Dark Skies

Surprisingly entertaining: where Poltergeist meets Paranormal
"Dark Skies" (2013 relase; 97 min.) brings the story of the Barrett family. Mom (played by Keri "Felicity" Russell) and dad (played by Josh Hamilton) are stressing because of their precarious financial situation (Dad is in between jobs, mom is barely hanging on to her real easate brokerage). They have two sons, 13 yr. old Jesse and 5 or 6 yr. old Sammy. Then slowly but surely strange things are starting to happen in and around the house, including a strange "remodeling" of the kitchen, then disappearance of pictures, and then hundreds of birds flying head-on into the house for no apparent reason. What is going on here exactly? At this point we're not even half-way into the movie, and things are to get a lot more tense than that still. But to tell you more of a plot-heavy movie like this would ruin your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Several comments: first, I had seen the trailer for this movie a few times in recent weeks, and...

Dark skies is sunny entertainment
I just took my daughter to see this on the big screen because I liked the bird collision with the window when I saw the trailer. The film started with the slow to moderate pacing of witnessing a family in the throes of tension created by the economy---bunker mentalities abound.Then something happened in Sammie's bedroom that made me jump the same way I did with "signs". Then pow. I was in. I immediately thought of the first script version of Close Encounters written by Paul Schrader "Taxi Driver". Spielberg turned it down saying it was mean spirited and didnt want a hostile invasion story. This movie was that draft. This independent piece was a homage to Close Encounters of the third kind, ET, The Birds, Poltergeist, Signs, and Paranormal Activity. Harvey Weinstein greenlit a film which was carried surprizingly well by the acting chops of Keri Russell and Josh Hamilton. I actually cared what happened to these people and thats rare for a scary film to be character and plot driven. The...

I don't understand...
...the hatred for this movie. Then again, I didn't understand the critics dislike of "The Forth Kind" from a few years ago or the dislike of "Fire In The Sky" from many years ago. I seems like whenever a movie comes along that doesn't involve a bike riding alien going over the moon (E.T.) or monsters blowing up the planet (Independence Day)the critics just can't seem to wrap their heads around it.
I've read about this movie being compared to the Paranormal Activity series.
This had NOTHING to do with ghosts. The usage of camcorders is minimal and I wouldn't for a second consider this film part of the "shaky cam" genre.
I knew within the first ten minutes this film was about alien abductions.
You're either a fan of this sort of film or you're not.
As far as your belief in aliens or inter-dimensional beings....I'm agnostic....like religion.
The movie itself?
Brilliant acting.
Amazing direction.
Perfectly cast.
Excellent score.
Many...

Click to Editorial Reviews