Truly Dreadful Film

Sadly Over-hyped

Great Film overall

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This film was honestly amazing. I am a film-maker myself and every part of this was so well thought out and you can tell they did everything to make sure it was exactly how it was supposed to be. Amazing actors, camera work, editing, everything and most importantly amazing plot. Most alien movies are so boring and basically follow this same routine: weird things are happening, find a UFO or something else crazy, abducted, get back and people think they're crazy blah blah blah.. This was such an incredible STORY, they gave answers to questions other dumb alien movies leave you wondering, and made it amusing. I wont spoil the end but it's a must-see, i cry every single time, and its hard to make me cry. 10/10

The thing I liked most about this movie is that it didn't rely on heavy special effects to drive it. Some of the best movies have little to no effects at all. Instead this movie relies on acting & building suspense & intrigue. It is your typical "alien abduction" type of movie & the plot is not very original. It follows pretty much the same diagram for all alien abduction movies. Mysterious thing lurking around, children are acting weird, caught a shadowy image on a camera, things go crazy & someone is abducted. That is the typical scenario for these type of films. Still there was a good amount of suspense to create some tension for me & overall I liked it. Not great or revolutionary but good. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars or 7 out of ten.

I love invasion films and I thought this movie was fantastic. Both Keri Russell and Josh Hamilton were great as the stressed out parents who go from worrying about financial problems to fighting for their kids' lives. I think the film makers did a really good job balancing the emotional aspects of the Barret family's struggles with the creepy factor. They had just the right amount of both to create a well- rounded atmosphere of angst and fear. Enough emotion to allow the audience to be able to relate to the protagonists, but not so much that it becomes a drama with an alien invasion in the background. I particularly loved the scene with J.K. Simmons as the resigned alien expert who's had more than his fair share of harassment from our galactic visitors. I thought that was an important turning point since films depicting an alien invasion usually tend to portray humans as somehow being their equal, when in reality, that probably wouldn't be the case. Simmons portrayed a man who was beyond tired and who knows the hopelessness of the situation. The last half hour gets a little confusing, but after watching it a couple of times, I think I finally figured out what's actually happening. Unfortunately, there's no happy ending here which makes the concept of an invasion a little more realistic in this film and I found that refreshing, if not heartbreaking. It's not a flash-boom-bang kind of invasion movie like Independence Day. In a way, that makes the concept a little more frightening. For these aliens, we are lab rats. Guinea pigs for their experiments, whether it's for their own scientific gain, or because they get some sort of sick pleasure from it. We never know why, just like the animals we experiment on will never know why. We find out the hard way that we are not at the top of the food chain, so to speak.

My review process: watch, ponder, research, write, edit, & post. While researching, I found the negative light surrounding horror studio Blumhouse Productions' "Dark Skies" film made claims like "predictable" & "bland". I do not agree. 40% on Rotten Tomatoes is too harsh. A 6.5 on IMDb is a better match but still insults the creep & dread noticeable technical efforts added to the played plot. That is another key word critics labeled this seemingly-haunted house flick: used. Let's be fair; there are no original ideas anymore, folks. Even if a notion so profound it feels unique, it has likely been done. Variations on a theme are all creators have left to tell a story nowadays. In that light, writer/director Scott Stewart's "Dark Skies" does improve on some levels compared to a certain once-hailed-twist-film-maker's (M. Night Shyamalan) version.Though it took a bit to get over a sub(hair)dued "Felicity" (TV Series 1998–2002), Keri Russell, as the Barrett Mother Lacy, she did bring her all to break her WB curse. Josh Hamilton (American Horror Story Coven) was solid as Patrick Wilson from "Insidious 1 & 2" as Daniel (the dad) from "The Conjuring" in the Barrett family story— all Blumhouse films. The eldest kid, Jesse, played by Dakota Goyo (Thor), was good, but I had difficulty taking him seriously at times with those "MMM-Bop" bangs that were the length of his "magnificently-heroic globe nose"-(Alice in Wonderland" 2010 reference). JK Simmons (Terminator Genisys, TV's The Closer) nonchalantly-played awkward, borderline community-registered-hermit "Edwin Pollard" aka Indy-Tangina-Jones, an odd cluster-or variation if you will-on Zelda Rubinstein's character in "Poltergeist" (1982) & Indiana Jones (only for the hat).With composer Joseph Bishara's unsettling score increasing the terror tenfold but in a less-evident fashion than the other Blumhouse pictures he did which are mentioned above, intense lighting, camera work, & sound effects improved this film in more ways than is likely realized by most. The CGI was unfortunate, but it is so subtly-featured in a limited number of shots, it does not trash this unique shift on the haunted house genre…especially because it is not one. A few decent scares and a whole lot of tension-building are sadly downplayed by how much emphasis is placed upon crushing the () family's reputation & sanity to a breaking point no sane person would reach without snapping. It might be an "alien" concept for some, but "we all go a little mad sometimes". Check it out! You may enjoy it like me!