Dark Skies
| release date (Theaters) | February 22 2013 |
| studio | Dimension Films |
| director | Scott Charles Stewart |
| writer | Scott Charles Stewart |
| starring | Keri Russell, Daniel Barrett, Josh Hamilton |
| rating | PG13 |
| site | darkskiesfilm.com |
| trailer 1 | Trailer #1 |
ad
-
Most Popular
Most commented on articles over the past 7 days.
Featured Stories
Top Stories From Bloody Disgusting
-
6 Comments
I just got back from the first showing of the day for Dark Skies. The movie was quietly released in theaters from Dimension Films with no screening for critics. I was not expecting anything remotely interesting. What I got was a good, not great film about family and other worldly beings (aliens). I agree with Brad’s view on some things, but disagree on others. I liked the slow burn approach because I got to know the family and we saw there struggles. This represents alot of families in our country today and it made connect with them more. I was never bored with the character development.If you are not a fan of slow burn, then there are definitely scenes along the way that are creepy and interesting. Obviously, there are pacing issues here and I think that we should have definitely more of a pay off towards the end. Although I did find the final 20 minutes of the film unsettling, I think director Scott Stewart could of made the ending longer and much more terrifying. So if your looking for a creepy slow burn alien abduction film, not a scary over the top abduction film, this should definitely satisfy you. I did not love it, but I liked it and recommend it for an afternoon showing.
Couldnt agree more with a review about this movie.Comment
Film not worth a paragraph of a review. Just fast foward to the end,,, seriously.
Even if the movie looks pretty bad, I am never one to turn down a horror movie. UNLESS it is a sequel to a movie I didn’t like in the first place. If Dark Skies somehow gets a sequel, I don’t plan on seeing it. The trailer for this movie so ridiculous and laughable there was no way this was gonna be a good movie. After seeing the movie, it was as horrible as I would expected it to be, but I still didn’t find it good. This movie is filled with unintentional laughs, cliches up the ass, it’s filled with so many rip offs of other horror movies, not to mention the twist ending only causes more problems with the story. The only thing good it had going for it was decent acting, and the actual invasion was so-so. That doesn’t make up for its flaws at all though.
Anthonyd1 said everything.
This movie is worth a watch.
I’ve heard that there are a lot of bad reviews being put out there regarding this movie. I on the other hand am not a critic, I am a fan of horror and therefore I thought this movie was… ok. There were a lot of scary elements but basically that’s it. One of the things that was upsetting was the majority of the scary scenes are shown in the trailer, making a lot of scenes not that surprising. My major issue about the movie is the “not convinced” character. I hate in movies where something bad is obviously happening and we have to spend a portion of the movie watching one character convince the other character that the bad thing is really happening. You get a ton of that with the husband character, so much so, that I yelled at the screen “How much more proof do you need?!?” The end of the movie was surprisingly creepy and it did give me goose bumps. But, would I tell you to go and pay $7 to go see this? No, just wait till it’s available to rent.
Pease like me on Facebook! We love getting suggestions and warnings on everything horror:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-Heart-Horror/338327476286206
Appreciate the slower pace to identify with the characters, but agree that the “convince me” character is always tedious in films like this.
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.