Dark Skies (2013)

"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 thought it looked kinda interesting. I took a chance on this, and am glad I did. It is not a horror movie as such, nor is it really a sci-fi movie. "Dark Skies" actually falls somewhere in between, and on more than one occasion during the movie I saw elements from the "Paranormal Activity" franchise and also from the "Poltergeist" franchise just to name those. Second, what a delight to see Keri Russell again,as I sort of lost track of her. It is incredible that 2013 marks the 15th anniversary of when "Felicity" first hit the small screen. Russell is ageing quite nicely (if you can call someone in their mid/late-30s "ageing"), and she carries this movie, period. Kudos also to young Kadan Rockett as little Sammy, and J.K. Simmons who plays a small role late into the movie. Third, I must give a shout-out to the excellent placement of the Drums song "Days" midway into the movie, bringing a few moments of tension relief (for reasons I don't want to reveal) at that point in the movie.

The screening I saw "Dark Skies" at tonight here in Cincinnati was quite well attended. Smartly the director and producers of the movie made this into a PG-13 movie, rather than an R rated movie, and the audience tonight was heavily tilted towards the younger HS kids. They were loving this movie, laughing and screaming (sometimes at the same time) at all the right moments, and when the credits started to roll, the audience even gave an applause. Bottom line: "Dark Skies" is surprisingly entertaining, and better than I had expected.

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 director kept his camera tight on the faces so the actors could not milk their expressions. The blank face fear always works. The soundtrack is very effective in its use against silence. The tension spilling on the children made me believe this couple has been toxic toward each other for a long time---long before the movie's circumstances introduced the audience to them. And maybe that tension drew the attacks to their home in the first place.

Why not being that original, the film compensated with the right mix of old recipes without diluting its ability to reveal enough of the story on a need to know basis to the audience just as it did to the characters. I didnt feel the need to be smarter than the movie. Expect a sequel.

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If you ever watched Paranormal Activity and wonder what the producers would do with an actual budget, you may have gotten Dark Skies. So gone is the found footage gimmick filmed by the characters and instead of a couple there is a family of four. We also get to know the characters better and are suppose to have empathy for them from the start: the father (Josh Hamilton, The 80's miniseries) just got laid off and the mother (Keri Russell, The Americans) who is now the bread winner is not very good at her job.

Much like Paranormal Activity, the scares are light in the beginning, something breaks into their kitchen and raid the refrigerator, before they get weirder, scarier, and more frequent. Just like the characters of Paranormal Activities, these characters are not the smartest people in the world. Sure they do not do anything stupid like taunt a demon, but it takes them way too long to actually do anything to figure out what and why things are happening to them, which in this case involves contacting J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man) which is about where the movie starts getting interesting.

But much like Paranormal Activities, you could probably just fast forward past the first hour and just go straight to the climax of Dark Skies and not miss much. This DVD also comes with an audio commentary with writer/director Scott Stewart, producer Jason Blum, executive producer Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, and editor Peter Gvozdas. It also has about fifteen minutes of alternative and deleted scenes.

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The story opens showing us a stereotypical suburban neighborhood. The focus shifts to one family. Daniel (Josh Hamilton) is out of work. He can't pay the mortgage but has money for all kinds of video equipment. His wife Lacy (Keri Russell) is a real estate salesperson, and perhaps too honest for her own good. They have two sons, Jesse (Dakota Goyo) who is discovering girls and pot and young Sammy (Kadan Rockett).

The story builds slow, creating character as it goes along, with each incident becoming more puzzling and troubling. Sammy reports of seeing the Sandman, claiming he is responsible for the odd occurrences. About an hour into the film, the events are explained in case you didn't figure it out by the opening Arthur C. Clarke quote.

This film is well done. I enjoyed it, even though I still say the whole thing business is hypnagogic hallucinations. This is must see for those who believe in the Grays. I would rate it somewhere in between rent to own depending on your hypnagogia. (Guess what word I learned this week from my doctor?)

Parental Guide: No f-bombs, sex, or nudity. Teen/tween drug use. Minor groping. Some sex talk, i.e. "going downtown"

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I'm not one for rave reviews. I find most films trite, redundant, regurgitated, shallow and self righteous. I can hardly sit through most horrors, because it all seems rushed, boring, and pedestrian, so why wouldn't this. I gave it a go. Standards of other films set in immediately and fast, and though it touches on elements so many other films have in so many ways: of Spielberg genius as Poltergeist and Close Encounters come to mind, (which no doubt people will claim metaphors to endlessly), but the film holds its own in a very simple, straight forward non CGI nonsense way, and its kind of brilliant because truly the ensemble cast does so well together, its believable how terrified they are. I believe the reason why Poltergeist was such a novelty, was not only the absolute terror of a film that stands the test of time, but there was real substance to it (the conversations that Beatrice Straight had with Jobeth Williams' character, how touching and special it was, and with the mothers son, how soothing she was, in a time of absolute pinnacle terror) That is achieved here. Yeah it's no Poltergeist, but in a market saturated with hundreds of turds released a year, this one comes out truly shining. It was very well done.

I am not good with what I want to say when detailing, but the colors are great, the story holds its own on minimal special effects, and considering its from the same people that bring us the ridiculous Paranormal Activity franchise, (loathed Insidious) I absolutely loved this.

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