Dark Skies
USA 2013, 97m, Alliance/Blumhouse/Cinema Vehicle Services
Blu-Ray: Entertainment One (UK) - Cert 15
When a young boy dreams of being visited by "the sandman", a family's peaceful life begins to unravel. What might appear on the surface to be supernatural activity slowly reveals itself as the work of extra terrestrials, as each family member begins to exhibit strange behaviour and physical signs of contact...
The concept of taking the familiar template of the haunted-house film, and replacing the ghosts with extra terrestrials is an intriguing one with potential, so it's sad to report that this is something of a disappointment.
It is nicely shot, and very well acted by the principal cast, but a thin screenplay doesn't give them much to work with. There's not a great deal here which hasn't been done before, and done better: The family's plight is related in such a pedestrian manner that the attention begins to wonder before too long, and even the shock moments, which probably looked great on paper, fail to make the required impact - even the climax feels half-hearted.
In conclusion, Dark Skies simply fails to deliver the goods. The X-Files (at its best) used to do this kind of thing much better, and on a weekly basis too.
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