User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 103 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 69 out of 103
  2. Negative: 19 out of 103

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  1. May 25, 2014
    Anything that has to do with aliens i'm in. I Seen the trailer for this while i was at the theater and i called what it was write off the bat "ALIENS YO" even though it didn't look that good and while the film does the whole possession type thing i didn't find it annoying like the other films that have come out the past couple years about people being possessed. The film is not scary at all and is rare on the "JUMP SCARS" scenes

    The acting and the dialog both were done pretty good the actor did their part though the whole (Jesse Barrett) story was funny just a typical kid growing up =D Overall i give it a 6.0
  2. Apr 25, 2014
    Just watched the final thirty minutes of Dark Skies. That was enough. My immediate thought at the conclusion was this is an extremely edited version of the first 3 episodes of the 2002 Taken series. One of the pivotal characters even has the same name, physical stature and age as the former. Some suspense, however if you're one of those who likes everything tied up in a bow, you WILL be disappointed. The only thing more terrifying than the suggestion of what happens after the conclusion, is that the writer(s) figured, "I'll wait 10 years shorten it down to 2 hours, release it as a feature(?) motion picture, collect 20M and call it a day." I'm surprised somebody wasn't knocking on they're door. Steven? You be the judge. K Expand
  3. Mar 23, 2014
    Excellent Sci Fi/Horror movie
    - Great actors
    - Good Scares
    - Great Atmosphere
    - Realistic for being a horror movie
    - Too short
    - Left me wanting more
  4. Mar 5, 2014
    I was not expecting to like this movie, but it turns out it is a unique horror movie with a decent about of things going for it. I liked the aliens in this movie, they were quite creepy and they worked very well and felt very fitting. The acting and writing was also pretty good compared to most horror movies. What stands out as a flaw in Dark skies is it's lack of scares. There are a nice amount of scares in there but I would have preferred a tad more. Overall this movie is a good movie that is worth your time. Expand
  5. Dec 22, 2013
    Having seen the film twice now, I have to say it has been an amazing experience to watch this film. From the plot to the acting and the cast; the film represents the feelings of both parents and their children in a way that draws your attention to the film like many other films cannot manage doing. As a horror film enthusiast and having watched hundreds if not more than a thousand horror films to-date; I have to say this is one of those films that I will not hesitate to make my friends watch and re-watch myself again and again. Expand
  6. Nov 1, 2013
    Even though this supernatural thriller makes you jump multiple times, it is a bore from beginning to end. I was so very eager to see this movie because it was from the producer of Insidious, but this film is one real bad and boring horror movie.
  7. Oct 7, 2013
    Dark skies es algo tipico y entretenido de Blumhouse que con sus interesantes ideas trae buenas peliculas con bajo presupuesto, es un tema interesante que logra desarollarse bien con los pocos escenarios, es decir la pelicula no se hace aburrida, cada vez se hace menos predecible cosa que no es fuerte de muchas peliculas de terror, buena actuacion y apariciones terrorificas entretenidas
  8. Jul 26, 2013
    Dark skies is not a bad film. It has suspense and a great dark atmosphere that will make you many times kind scared. It has much suspense and you will wait for something unexpected. However there is not a twist in that film and something that annoyed me was the fact that everything was planned from the aliens and that only annoyed me just because it reminded me Sings which is one of the worst films ever made. In this movie interesting things happen and it is easily watched. It has not any scares but it is good. It is better than Sinister as sinister had a really bad ending. The last scene of that film will make you scream and chill from disturbance. A good horror film. Expand
  9. Jul 18, 2013
    Not at all is this movie bad, but its not great either. The movie is slow but that's how it gets its effect on the target audience. Its certainly better than most pg-13 movies out there. The acting is average from all accept Keri Russell she does a great job. Definitely worth a watch if your interested in extraterrestrials.
  10. Jun 22, 2013
    I don't know what it is about this movie, but it got me spooked! There are moments of genuine terror in this movie that had me watching nervously. Wondering what would happen next had me nervous and gave me chills. I would love to see more alien themed horror movies, similar to this one, in the future. That being said the movie does have some flaws that get in the way of the fright. For one there are a lot of unintentional funny moments in this movie (the bird scene is hilarious XD), and I always hate when horror movies focus on things like family drama, which unfortunately this movie does. But when the movie is focusing all of its power and freaking you out with its mystery the movie is enjoyable and makes up for its duller moments. I wasn't expecting much from this movie, especially considering how stupid the trailers looked and how recent horror movies I've watched have not scared me at all. But Dark Skies proved to be the exception, providing some nice scares. I recommend this to any horror fans out there. It's really unique and we need more movies like it. It's just a shame that some of the goofier moments hold it back from being considered a truly great horror movie, instead of just a good one. Still I would rather watch a good horror movie rather than another crappy one. Expand
  11. Jun 4, 2013
    The movie is very interesting and intriguing. I was a bit skeptical about the movie because it was from the producers of Paranormal Activity, but the movies is very good. It made jump out of my bed a few times and bite my nails while I was waiting to see what was gonna happen. It makes you wonder what is going to happen next and whatever happens next is not what you though was going to happen. I strongly recommend this movie. Expand
  12. Jun 4, 2013
    It’s the kind of movie you watch, enjoy and then forget about its existence. The suspense is well maintained, and the ending has a nice twist, I would recommend it for those days you have nothing better to do and wanna spend the whole day watching movies.
  13. Jun 4, 2013
    This film is OK but there is nothing new or overly inventive here. This film is not a bad watch, but they basically take different things from other invasion movies and they turn it into this film.
  14. May 31, 2013
    I lean in to both the horror and sci-fi genres. As such, I felt very charitable toward Dark Skies throughout. However, the ending is a complete punt. This movie set out to tell a story, did so fairly well until the final 5 minutes, then completely ruined the movie. I wish I had the time invested watching this back. Stay away, even as a rental.
  15. May 25, 2013
    The ingredients are delivered without much style of flair, and the results of the movie makes for a pretty bland dish. Stewart does possesses talent--but he just hasn't created a satisfying film with it. In all three instances "Priest" (2011), "Legion" (2012) and now "Dark Skies." The potential for a compelling story line and terror is there--but not achieved to satisfaction.

    In the
    Barrett household, something is seriously amiss. Is it that unemployed architect Daniel (Hamilton) is quietly panicked about finding a job while the mortgage bills pile up? That his marriage to Lacy (Keri Russell) is falling apart, turning their two sons (Dakota Goyo, Kadan Rockett) into stress cases? The wife is trying to pick up the financial slack of her laid-off architect husband (Josh Hamilton) by working as a real estate agent. Their two young sons start to notice odd things happening around the house. Things like snatching photos from frames--and eventually moving on in for their real goal--a child snatching. The audience has too much time to wonder why are the aliens here to bother playing tricks on this suburban family.The biggest problem with "Dark Skies" is that Stewart can never quite decide what story he is telling a slow-burn horror parable, or paranoid invasion flick? Whether to focus on this character or that one while struggling to string together scares. Regardless, the pacing is tedious and boring--and the action is almost non-existant. Though it is saved in part by the performances of Russell and Hamilton, with a effective supporting turn by J.K. Simmons. The clouded storytelling in "Dark Skies" keeps the film from becoming more than a bunch of disjointed moments, and eventually settles for a ridiculous conclusion. Expand
  16. May 21, 2013
    One of the best alien encounter movie out there, it's a great thriller with horror elements! If you like alien setting, few missteps won't matter much.
  17. May 7, 2013
    Just boring. Offers nothing new to the genre. Some scenes had tension, but overall falls flat. I hope one day they will make something original in the genre, something that offers a new perspective to the subject. The acting was okay, but the whole movie was dragged out to 97 minutes, yet everything could be told in 20 minutes. We only see the aliens 5 minutes, and their motivations are totally unclear (they are extraterrestrials so we are not supposed to understand it...but I think their actions should make at least some sense. They can build space ships to travel light years, yet they pranking and scaring humans...) Not recommended. Expand
  18. Apr 27, 2013
    Joined Paranormal Activity, Insidious, The Apparition and Dark Skies left. It is a complete shame.
  19. Apr 14, 2013
    Good, scary but poor pacing and poor VFX but good scary as hell time!
  20. Apr 8, 2013
    Yay! We have crappy effects with horror mixup! Good for you! I think Dark Skies wasn't really worth it. It's bland and boring nothing too dazzling about a stupid horrible family. Aliens! No just CROWS. CROWS make damage to your house and take over the skies. Cool and bad.
  21. Mar 13, 2013
    This movie is terrible. I could barely even sit through the entire thing I was so bored. The acting is awful, and I feel like the writers went out of their way to make you hate all the characters. I hated every character in this movie, I couldn't care less what happened to them after it was over. The plot is terrible. Basically there are aliens that watch humans while they sleep, and then after like 6 months of watching people sleep they eventually take one of the family members. While okay in theory, it is a failure in practice. The aliens have a creepy presence, since you never directly see one, but they never really do anything. I don't understand why they have to watch people sleep for 6 months before they can finally take them. Also, almost everything that happens in the movie is completely unexplained. Watch the trailer for this movie and you can see every scary/creepy part of the entire movie. Literally. I knew exactly what was coming up every single time something scary happened. Note that these scenes never scared me, I could just tell it was the directors failed attempt at scaring us. I felt embarrassed for the directors multiple times throughout this movie. A kid wets his pants then screams for like 15 seconds straight for no reason whatsoever, and it did nothing but hurt my ears. I can't thing of a single good part of this movie other than the premise, which failed anyways. This movie is horrible, I would have been better off throwing $10.50 out the window than wasting my time and money watching this movie. Expand
  22. Mar 3, 2013
    not good at all!!!!!!ZERO it was not good it was small potatoes it was cheap it was junk would not tell you to go see it very low rate no qualitynot not not not not not not not good at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! should be consider donation money to the actors just not likeable at all.
  23. Mar 3, 2013
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This movie was awesome had a few good scares and a well acted plot. The aliens in the movie were mysterious and didnt really show much detail besides sithoulettes. The characters werent bad like most scary movie casts. Overall a great movie that people should watch atleast once. The only thing I have to complain about is the bizare ending that has a clever twist but seems rushed. All in all a great scifi psuedo horror flick. Expand
  24. Feb 26, 2013
    This is the worst alien invasion movie ever. Weird, unexplained things start happening to a family. Turns out they're being tormented by beings from another planet, while we're tortured by the filmmakers. There's no logic behind what's happening, so instead of a payoff we get an ending that just… But not before we endure 97 minutes of dull family drama with endless ominous music, which is necessary to compensate for the total lack of suspense in the direction or editing. There's lots of portentous atmosphere with no payoff. Watch the trailer and you'll get the highlights. Expand
  25. Feb 24, 2013
    Wait for the DVD, this movie sucked on so many levels! Of course the social media and pr managers of this "movie" will say otherwise (as indicated by the overly enthusiastic reviews by some here and on Facebook, which leads one to wonder, "who's paying these people to give such glowing reviews for such an awful movie?" If you value your hard earned cash just watch "Close Encounters", "Poltergeist", "Paranormal Activity", and "Signs"...all those movies were much better executed AND had better actors. On the plus side, there were some extraordinarily funny scenes, they were unintentional, yet funny all the same. Collapse
  26. Feb 23, 2013
    I'm generally a fan of alien encounter movies and this one is not bad by any means but not that fantastic a thriller either. Unfortunately the "scares" are mainly a few scenes that make you jump. However, I found the story to be fairly engaging keeping my interest till the end. What keeps this movie from being a higher score in my opinion is that in comparison to other fantastic alien movies like "Signs" it just falls short in the key aspects of a great suspense/thriller with aliens. Expand
  27. Feb 23, 2013
    Dark Skies is definitely a thrilling piece with impressive production value. Its not cheesy like many films of the same genre. Would absolutely recommend to friends.
  28. Feb 23, 2013
    Dark Skies is an ET movie full of creepy and bizarre visuals. Entertaining and quirky at times. I really enjoyed JK Simmons role in the film! It's worth going to see.
  29. Feb 23, 2013
    A pretty entertaining movie with a nice twist at the end. The only negative thing I have to say is that the husband (Josh Hamilton) is a terrible actor. Other than that worth the price of admission...

Mixed or average reviews - based on 18 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 18
  2. Negative: 3 out of 18
  1. Reviewed by: Ken McIntyre
    Mar 25, 2013
  2. Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    Feb 27, 2013
  3. Reviewed by: A.A. Dowd
    Feb 26, 2013