2/5 stars

Boasting the same producer as Insidious, Dark Skies perhaps clutches at straws when it comes to trying to assert itself as a convincing horror film. A flimsy plot about a family plagued by bizarre happenings and the threat of alien abduction is beset by bland acting and a twist so obvious it’s possible to spot it less than half way through mean that Dark Skies quickly turns into a drag. Keri Russell does her best to convince audiences she’s genuinely terrified as the mother who first begins to suspect something’s wrong, but she’s fighting a losing battle against the weak script and predictability of the plot.

It’s not all bad though; one of the film’s few redeeming features comes in the form of J.K Simmons as the UFO expert the family turn to for answers, though his appearance is fleeting, and at moments the film does offer a few shocks as audiences catch their first glimpse of the creatures haunting the family. Unfortunately, the film only really gets interesting right at the end, with the family receiving a message from beyond. There is no kind of explanation offered for why the Barrets are visited, which is perhaps an attempt at making the film seem more chilling due to the random nature of their situation, but actually feels more like an infuriating cop-out.

The film may often a few shocks, but nothing ground-breaking or memorable. A cookie-cutter piece of bland modern horror, Dark Skies is likely to come and go from cinemas and fade into obscurity, a weak blip on the radar that leaves the audience longing for the likes of Agents Mulder and Scully and the extra-terrestrial horrors dreamt up on The X Files.

Hannah Woodhead