Two thirds of the way through Dark Skies, J.K. Simmons shows up as a haunted looking alien expert to give a potted history of alien interaction with humans. He tells us that there are three recognised types – greys, insectoids and reptilians. The visitors in Dark Skies are greys; the kind you may have seen cheerfully smoking weed on humorous t-shirts with their big eyes and bulbous heads. Not terribly scary. Fighting against the odds though, Dark Skies manages to pull off some nice atmospherics despite the less than blood curdling nature of its monsters.
The story takes place in white picket fence suburbia. Lacey (Keri Russell) and Daniel Barrett (Josh Hamilton) are married with two children, teenager Jesse (Dakota Goyo) and young Sammy (Kadan Rockett). A series of strange nocturnal disturbances in the house are at first attributed to Sammy, who speaks of a creature called the Sandman. When all family members begin to experience episodes of missing time and failing health, the Barretts begin to look to the skies for answers.
Dark Skies is the latest release from Blumhouse Productions. Headed by Jason Blum, the company has been churning out micro-budget genre features to great success over the past few years. Like the “quota quickies” made by big studios in the early part of the twentieth century, these features vary in quality and essentially fall into a particular template. This workmanlike ethos is not necessarily a criticism; as a horror fan, I have enjoyed the simple, effective entertainment factor of these films. If you’ve seen Sinister and Insidious, you’ll know exactly what to expect from Dark Skies – it adheres to that haunted house template while substituting aliens for ghosts.
Sensibly, director Scott Stewart keeps the alien visitors in the darkness for most of the running time building tension through sinister nocturnal japes; episodes that poach a great deal from Blumhouse stable-mate Paranormal Activity. The cast meanwhile are engaging – Russell is always a likeable presence and the children are suitably spooky. All in all then, Dark Skies isn’t terrifying or all that original but it is chilling enough to be good fun. The alien visitors are a nice point of difference in a genre that is traditionally ghost-heavy.