Darkening Sky (2010) Reviews

• Above average, fairly well done (especially considering the subject...)

  lathe-of-heaven2012-02-18

  I just finished watching this and I honestly feel that it deserves a higher rating than it's current 4.3. I mean, MOST films rated that low here are SERIOUSLY horrible! But, I really enjoyed it and even though it was rather simple and clearly very low budget, still, I felt that they did a very good job not only in keeping one's interest but also in actually building some suspense as the story progresses. At first, I didn't really care for the main guy very much; but, as the story continued without giving too much away, I could see some logic in why he came across that way (heh... is that vague enough...?) As I usually mention in my reviews here, COMPARATIVELY, as far as the general competence, writing, direction, and particularly the acting, which is the usual weakness with lower budget films, I truly felt that they did a good job in putting across a good story with some good Thriller aspects and a good ending. I think the narration was a nice touch, especially considering the direction that the movie took ultimately. And even though the visual effects were pretty simple, they did well with what they had to work with. Some of the camera work / editing were done obviously to mask the low cost of the film and to simplify what normally might be a difficult 'action' scene; but again, all things considered, I felt that they did a good job. The overall true theme and direction of the film has certainly been done many, MANY times before. For me personally, again without giving too much away, I usually do not find this specific kind of story very satisfying because it indeed HAS been So overdone in recent years. So, the fact that it falls within that general category and I still enjoyed it, says a lot, at least from me. With the exception of a few films that do this well (and NO, I am not gonna ruin it by naming them : ) I normally find the way that this type of film is handled usually comes across as rather clichéd with the ending being sort of a cop-out to explain things. In this film they do it MUCH better than usual, although I do believe this is the first film that I have seen this done where the story has been based upon an Alien / Abduction type sub-theme. I also REALLY liked that the ending was done in such a way as to leave you a perfectly balanced choice as to what was really going on... (thus the refreshing lack of it 'necessarily' having the usual obvious, cop-out ending) So, FOR WHAT IT IS and as I have said almost in EVERY review that I have written here, compared to the literal TSUNAMI of crap that passes for entertainment these days, I am inclined to give a little low budget film like this a lot of slack where many others will simply dismiss it, as long as it is executed well, the actors don't drive me up the wall, the script is competent, and ABOVE ALL... a decent mood is set. Oh, btw, I really did like the sound design and I felt that it really added to the effectiveness of the film and made up quite a bit for it's low cost. I REALLY liked the closing song; I wish that it had lasted longer before they faded in the harder theme. Overall I definitely give it a 6-7; certainly more than it is rated here...

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• Pretty decent movie

  philpip2011-12-16

  Let me start off by saying I have seen many awful movies on this subject. This one was pretty good and deserved a better rating. It held my attention, piqued my interest, and had an interesting twist at the end. Is it about an alien abduction? Eric Rainer seems to think so. He has flashbacks of strange events which start off when he was a little boy, and have haunted him throughout his life. He's been collecting 'evidence' to try and put the pieces of this mystery together. His girlfriend Cindy thinks it is nonsense and is ready to leave him, until the night she disappears. Eric hooks up with the new neighbor's niece, Beth, who is also looking for her BF who mysteriously disappeared; and together they try to find out the truth about the aliens. I don't want to give too much away, so I'll stop here. Watch and enjoy the movie, so we can discuss the ending on the boards......

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• All talk and no action

  Leofwine_draca2018-02-11

  DARKENING SKY is nothing more than an indie science fiction movie which spends its entire running time hanging around in a house with a couple of emo characters. Sure, the subject matter is aliens, but they're only discussed rather than shown. There's no FX, no incident, no plot, and absolutely nothing to see. It's incredibly boring as a result.

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• ABOUT LAST NIGHT

  nogodnomasters2019-04-20

  The movie opens with what appears to be a grainy film of a routine child alien abduction. Years later Eric (Rider Strong) is living with major league babe Lisa (Ninja Cheerleader Maitland McConnell). Lisa is paying for Eric's education which has changed from a medical degree to one in cultural anthropology which includes UFO studies. For some strange reason she is having doubts about the relationship and is as moody as Eric. Then one night, Eric dreams that an alien has abducted her. Lisa is missing. Eric then teams up with the goth chick next door, Beth (Danielle Keaton) who claims her boyfriend was abducted too. They search for answers as there appeal to be shape shifting reptoids among us!!!! I enjoyed the film which is why I gave it 4 stars. It is not a four star quality film for most people. I liked the characters. I liked Lisa wanting her space in a convincing manner. I also enjoyed the neighbor Harold (Charley Rossman) and all the other fruitcakes in the movie. There is a considerable amount of first person narration throughout the film on the history of UFO abductions...Betty and Barny Hill for example. I liked the drone sound track which makes more sense toward the end of the film. The shape-shifting special effect was cheap, but I thought it worked. A few F-bombs, sex, no nudity (Danielle Keaton naked back) Bad film that I liked.

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• ANOTHER EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE BY UNDERRATED RIDER STRONG

  lukem-527602018-09-03

  This is a very low budget psychological sci-fi drama & it's filmed in a raw almost documentary way & it works for the weird style of film this is at one point it's like a Horror movie & at times it's like a drama about lost lonely troubled people especially Rider Strongs character he's very lost & troubled & yet again another EXCELLENT performance by Rider who is a fantastic actor who seems to be constantly dismissed & underrated? Maybe it's because he's a regular in the Horror genre like Cabin Fever (2002),Borderland (2007),Tooth & Nail (2007) & Death Valley (2004) so he is definitely a Horror favourite but that doesn't mean he's not one hell of an actor!!! Watch the terrifying true life Crime Horror Borderland (2007) to see just how BRILLIANT Rider Strong is as an actor!!! Anyway back to this movie yes it's very low budget but it's a good moody film with a great performance by Rider. Can't say too much about the plot or story just let it unfold & wait for a surprising end!!!

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