The Pitch That Should Have Stayed on a Cocktail Napkin
Dean Alioto’s UFO Abduction—which later rebranded itself as The McPherson Tape because even the aliens didn’t want their names on it—has the distinction of being one of the first “found footage” horror films. That’s right: before shaky cam was fashionable, Alioto decided to take a camcorder, a group of community theater volunteers, and about $35 in petty cash and shoot a movie about aliens terrorizing a Connecticut family.
The result? A film that looks less like evidence of extraterrestrial life and more like your uncle’s forgotten VHS tape of Thanksgiving dinner. Except in this one, grandma doesn’t just get drunk—she gets possibly abducted by aliens.
The Premise: Birthday Party From Hell
The film begins with an introduction assuring us this is “real footage.” This is already funny, since nothing screams authentic extraterrestrial evidence like an over-dubbed title card that sounds like it was read by the guy who does monster truck commercials.
We’re then introduced to the Van Heese family, who are gathering to celebrate little Michelle’s birthday. There’s Ma, who spends most of her time looking like she regrets ever signing the release form; Eric, Jason, and Michael, the three brothers whose names are so interchangeable they may as well be “Son #1,” “Son #2,” and “The Guy With the Camera”; Eric’s wife Jamie, who mostly panics; Jason’s girlfriend Renee, who screams; and Michelle, the birthday girl who seems unfazed that her party is about to be ruined by the space equivalent of door-to-door salesmen.
At first it’s all cake, candles, and light bickering—until the power goes out. This is where you know the movie’s going for “scary,” but it lands squarely in “Oops, we forgot to pay the bill.”
The Aliens Arrive (Sort Of)
The brothers go outside to check the breaker and, wouldn’t you know it, spot red lights in the sky. They wander off and stumble upon the UFO itself, complete with three aliens who look like children in gray pajamas that were bought two-for-one at Kmart. Instead of being horrified, the aliens just stare back, probably wondering why these humans can’t hold a flashlight steady.
The brothers run back to the house, alert the family, and barricade the doors. It’s all very dramatic until you realize the “alien invasion” is mostly people yelling over each other in the dark while the camcorder lens tries and fails to find focus.
At some point, an alien ends up on the roof. Eric shoots it with a shotgun and drags the “body” inside, and the reveal is so underwhelming you start rooting for the aliens. The creature looks like a mannequin stolen from a mall clothing store and spray-painted gray.
The Endless Talking
If you thought you were going to see aliens wreak havoc, think again. Most of the film is just the family arguing. Should they stay? Should they run? Should they finish Michelle’s birthday cake before the frosting gets stale? The tension is supposed to be unbearable, but what’s actually unbearable is the sheer volume of bickering.
The family debates for so long you almost expect the aliens to ring the doorbell and yell, “Hey guys, are you coming out or what? We’ve been waiting in the woods for two hours!”
Psychic Whispers and Dumb Decisions
To spice things up, the aliens use mind control to convince people to open the door. Ma almost wanders outside, then Renee nearly follows. Both times they claim they heard voices telling them to open it. This is where you realize the aliens aren’t just cosmic invaders—they’re prank callers with a telepathic phone line.
Meanwhile, Eric and Jason vanish after planning to fetch the truck. The family finds the vehicle abandoned and their shotguns missing, which proves that if you leave men unattended in horror films, they immediately disappear into the plot hole dimension.
The Glitch Ending
Eventually, Michael sets the camera down so the family can play cards, because nothing says “fight for survival” like a quick round of Go Fish. The tape then glitches, and suddenly the aliens stroll into the living room like they’ve been waiting in line at a DMV. The last shot is the family being surrounded, which is intended to be chilling but mostly looks like three cosplayers forgot their masks and decided to wing it.
The film closes by informing us that the Van Heese family was never seen again. Personally, I think they just moved to another state out of embarrassment.
The Performances: Amateur Hour
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Dean Alioto as Michael: Yes, the director cast himself as the cameraman, which is the found-footage equivalent of writing yourself into your own fanfiction. He spends the whole movie breathing heavily into the mic and yelling, “Guys, I’m filming this!” as if anyone asked him to.
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Shirly McCalla as Ma: A performance so wooden you half expect termites to show up.
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The Kids as Aliens: No, really, these are just kids in costumes. And you know what? They do the best job in the movie.
The Style: VHS Headache
The “authentic” camcorder look was revolutionary in 1989, but here it’s just migraine-inducing. The shaky cam, constant zooming, and awkward framing make you long for a tripod. If this were truly real evidence of aliens, the Pentagon would’ve classified it under “Unwatchable.”
The audio is worse—half the dialogue is drowned out by people yelling over each other. Which might be intentional, because if you actually understood what they were saying, you’d turn it off faster.
The Horror: Missing in Action
The problem with The McPherson Tape is simple: it confuses noise for suspense. There are no real scares, no atmosphere, no moments of genuine terror. Just arguing, darkness, and the occasional glimpse of a pajama alien. It’s less War of the Worlds and more Family Feud: Basement Edition.
The Legacy: Accidentally Important
Here’s the weird part: this cheap little film actually became infamous because people mistook it for real found footage. Bootleg copies circulated in UFO circles, convincing folks that they’d uncovered proof of alien abduction. In other words, Dean Alioto accidentally punked the entire UFO community with what is essentially a student film. That’s impressive in the way stepping on a rake and landing a perfect backflip is impressive.
Final Thoughts: Send It Back to Space
The McPherson Tape is an endurance test masquerading as a horror film. It’s boring, cheap, and about as frightening as a public access cooking show. And yet, somehow, it has cult status—probably because people confuse “historical significance” with “worth watching.”
If you want to see how found footage got its start, sure, check it out. But don’t expect chills, scares, or even competent filmmaking. Expect to watch a family argue in the dark until some children in pajamas waddle into frame.
