The McPherson Tape is distinct in that it is the only film people thought for awhile was a real found footage of an alien abduction. But this adaptation has become a reference point for media critics when looking at the blurring between fact and fiction, at how we as people interpret media.ĭirected by Dean Alioto, The McPherson Tape, also known as UFO Abduction, exists as part of a cycle of alien abduction films released during the late-80s and early-90s. It is often unclear how embellished reports of mass hysteria are regarding the radio drama. When thinking about fiction being confused for reality, no story is more infamous than Orson Welles’s radio broadcast of The War of the World back in 1938. It is in this landscape that The McPherson Tapes convinced a certain subculture that the tape they held in their hands was not merely a low-budget horror film, but confirmation of extraterrestrial life. In the pre-digital era, rumors spread faster than truth and uncertainty could not be quelled so easily. However, we now understand, despite the hype, these films are works of fiction. Cannibal Holocaust infamously showcased the death of real animals on screen, with rumors circulating that the very-much-alive actors were killed on-screen. Faces of Death offered audiences a chance to watch real death – with the majority of death either being staged or faked. Sure, many of the mondo films and shock documentaries of the 70s showcased what they claimed to be real violence.
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