User reviews

Am i crazy? Did this one fly over my head or is it just profusely underrated in the modern horror genre. "Dark Skies" is an upper tier horror with criminally low recognition. Boy was I surprised how good and actually frightening this film was. Horror is my drug I am numb to it at this point, and maybe because I wasn't expecting anything but this one genuinely shocked me. Sure there were a couple minor flaws in character actions but overall this one got the job done plus some. Currently a 6.3 on IMDB should be around 7. Super underrated.

Being a fan of supernatural, science fiction movies such as Fire In The Sky, The Forgotten, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Knowing, The Arrival, Contact, Night Skies etcetera I had high hopes for Dark Skies. The result was a better than average genre mash up that borrows elements from the best including my all time favorite horror film Poltergeist. The story was gripping that involves a suburban family that we instantly relate to and care about, making the chilling events that follow effective and downright surreal. The film takes an old-school approach when it comes to developing the story and characters and delivering the frights, which might be too much of a slow burn for fans of fast paced horror flicks. I happen to like how the film took its time delivering the details and made it a suspenseful and mind boggling watch even if it raises more questions than answers. In real life though, there is events out there that were can't explain or have answers for, which makes this quote even the more true that showed at the beginning of this film: "Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe, or we are not. Both are equally terrifying." — Arthur C. Clarke

The performances hit it home for me even though it wasn't always as emotionally powerful as it should have been. Keri Russell isn't in enough movies as she should be, but when she does make a movie her performances are always genuine and for surprisingly her horror film, this role fits like a glove and gives a raw and layered performance. Keri plays wife and mother of two boys Lacy Barrett, who is a struggling realtor trying to make ends meet while her husband Daniel Barrett played effortlessly by Josh Hamilton, tries desperately to find a better job to support their family. Right away their peaceful suburban life is turned upside down when they become under attack by strange supernatural forces. The child stars of this film were also impressive. Dakota Goyo and Kadan Rockett give natural and unflinching performances as the sons Jesse Barrett and Sam Barrett, who are just as confused and terrified of the strange events as their parents, but also show their own coming of age story on the side. J.K. Simmons gives a standout performance as Edwin Pollard, a man that the parents turn to for help as he knows exactly what they are going through, for he has dealt with the presence for some time. His role could of gone on the silly side but it was handled with such seriousness that you to will be on the edge of your seat with his accusations.

Director and writer, Scott Stewart delivers a nice change of pace and more of a restraint here compared to his other films Legion, which I was one of the few that actually enjoyed it and Priest, which I haven't seen yet but want to soon. This type of style seems to be more of his niche and has a more plausible approach even if he doesn't have answers for but that's fine because in real life we don't as well. I like that he went with mood, suspense, characters and story over cheap scares, over use of CGI and gore which makes the film have an old-school vibe which brought me back to horror movies of the past like Poltergeist mixed with The X-Files, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and Signs for instance. The Fact that he waits until the end to reveal the creepy beings make you sit in constant suspense, even though they could of done a much better job with their digital appearance and gone with more natural FX to make the reveal all the more terrifyingly effective. It could of been worse though so it was fine; the ending leaves you on a cliffhanger and has possibilities of a sequel in the future that I'm very intrigued by and hope they go through with one.

Overall, another horror movie out of left field that is way better than what most critics make it out to be. It's a shame that not a whole lot of people went to go see it, as it might be the more decent horror films of the year, so far at least. If you like slow burn horror movies with suspense, you will probably enjoy this but don't expect a whole lot of action or scares just a slow building nightmare.

Maybe I had too high of hopes for this. I never, well I try to avoid watching the TV ads and I don't make a habit of watching trailers. Nonetheless I had a pretty good notion of what this film was about and I had really thought maybe this was going to deliver something new that I hadn't seen before. The story was interesting enough for a decent viewing experience & it did have some good frightening scenes spread thinly throughout. Overall it was mainly a psychological thriller and was hardly a horror film, so if you're thinking you're going to be in for any kind of brilliant sci-fi visual experience you won't get much more than very thin "shades" of the most commonly used interpretations of what an alien being looks like. Also don't expect any visual horror scenes because there is little more than a bit of head banging. With a budget of $3.5 million the film relied heavily on story & acting, but laid off on the CGI. Overall it's cast did a fine job & it's production value was as good as any other Hollywood film. While I believe it will hold peoples attention, I doubt many people will be walking out of the theater saying wow or OMG brilliant! The plot was very similar to many other alien abduction films, which made it somewhat predictable right down to the final scene, which contained little more than a very very slight turn of events. Should you run to the theaters or otherwise to see this film, no, but it's still a pretty good watch and do recommend seeing it at your convenience, it's a solid 7/10

Chilling movie with building tension and good ending. Definitely a ufo movie tastefullly done. If seeking a scary movie fueled with scares, this is it.

An interesting ride would pretty much sum up my experience of this film.

The director did a smart job in the beginning by introducing the subject slowly and gradually in the sense that although we knew something was not quite right with this suburban house, he did not rush to bombard us with any massive amounts of visuals or gory scenes thus leaving us both intrigued and in anticipation mode. That is a technique not commonly used and achieving that takes skill.

Following that, the story runs smoothly as our characters go from surprise, to shock, then disbelief and acceptance. Good choice of adult and children actors, in combination to the gradual built up made this an stimulating watch.

It was the climax that I found to be rather anticlimactic. Nothing innovative, or even new. Whilst it never ceased to be thrilling, let's be clear about that, somehow the overdoing of visuals and certain ambiguities concerning the unfolding of the final moments left me somewhat colder.

Still, it is a highly effective and watchable thriller.

The Barrett family lives in a suburb and is presently under tension since Daniel Barrett (Josh Hamilton) has been unemployed for a long time. His wife Lacy (Keri Russell) works part-time as real estate agent but her salary is not enough to financially support the family. They have two sons, the thirteen year-old Jesse (Dakota Goyo) and the little boy Sam (Kadan Rockett), who has nightmares with the sandman.

Out of the blue, the Lacy and Daniel witness weird and disturbing events in their house. Lacy researches in Internet and contact a man called Edwin Pollard (J.K. Simmons); soon they learn that apparently they are the chosen by alien that are among us. What can they do to protect their family and themselves?

"Dark Skies" is a tense horror sci-fi movie, with an ambiguous story that escalates in tension. Unfortunately the conclusion is very disappointing maybe with the intention of a sequel. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Os Escolhidos" ("The Chosen")

'DARK SKIES': Three Stars (Out of Five)

A science fiction thriller about a family terrorized by an unknown force which may be extraterrestrial in origin. It was written and directed by Scott Stewart (who also helmed the sci-fi thrillers 'LEGION' and 'PRIEST'). It stars Keri Russell, Josh Hamilton, J.K. Simmons, Dakota Goyo (of 'REAL STEEL' fame) and Kadan Rockett. The movie is a routine suspense thriller/horror film but it does have some good scares and creepy imagery.

The film revolves around the Barrett family, who live in the suburbs, struggling to get by while Mr. Barrett, Daniel (Hamilton), tries to find work. Lacy Barrett is a real-estate agent who's struggling to sell a house while her oldest son Jesse (Goyo) is discovering girls. Strange occurrences begin happening in the families' home, involving food in the kitchen, and what first looks like a possible intruder turns into Daniel and Lacy questioning their youngest son Sam's (Rockett) mental stability. Weirder things keep happening though and they soon begin involving the other family members as well.

The movie is kind of slow-paced at times but it has enough good scares throughout to keep it going. It's a little like a 'PARANORMAL ACTIVITY' film except better (in my opinion). It also seems influenced by two Spielberg flicks; 'CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND' and 'POLTERGEIST'. 'POLTERGEIST' is one of my all time favorite movies in this genre and to say a film resembles it at all is quite a compliment. This film isn't nearly as creative, fun or memorable but it does work as just a thriller. Not a great scary movie but a little better than average.

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"Dark Skies" works reasonably well for its first 45 minutes or so, until it collapses under the weight of redundancy, over-familiarity and a surfeit of alien-invasion silliness.

The always reliable Keri Russell ("The Americans") and Josh Armstrong play the parents of two young boys whose peaceful suburban home is suddenly invaded by unknown creatures (think of it as "Poltergeist," only with extraterrestrials rather than ghosts as the uninvited guests). The movie is intriguingly atmospheric in its early stages, as strange, inexplicable occurrences begin happening in the house, but the longer "Dark Skies" goes on, the less interesting it becomes, till, finally, we find ourselves awash in a sea of over-baked conspiracy-theory clichés. The ending is fairly admirable, I suppose, but by that point we're even more eager than the family is to hightail it out of that house for good.

I am completely surprised at some of the low ratings and remarks concerning this movie. My daughter and I just watched it. I hate horrors because I have nightmares all night long after watching one. I stick to the suspense and thrillers. I had reservations about this movie after reading the makers of this also made paranormal activity which I watched and found utterly cheesy. Just my own personal opinion. But this movie I really enjoyed. It kept me on the edge of my seat with my hands at the ready to slap across my eyes. I love a well made alien encounter movie and this movie did it for me. Lots of jumping moments, lots of edge of the seat suspense. I did not walk away feeling like I should have spent my money on something else!

I'm not normally frightened of alien horror movies, but Dark Skies is creepy. This movie plays a lot like a haunted house film, but with aliens instead of ghosts. The plot also brings in some family stress which, as a parent myself, was very effective. I'm surprised that this movie flew under my radar. It's an engaging sci-fi thriller that I think more people should see.

When I read about Dark Skies I was curiously optimistic about a cinematic return to the glory days of the X-Files. Unfortunately for me what I experienced was one of the worst examples of dreary genre film making by numbers that I have ever seen. This was produced by the people behind Paranormal Activity which straight away should have set my alarm bells ringing. The film seems to be aimed at an audience completely unaware of flying saucers, alien invasions or abductions. I counted no less than 40 tired clichés (and that was only up to the hour mark). The acting was deplorable on every level. The family are clearly being terrorized by something but yet seem completely at ease accepting the word of ONE policeman that its "probably just one of the kids". This film is an insult to humanity and alien kind alike. I got the feeling the producers gathered up the top ten alien encounter movies of all time and locked a 10 year old Ben Ten fan in a room and said "write a movie about aliens invading a family home and we will get Ben Ten and Spiderman to be your friends". I actually went to bed angry after watching this film. Avoid at all costs.

This is a fabulous movie with a lot of twists and turns. A great cast and a sensational and very freaky story. I am a connoisseur of alien movies and this is one of the best and deserves a sequel!

Scott Stewart's work is really lacking in execution to me. Legion and Priest were both really nice concepts but they were not brought to life in a way that captured or kept my attention, or rather, just as Dark Skies, they left much to be desired.

In this film, we avoid the dreadful build-up and anxiety, and we jump straight into the oddities, which is a great thing as most of the screen time in other sci-fi films is taken up be long-winded scientific explanations that turn out to be false. Another good thing is that this film isn't about some made-up conspiracy that's hard to swallow, no, it's a documented experience many Americans have had, and something the US Government is had has been heavily involved in...so there's a great reality factor there.

But, this film is lacking something, just as all his work is lacking in some area. The acting is solid, the story is okay, but something is missing.

Perhaps it's the patchwork revelation of "the signs were right in front of you," and "you should've known all along." Or maybe its the fact that he employed a series of mini-flashbacks to explain the ending...which leads one to believe that his plot development was off a little. I think what was really missing was any real conflict. Yeah, that's it. There was no solid, actual conflict.

The encounters, the actual climax, none of that presented any real tension or suspense or just plain old conflict.

I liked this movie and I don't think I wasted my time by watching it. Nope. I enjoyed it. I just wouldn't watch it often.

A typical middle-class suburban family suddenly have the strangest and eeriest of experiences happening right in their very home, to all the members of the family. These range from simple skin allergies to elaborate geometric skin markings, from photos disappearing from their frames to birds crashing into their windows. As their kids Jesse (Dakota Goyo) and Sam (Kadan Rockett) seem to be the targets of the unseen assailants, Lacy (Felicity Huffman) and Daniel (Josh Hamilton) have to race against time and the unknown to save their family. Can they?

"Dark Skies" straddles the genres of horror and science fiction. It is not bad at all. It is not overly ambitious. It achieves the goals it sets out to do effectively. Of course, there are typical horror clichés and convenient coincidences all around but the execution manages to make it work. The main actors have some preposterous things to do and say, yet they still manage to pull it off somehow and make us care about them. I am not going to reveal here what exactly was going on in this film, but I can say that this could be a very good episode of the X- Files if Mulder and Scully were there.

What sets Dark Skies apart from typical horror fare is its focus on the emotional turmoil and psychological impact experienced by the characters. The Barrett family's gradual descent into fear and desperation is convincingly portrayed, making it easy for the audience to empathize with their plight. The film cleverly explores themes of family bonds, the fear of the unknown, and the lengths to which a family will go to protect their loved ones.

Keri Russell delivers an outstanding performance as Lacy Barrett, portraying a mother who becomes increasingly concerned for her family's safety. Her emotional range and vulnerability draw the audience into the unfolding nightmare. Josh Hamilton is equally impressive in his role as the supportive yet skeptical husband, grappling with the inexplicable events around him.

The film's tense atmosphere is skillfully crafted, with excellent use of lighting, sound design, and camera work. Director Scott Stewart masterfully builds suspense through well-timed jump scares and eerie imagery, keeping the viewers on edge throughout the movie. The supernatural elements are subtly introduced, and the mystery surrounding the malevolent forces adds to the overall sense of dread.

One of the movie's strongest aspects is its ability to instill a sense of lingering fear and unease. Instead of relying on excessive gore or cheap thrills, Dark Skies focuses on psychological terror, leaving audiences with an unsettling feeling that lingers long after the credits roll.

This movie is a THRILLER and a pretty decent one at that. Definition of a THRILLER is when the characters ( and viewers ) GRADUALLY realize what's going on. Now, the definition of a HORROR movie is basically one which tries to HORRIFY the viewers with bloody body parts galore.

Was ruined by an awful ending. The truncated story makes the entire film feel unfinished. Thereby making what could have been a great thriller flick just feel incomplete.

This movie was actually scary, it even scared me talking about it to a friend of mine like a month after seeing it. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes horror movies or anyone looking for a good scare. It has lots of twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat. All in all this movie was a really good movie for getting scared, it wasn't perfect but in my opinion these types of movies are meant to scare you and i think this one accomplished that. So if you are just looking for a movie for scary movie night then this might just be the movie for you. Thanks for your time i hope you enjoy this movie as much as i did, that is all.

"Dark Skies" turned out to be amazing surprise. I hadn't expected anything even remotely like this from this movie. And I can't claim to be overly thrilled about the cast list prior to having seen the movie.

And now that I have seen it, I can honestly say that I am more then pleasantly surprised. This movie really blew me away. The storyline was really interesting and compelling, and it starts out slow and then quickly picks up pace and intensifies, right up to the very end.

The ending, though, nah, it could have been better. I am not particularly a fan of the ending that director Scott Stewart went with. It was just a little bit too cliché.

The story is about a family that experience strange occurrences in the household, both physical and mental. And things escalate to the point where they become dangerous and threatening. Looking into the matter, things start to point towards the family being visited by extraterrestrial beings. But just how plausible is that? And just how alone are we in the universe?

The storyline was nicely built up and progressed nicely in a pace that was captivating right from the beginning, and it only picked up in pace as it progressed. And the audience are never given a dull moment throughout the movie, and it is actually so nicely directed that it is like the audience is a fifth member of the family and are right there amidst the strange occurrences.

Despite my skepticism for the cast in the movie, then they proved me wrong and delivered quite good performances all throughout the movie. Everyone was nicely cast and really brought a lot to this movie.

The characters in the movie were well carved out and nicely detailed, and also nicely portrayed. And J.K. Simmons really was so well cast for the role of Edwin Pollard and he delivered his performance with such conviction that it was just mind-blowing.

The movie is not really a Hollywood CGI galore. Sure there is some CGI used here, but it is done with modesty and as to not overshadow the story or the acting in the movie with dazzling special effects. The extraterrestrials - The Grey - were actually quite interestingly made and were coming off as rather believable, which really did help the movie along such a long way. Had the effects been terrible here, the entire movie would have suffered badly from that.

"Dark Skies" is sort of an odd mixture between a haunting and an alien movie, and the end result is really enjoyable and highly watchable. I was genuinely surprised by this movie and more than entertained, and I do highly recommend that you watch this movie.

There are 7 out of 10 stars shining if you look up at the "Dark Skies".

I knew going in that Dark Skies would deal with Alien encounters so I was not surprised that it would be the archetypal Grays on the scene plus they were briefly revealed in the trailer. I was surprised at how well paced the story was, it did not take a laborious amount of time trying to explain the inexplicable. If anyone is an expert on alien encounters they would invariably be dismissed as loony. With all the inexplicable activity that took place in the Barrett home it was a wonder that they weren't loony very early in the story. Much of the strange encounters in the home were also revealed in the trailer, but what the trailer did not reveal is the eeriness throughout the entire tale. Lucy (Keri Russell) and her husband Daniel (Josh Hamilton) are at a difficult time in their lives financially, so it's no wonder that when all signs pointed to the obvious they were in denial for so long. The calmness of this film seriously draws you in and then you are hit with a deep soundtrack note that makes you perk up and pay attention with startling intentness. Most of the story was reasonable, I figure that flocks of birds could fly to their death against your house and no other house in the neighborhood , but I found it to be less than believable that a small child would have marks on their body and not be discovered by the parents In this case the kids midsection was like a torso mosaic. This is probably one of the few films that shed some light on how condescending and dismissive the police can be. Not that I have any issues with Mr. Law Enforcement, I'm just saying. It's not always your children misbehaving, sometimes it's the Grays. The aforementioned 'birding' of the Barrett house was well executed as far as special effects go, credit earned. At the very minimum Dark Skies is good enough to hold your attention and you won't feel the need to bang your head against a glass window asking why did you go and see this film. It was entertaining, but not quite the same level of chilling as Insidious, but still worth a look see. I had just seen another film that had the Grays only these were less cute than the others who had a nifty British accent. I give this film an amber light.