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“Two possibilities exist…. Either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” – Arthur C. Clarke

Aliens. Some believe they exist and some don’t, but all can agree that making a good horror movie about little grey men is very tricky business. Sure, few have done it extremely well, such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and the more recent The Fourth Kind, but many are boring, silly, and downright stupid. There is a very fine line to walk and Dark Skies does it very well. It’s creepy without being too over the top or ridiculous.

A very typical family is living in a very typical suburban neighborhood when odd things begin to happen around the house. There is a mess of food in the kitchen, photos go missing from their frames, and things are found stacked floor-to-ceiling, seemingly on their own. Everything happens when the entire house is asleep, so they begin to wonder if someone is sleepwalking or if one of the young boys is acting out for attention. The parents are struggling with financial problems and the latter seems to be the logical answer.

The security system acts up nightly, but even more disturbing is watching hundreds of birds fly directly into the house, killing themselves on impact. The mother, Lacy Barrett (played by Keri Russell, Felicity), reaches her breaking point when she blacks out and loses hours of her day. Upon doing research on mass bird deaths, she stumbles upon startling facts that connect all of the recent experiences with that of known alien visitations across the world. Her husband initially argues with her and refuses to accept that this could all be blamed on visitors from another planet. However, once they realize that their lives, and the lives of their kids, are on the line he gives in and is ready to believe. Upon seeking help in a lowly older man that is highly knowledgeable in these cases. He gives them advice and they prepare for the final assault on their family.

This film builds to be much creepier at the end than I had originally expected. There are certain parts of this movie that remind me of M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs. In fact, I would even venture to say that they took certain bits of that one and applied it to a more typical suburban setting. Speaking of, there is another horror film I couldn’t help but think of while watching Dark Skies… Poltergeist. Yes, they are about different topics, but they both present a normal and safe suburban setting and then blow you away with an intense amount of supernatural experiences. I’m not trying to compare the two, as Poltergeist is one of my all-time favorites. But I do recognize and love the way these movies both set up very all-American stories and then backhand you. Dark Skies is currently streaming on Netflix, so go watch it while it’s available.

Stay scared,
Dark Princess