Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Horror - Not Sci-Fi, January 14, 2007
First off, the movie's not as bad other reviews may have made out. Just know what you're in for. This is a horror film - not science fiction!
"Night Skies" bills itself as based on a true-story and, in a very twisted way, it is. There was in fact a whole series of unexplained lights sighted over Phoenix Arizona, ten years ago this coming March, by millions of people, virtually none of whom believed any of the official explanations (which changed four times.)
There was not, however, any reports by anybody of being stranded on an outback road and being subjected to a horrific alien abduction. Unfortunately, using the (genuine) Phoenix Lights sighting as a pretext for the (fictional) abductions shown in the movie is just about the only original idea in this movie.
But let me praise before I criticize - the movie starts out very effectively, beginning with a clip of Senator John McCain commenting on UFO's in general and discussing the Phoenix Lights in particular. There's also effective use of some genuine footage of the Phoenix Lights as shot by actual eyewitnesses. The lighting is very good and gives a real feeling of isolation and claustrophobia in equal parts. Marsy Blasgen's creature effects are very good - the aliens are suitably spooky and just "grey" enough to satisfy most UFOlogist types.
The acting is as good as it can be, given the limitations of the characters. There's only three interesting characters, Jason Connery as Richard, A.J. Cook as Lilly, and Ashley Peldon, who plays a yummy (and all-too-brief) eye-candy part as Molly. Everyone else never really develops into anything except as caricatures placed in the script to get the body count up. Even the suggestion of romance waiting to bloom between Richard and Molly is snuffed out by evil aliens, obviously disinterested in character development or the integrity of the plot line. Still, don't think that I'm entirely discarding the actor's performances - they're doing their best. There's just not much to work with.
Maybe I'm just being too critical of these particular aliens, who have none of the finesse we've come to expect from years of "X-Files." Instead of paralyzing their victims, floating them through any barrier, into antiseptically clean examination rooms where painless procedures are performed in the name of (alien) science, these guys are a little more, shall we say, direct. These seem to be the alien equivalent of back-woods, inbred hillbilly's busting through windows, blasting down doors, (completely leveling one structure) and grabbing their teen victims with the shocking suddenness of a Jason or Freddy.
And that's my real problem with this move - and a minor complaint given the genre: slasher-flick. As I watched the story unfold I got a weird feeling of déjà vu - I had seen all this somewhere before. Had I been abducted by aliens, only to have the appalling memories sealed away forever?
Unfortunately, the truth is less compelling. Ideas and concepts from many, many horror films are lifted almost verbatim and thrown into the plot in a frantic fashion. You'll recognize scenes from "The Hills Have Eyes," "Night of the Living Dead," "Fire in the Sky," and (the most obvious of all) "Carrie."
Still, if you liked the Freddy or Jason franchises, you'll enjoy this movie. Just don't expect a Stanton Friedman lecture!
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Don't waste your time, November 11, 2007
Within the first ten minutes, I hated everyone in this movie. I don't understand why recent movies have mean spirited people in it. Maybe I'm just getting old. These Hollywood jackasses' should realize that not everyone acts like THEM or their bratty KIDS. Cursing every five seconds, putting each other down every chance they get, Going for the POT as soon a the situation presents itself, drinking while driving. Give me a break.
This is all within the first ten minutes. I would care less if they drove off a mountain by that point.
I know it's only a movie, but movies reflect society and movies influence it as well.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Based On A True Story? Yeah... okay, January 21, 2008
I grabbed this cause it took my interest of Alien/Sci-Fi/Horror movies. I knew right away that when I read on the cover it is based on a true story that that was not true, I refuse to believe that, but I hoped for an interesting story and a decent movie tho.
However I soon discovered that a group of friends driving there R.V who spot a bunch of light's in the sky and end up crashing because the driver did not notice a man and his broken down car on the side road end's up making them skid into a power pole and crash.
One of them end's up with a knife in his back and the driver of the broken down car end's up trying to help them as a couple of them venture into the woods and get picked off by "aliens" like a Jason Voorhee's could have done it.
Then they come back, yelling away, blah blah blah, let's get out of here, oh no she's dead, the aliens have abducted us, the dingo stole my baby and then end credits.
Overall, this movie as I expected was claimed to be based on a true story, which is a lie, it's just to get your attention, and then the plot is not at all well thought out, and then goes into a lot of a waste of time to watch and thing's that could have been done better.
About the only decent idea they had was that when aliens perform surgery, they can use a goo of some kind to make human skin transparent, yet does not allow blood to poor out.
I suppose if you love B-movies where the cast don't act like anything but actors trying to be cool, swearing in useless and unbelievable dialog, and 3 woman with firm chesticles that they half expose most of the time making sure you can see right down there top's for an excuse of, "at least if you can't stand our acting you can stare at these puppies" then this is the perfect movie for you..... If not, avoid it.
They should have just cut out the Alien stuff, replaced them with a maniac in a hockey mask, called the cabin Camp Crystal Lake, re written the ending, and wallah, Friday The 13th part 1000. Tho, as a F13th fan, I still don't like this movie.
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