Barely a good sci-fi/horror film, but good nonetheless.
Dark Skies is heavily flawed. It is barely worth recommending at all. However it has just enough to commend and is fresh enough to warrant a positive stance from me.
The flaws are obvious. It's acting is fairly bland, few good moments hidden beneath a canopy of mediocrity. It's screenplay and dialogue is sub-par, resorting to the horror trope of characters behaving like idiots. It is also rarely ever scary (or even close) and is not particularly exciting. Overall the film is standard and cliché' ridden.
Despite this however, there are clever and enjoyable things here. J.K Simmons delivers a great cameo in the films third act, making a simple expository sequence highly entertaining and tolerable. In fact the film's entire third act is better than the film prior, bringing more scares and more spooky imagery. By far the film's greatest strength is in it's restraint, for example the film does not actually show the aliens, leaving it to the imagination of the audience (unlike lesser alien invasion films such as 'Signs'). The film is also quite well shot and features some very nice lighting, creating an atmosphere which is more eerie than scary or creepy.
In conclusion, the film is hardly a masterpiece. However it is well made and smart enough to warrant a watch from a horror fan, and its ending is a great example of a competent cliffhanger designed to creep the audience out above satisfy them.
The flaws are obvious. It's acting is fairly bland, few good moments hidden beneath a canopy of mediocrity. It's screenplay and dialogue is sub-par, resorting to the horror trope of characters behaving like idiots. It is also rarely ever scary (or even close) and is not particularly exciting. Overall the film is standard and cliché' ridden.
Despite this however, there are clever and enjoyable things here. J.K Simmons delivers a great cameo in the films third act, making a simple expository sequence highly entertaining and tolerable. In fact the film's entire third act is better than the film prior, bringing more scares and more spooky imagery. By far the film's greatest strength is in it's restraint, for example the film does not actually show the aliens, leaving it to the imagination of the audience (unlike lesser alien invasion films such as 'Signs'). The film is also quite well shot and features some very nice lighting, creating an atmosphere which is more eerie than scary or creepy.
In conclusion, the film is hardly a masterpiece. However it is well made and smart enough to warrant a watch from a horror fan, and its ending is a great example of a competent cliffhanger designed to creep the audience out above satisfy them.
Originally posted 18/10/14 on IMDB.com, as part of HALLOWEEN HORROR REVIEWS 2014
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