Delayed Reaction: Dark Skies

The Pitch: Paranormal Activity for aliens.

How I Came Into It: I don't know if the alien part is supposed to be a surprise, but I've had three years for that part to be spoiled if that was the intent. I'm always on board for more Keri Russell.

Why I Saw It: This does a solid job of building the tension. The collection of odd occurrences, the birds crashing into the house in particular, are effectively unsettling. Fine attempts were made to make the parents not ignore what's happening while also doubting the more incredible claims about what's causing it. The twist to make it the older son that the aliens were after took me by surprise. That was a good move.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: Answers are the death of horror movies, or at least a certain form of horror movies. Dark Skies is most effective when you don't really know what's happening. I wish the would've found a less obvious way to answer things than bringing in J.K. Simmons for a data dump. The way they ended the movie, the way it chose to depict the actual alien abduction felt more required than inspired. This is about what I expected though from a big studio horror movie.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend