By Geno McGahee
Aliens and horror are a perfect combination and I love both dearly. For the record, alien horror movies are scary because it can really happen. Aliens are a pain in the ass and they keep fucking with humanity and so when you see a movie like the 2013 film DARK SKIES, it’s terrifying because that is what the aliens do.
The Barretts are a family with some troubles. Daniel (Josh Hamilton) and his wife Lacy (Keri Russell) are having financial problems and are not getting along. Their two children, Sam (Kadan Rockett) and Jesse (Dakota Goyo) have a bond and have stuck together as their family falls apart. Jesse, the youngest son, starts talking about visits from the “Sandman,” but it’s ignored until unexplainable things occur.
At one point, Lacy wakes up to find all the glasses and jars stacked up. The light going through the jars are creating a strange design on the ceiling and it’s so complex that the children are ruled out as the creators of it. The police are called and dismiss the idea of intruders and lean toward the children despite the complexity, but this is typical police work. Most police officers don’t have a clue and the Barretts aren’t getting any help from them.
The next night, all of the photographs from the frames are missing and then it really gets strange. I don’t get startled easily with horror films. It’s a rarity and I have to give this movie credit. Lacy is going to check on her son and walks into the room and there’s a fucking alien in there. It startled the shit out of me. I was really impressed with how they sort of lulled the viewer to sleep and you don’t expect anything and then they spring an alien on you. Well done…well done.
Hundreds of birds start crashing into the house and that remains unexplained, but Lacy begins researching and it brings her to a theory: aliens. Daniel dismisses it but when he sees one on the security video, he’s ready to take on the aliens and reconnect with his wife and family. They meet up with an alien expert, Edwin Pollard (J.K. Simmons), and he confirms that they are being visited and that one member of the family will be abducted unless they can unite and fend them off, which is a long shot.
The family unites and the aliens attack. This movie gets very intense and the aliens make very good villains. The ending is somewhat predictable but it still is an overall impressive and scary alien horror movie.
DARK SKIES was a pleasant surprise. I had heard so many negative things about it that I expected it to be shitty, but it was very good. I love aliens and horror and they blended them well together. This is a must see for alien and horror lovers. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 7.5/10
