The Gracefield Incident follows a group of friends who witness a meteor crashing overhead as they party at a cabin. As they inspect the crash site, they become the target of an otherworldly being seemingly bent on their doom.
The Gracefield Incident Review
There's not much to say about a movie that has its best parts taken from other horror films, and unfortunately that is the case here. Perhaps the most obvious case of mistaken originality is found in the optical implant as a creative means for the found footage element. This was of course utilized in a more fresh sense way back in 2013 in V/H/S 2's short film Phase I Clinical Trials. I know, the "Simpsons did it!" or the Biblically old "nothing new under the sun" argument is valid here...sure, it's not an unique approach, but that doesn't make it off limits, or even necessarily in poor taste.
What is unfortunate about the "gimmick" is that it wasn't near enough to salvage the rest of the movie, even if it had been a first-time idea. The acting is subpar, suffering a similar fate with the voice over as that of the recently-reviewed Day of the Dead: Bloodline. On top of that, the story isn't original at all, wrapped in the forced found footage sub-genre and sprinkled with high school computer class special effects.
So when you can't be satisfied by the gimmick, you turn to the acting/writing. And when that fails you, at least the scares and/or effects can carry you through. But there's nothing to fall back on in this mundane, paint-by-numbers college project that does little to justify a full length runtime.
I may be being too harsh to a film that has a reasonable production value present, but sometimes a movie just strikes a nerve with a lack of depth or quality that isn't compensated by an interesting aspect or decent scares or effects. That is sadly the case here, as little is salvageable. I suppose there is a subconsciously derived higher standard established when I have heard of a movie before it falls onto a streaming service. Such was the case here, and it was doomed before given a chance as a "scrounging for anything to watch" find with no preconceived notions.
Horror Qualifier: 7/10
Horror Quality: 3/10
Film Quality: 2/10