Considering Dark Skies only pulled in a little over $23 million at the worldwide box office, odds are, you haven’t seen it, but with the film hitting DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday, May 28th, you’ll get a chance to catch it and really, it’s worth it.
The film focuses on the Barrett family, your typical family of four living in a quaint suburban neighborhood. However, when mere bumps in the night can no longer be written off as bad dreams and alarm malfunctions, Lacy and Daniel (The Americans' Keri Russell and Josh Hamilton) come to realize that something might really be after them and that they’re going to do whatever it takes to protect their two young boys, Jesse and Sam (Real Steel's Dakota Goyo and Kadan Rockett), even if it means that their neighbors and friends will think they’re crazy.
Dark Skies may not be the best the genre has to offer, but it’s entertaining through and through, and that’s thanks to the thoughtful core concept, strong performances, and eerie set pieces like this one. To ring in the upcoming DVD release, Screen Rant has the honor of debuting an extended look at a moment you might remember from the film’s trailer, a crafty display arranged by someone little Sam dubs “the sandman.”
Dark Skies isn't necessarily filled with nightmarish imagery and edge-of-your-seat scares, serving more as a thriller instead, but if you appreciate the eerie charm of this moment, the full film will undoubtedly have a strong appeal. It’s much more of a mystery and thriller than a straight horror film, so even though it does lose momentum when it slips into predictable horror clichés, the mystery at the heart of it is intriguing from beginning to end and the characters involved are particularly engaging, making Dark Skies well worth a rainy day watch.
If you do decide to give it a go, your options will be $39.99 for the Blu-ray Combo Pack and $29.98 for the DVD both of which come with feature commentary with writer-director Scott Stewart (Priest, Legion), producer Jason Blum (Insidious, The Purge), executive producer Brian Kavanaugh-Jones (Insidious) and editor Peter Gvozdas (The Purge) in addition to some alternate and deleted scenes.
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Follow Perri on Twitter @PNemiroff.