User Reviews

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.

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.

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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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.

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.

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 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!

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.

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 kind of cliché but otherwise very enjoyable movie. It does not introduce anything new to the genre, but has some nice twists here and there. It will entertain and give you a few jump frights, but that's about it. Recommended for anyone who is a fan of sci-fi thrillers.

You know you have really scraped past the bottom of the barrel when you are actually going through youtube's list of free movies... even more strange is when you actually find something worth watching.

Dark Skies is a suspense/horror movie about a typical middle class family that suddenly find their home invaded by some malicious force or entity. Things start out slow with the odd events here and there but gradually builds up to something malicious as their youngest is revealed to be in contact with something known as the Sandman.

This is a very typical haunted house movie that shares similarities to "The Poltergeist" and "The Conjuring" movies. Besides a slight twist at the end it doesn't quite do anything new or different but most of it is done well enough with decent production quality and acting. It's a slow burn with minimal use of special effects and CGI till the very end and is quite effective in raising the intensity as it never truly reveals the monster. The biggest gripe I have against this movie is that I am a decade late and there have been plenty other movies that have done similar story tropes to death and over with mixed results. That being said I was rather surprised to actually find it even remotely interesting to watch and enjoy so that's somewhat of a feat in this day and age.

"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 didn't expect much, the outcome was quite a surprise. Dark Skies is a very nicely made film, the acting is good, and the story works rather well. Some very sinister moments, including the scene with the birds, and the obligatory person in a garden scene. You think you're getting something along the lines of paranormal activity, with the video cameras gathering footage, but I would genuinely say this offers up a lot more. It has a few scares, but they managed to make the characters likeable, something many film makers seem not to care about anymore.

Overall it's a thumbs up from me, 7/10.

Kind of terror that I love, with spirits/aliens, cute and perfect family, and their lives turned upside down with objects that move, suicidal birds against the window of two houses, night visits, hypnosis, marking children's bodies, I love it, tension, fear, good horror movies still exist, and not necessarily trash... And what an outcome... Perfect...

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.