Although this miniseries has dated since its first airing thirteen years ago, it is pretty interesting in that it does have quite a few plot elements that predate the X-Files, such as the creation of alien/human hybrids and the government covering up crashed UFOs.
The plot basically revolves around two women who are suffering from unexplained blackouts and nightmares, and the psychiatrist who ends up treating them.
One of them, Lesley Hahn (Daphne Ashbrook, who later started in the 1996 Dr Who TV film) lives in California, and has a nightmare about faceless repairmen entering her house and taking her, and the other is a housewife, Mary Wilkes(Mare Winningham), from Nebraska who has unexplained blackouts and ends up on a motorway miles from her home. Lesley goes to a psychiatrist, Dr Neil Chase (Richard Crenna) who doesn't believe her, thinking it could possibly be a result of sexual abuse as a child. Meanwhile, Mary decides to take a holiday in California with her sister, who knows Neil Chase, and is persuaded to see the psychiatrist to find out if he can help with her problem.
Neil is struck by the similarities between the two cases, and realises that symbols drawn by Mary are similar to that of another patient of his, a former soldier who encountered a crashed UFO which was recovered by the government. Making contact with a university professor who does research into alien abductions, he begins to investigate the wider world of alien encounters, and runs into a general who is investigating UFOs in secret. Finally, Mary is abducted again, and learns the true purpose of the aliens.
I remember seeing this show when I was a kid, and it scared the hell out of me. Now, it appears rather dated, and the alien effects are pretty funny in a sort of rubber-monster way, especially when compared with the rather more convincing CGI aliens you get today. However, the story is quite interesting, although initially quite slow-moving, and the leads turn in acceptable performances.
I'm a sceptic when it comes to alien abductions, but I find the entire 'abduction-mania' culture of the 1990s very entertaining in retrospect. After this show was aired, many people began claiming they were being abducted, and creating the atmosphere that allowed The X-Files to be successful. If you like that show, you might like this as well. As I said, it's sort of a precursor in spirit, complete with a CSM-like general who knows more about the aliens than he will tell his subordinates, telling them at the beginning when a UFO is caught on radar 'It's just a meteor' (The X-Files episode 'Fallen Angel' had the exact same scene at the beginning, intriguingly. A possible homage?) and generally, you can see how it could possibly have been one of the inspirations for the show.
It's actually based on Budd Hopkins' 'Intruders: The Incredible Visitations at Copely Wood', which is a supposedly 'true story' about a family who are abducted and probed by aliens. If you're intrigued by the book, don't really bother checking it out. It's just a load of tripe about people who have sleep paralysis and try to pass it off as a visitation from outer space, and it actually tries to convince you that aliens really are visiting the Earth.
The show, however, is highly recommended. The plot is quite interesting, and if you like laughing at rubber aliens and daft makeup there's plenty of that, as well.
Oddly, I don't think it's been released in the US on DVD, which is quite a mystery given its popularity, but if you're in the UK, or have a multi-region player, it was reissued this past November on DVD by Paramount Home Video (raiding the CBS back catalogue, no doubt) and is available from most good EU-based DVD shop sites (and Amazon.co.uk, as well) So, if you want to see the beginning of the 'alien abduction' pop culture phenomenon, get this! You won't regret it!
The plot basically revolves around two women who are suffering from unexplained blackouts and nightmares, and the psychiatrist who ends up treating them.
One of them, Lesley Hahn (Daphne Ashbrook, who later started in the 1996 Dr Who TV film) lives in California, and has a nightmare about faceless repairmen entering her house and taking her, and the other is a housewife, Mary Wilkes(Mare Winningham), from Nebraska who has unexplained blackouts and ends up on a motorway miles from her home. Lesley goes to a psychiatrist, Dr Neil Chase (Richard Crenna) who doesn't believe her, thinking it could possibly be a result of sexual abuse as a child. Meanwhile, Mary decides to take a holiday in California with her sister, who knows Neil Chase, and is persuaded to see the psychiatrist to find out if he can help with her problem.
Neil is struck by the similarities between the two cases, and realises that symbols drawn by Mary are similar to that of another patient of his, a former soldier who encountered a crashed UFO which was recovered by the government. Making contact with a university professor who does research into alien abductions, he begins to investigate the wider world of alien encounters, and runs into a general who is investigating UFOs in secret. Finally, Mary is abducted again, and learns the true purpose of the aliens.
I remember seeing this show when I was a kid, and it scared the hell out of me. Now, it appears rather dated, and the alien effects are pretty funny in a sort of rubber-monster way, especially when compared with the rather more convincing CGI aliens you get today. However, the story is quite interesting, although initially quite slow-moving, and the leads turn in acceptable performances.
I'm a sceptic when it comes to alien abductions, but I find the entire 'abduction-mania' culture of the 1990s very entertaining in retrospect. After this show was aired, many people began claiming they were being abducted, and creating the atmosphere that allowed The X-Files to be successful. If you like that show, you might like this as well. As I said, it's sort of a precursor in spirit, complete with a CSM-like general who knows more about the aliens than he will tell his subordinates, telling them at the beginning when a UFO is caught on radar 'It's just a meteor' (The X-Files episode 'Fallen Angel' had the exact same scene at the beginning, intriguingly. A possible homage?) and generally, you can see how it could possibly have been one of the inspirations for the show.
It's actually based on Budd Hopkins' 'Intruders: The Incredible Visitations at Copely Wood', which is a supposedly 'true story' about a family who are abducted and probed by aliens. If you're intrigued by the book, don't really bother checking it out. It's just a load of tripe about people who have sleep paralysis and try to pass it off as a visitation from outer space, and it actually tries to convince you that aliens really are visiting the Earth.
The show, however, is highly recommended. The plot is quite interesting, and if you like laughing at rubber aliens and daft makeup there's plenty of that, as well.
Oddly, I don't think it's been released in the US on DVD, which is quite a mystery given its popularity, but if you're in the UK, or have a multi-region player, it was reissued this past November on DVD by Paramount Home Video (raiding the CBS back catalogue, no doubt) and is available from most good EU-based DVD shop sites (and Amazon.co.uk, as well) So, if you want to see the beginning of the 'alien abduction' pop culture phenomenon, get this! You won't regret it!