The release date is not the fault of the movie.

I purposefully went into "The Fourth Kind" without knowing exactly what was coming. And I want to tell you it scared the living daylights out of me, even though I eventually (and correctly) guessed that this is a work of fiction, despite its claims.

That said, its gimmick has been done before in movies such as "Paranormal Activity" and "Cloverfield." Like its predecessor, this is frightening not because of what you see but because of what you imagine. This is cleverly directed and very convincing. Director Olantunde Osunsanmi uses some new approaches to make it seem all the more real.

"The fourth kind" is highest on the list of alien encounter types developed by the late Dr. J. Allen Hynek, who studied UFOs and abductions for many years. The fourth kind of alien contact is abduction. (Hence "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," the classic Spielberg film, refers to alien contact.)

Osunsanmi uses "documentary" footage along with live action to re-enact the story. The show begins with an introduction by Milla Jovovich, who introduces herself and tells the audience she is playing the part of Dr. Abbey Tyler, a psychiatrist in Nome, Alaska, who still is recovering from her husband's violent death.

Tyler notices that several of her patients are reporting the same thing: They keep seeing a motionless "owl" outside their windows, and they complain that they are not getting enough sleep because something is frightening them at night. Tyler uses hypnosis in her therapy sessions, and she finally begins to uncover something far more sinister than nocturnal birds of prey.

She mentions her findings to her friend and personal therapist (Elias Koteas), who begins to think that Tyler truly may be losing her mind. So does the local sheriff (Will Patton), who thinks that Tyler knows more about her husband's death than she's willing to acknowledge.

Soon, Tyler is called to a violent scene in which one of her hypnosis patients simply goes berserk and causes a tragedy to unfold before our eyes. When another patient also turns violent soon after a session, the sheriff becomes even more suspicious of what Tyler really is hiding.

The faux documentary pieces are convincing, particularly a shot toward the end of the movie in relation to the Tyler home.

It's creepy and creative. And if it had been released before "Paranormal Activity," I'll bet it would have been better received.