source: Dark Encounter

For a film with a modest budget, it doesn't look it. The production value is excellent all around and nails the early 80's aesthetic without trying to be trendy. It has the look of Close Encounters but with more of a Fire In The Sky feel crossed with Shyamalan's Signs considering it's twisty and character driven plot that comes forth as the events move along. Highly recommend for fans of the films I mentioned above, or of The X-Files, though this film does bring something slightly new and different as a whole when it reaches its third act. Don't go in expecting a blockbuster, but an intimate, at times creepy, wholly entertaining film about a family and a dark encounter that almost tears them all apart. Worth your time in my books.

Finally! I get to watch Dark Encounter... and it was everything I hoped it would be (and a whole lot more!). Ever since I heard about this film, I was desperate to see it. I love UFO/alien movies and this is, by far, one of the best I've ever seen. It's a beautifully made film, on every level. It's such a compelling narrative that is consistently entertaining, thrilling, scary, surprising and rather moving too. The whole thing looks and sounds out of this world - gorgeous music score too. Great filmmaking from British filmmaker Carl Strathie (definitely one to watch). A highly recommended movie - I LOVE it!

Watch and make your own decision don't let bad reviews put you off, it is totally worth watching.

There was a brief mention in the beginning to explain the connection to the other worldly being; however, it was never really pulled together enough to give me any satisfaction - and perhaps, that is a well played approach considering the end. Being that they were Orbs of lights would suggest not so much Aliens, but more like angels is my hunch. Also all the china on the open shelves were in impeccable order, but knives fly across the kitchen and other rattlings, but not one dish falls off the shelf? The shot gun at the basement door. In the shooting scene it looked as though she had plenty of distance to the door, but when the cop comes and a) bad - picks up a bullet with his bare hands, you see the distance from wall to door, so wouldn't the holes in the door be significantly different, like bigger maybe. b) the Sheriff picks up the knife, also with bare hands. The Sheriff scene when they locate the missing girl and his dramatic performance makes no sense - as there was not significant emotional connection made any time throughout the film. If there was, it must have been pretty darn fast. It can be assumed in so many ways, but I felt that was really lacking in connection, which made it an annoying scene, especially when the forensic team makes way for his approach. There were a few weak moments for sure, but it really didn't upset the flow. I did have a problem with the mother in the later reveal sequence of looking through the sheers instead of frantically trying to open them to get a better look at her daughter, which would have been much more convincing, a missed opportunity for sure. That took away from the integrity of the mother character, and could have been fully played up in the last part of the viewing sequence, keeping the sheers closed to minimize the truth when that part happened. A good one time viewing and although a suprisingly unique twist at the end, it was heavy, deep and well done. Leaving me at the end with WTH? I so didn't expect that at all, but in a good way.

Turned off after twenty minutes and deleted this bad script with bad acting people out of my movie library. It just looked stupid. I agree with the other reviewer who stated the trailer says it all. Laura Fraser was barely ok in Breaking Bad, and she is definitely not good as a lead actress in this.

I feel that this is a film that I need to sit and watch at least twice. I was fully into the story from the beginning and felt the film kept my attention at all times. The first part fully had me and i felt that the actors carried their roles in a way that made me feel invested. Then there came the second half where I had a "...what the f...?" moment, but as the new plot presented itself I found that I loved it. Really loved it. My OH and I talked about it at length afterwards and I like that, when a film takes you out of your life for a time and leads to deep discussion for hours after. There were nods to films that I grew up on, which was wonderful to see. All in all I think this is a great film that I will be watching again now that I know where it is going at the end.

This is what you get when the writer of the story is the editor of the story and the director and the producer. There's no one to tell him, "hey, this is not good. You need to fix that." All around the movie is surprisingly good. The acting was believable, the characters and characterizations are good, the sets are good, the continuity was accurate, the music was extremely good, and the special effects were adequate to the job. Many bits and pieces are lifted from movies like Close Encounters and Signs, but that's ok too. The first 3/4s of the movie are edge of the seat chills and thrills, but then the story shifts in a totally unexpected direction. This is considered "the unique twist." The 'twist' is something that modern scriptwriters seem desperate to pull off and almost none of them actually do it. The Sixth Sense may be the last movie where it really worked. In this particular movie, the writer/editor/director/producer throws in the monkey wrench without the slightest attempt to justify it except to offer a lame, "I don't know. We don't understand it. We may never understand it." It's Aliens, so sure, how could we understand it? But that's just not good enough. The motivation fails. Why the Aliens do what they do makes no sense unless you just accept "well, they are aliens, so their motivation is alien." That may be fine for people who shut off their brain to "enjoy the movie," but for people who enjoy the movie by thinking about it, it doesn't work. The plot twist does not ruin the movie but it leaves an unsatisfied feeling that a good storyteller would not leave. If you don't mind being let down by the ending and being left scratching your head trying to make the nonsensical reasoning, it's worth a watch. There are a lot worse movies out there.

What a terrible plot! What a terrible script! The script is so bad that even though it doesn't make sense it is completely predictable. It is very clear that this director wanted to make a movie like "The Lovely Bones" and another like "Interstellar", but in the end decided to mix the tow. And he used "The X-Files" to glue everything together. The result is not pretty. Clearly, the budget allowed for average cinematography and editing, which is why it takes 20 to 30 minutes to figure out this is a ton of crap. a really good cinematographer would have told the director that red/blue lighting in the face of the leading actress is not only uncalled for but lame... as the rest of the movie, actually. One third of the movie is a more or less believable setup, giving a glimpse into who are the main characters. The second third of the movie is mostly these characters running away from strange lights in the forest and then running away from strange lights inside a house. This sequence should have been suspenseful but it is just boring. Maybe it's because all the clichés are there: weird lights shinning through venetian blinds, running water changing course against the laws of physics, knives flying across the kitchen and stinging on the wall barely missing some clueless characters, and mechanical and electric apparatus moving by themselves - including the ominous cymbal-playing mechanical monkey toy, TV sets, radios, coo-coo clocks, and the car's klaxon and headlights. The last third is mostly slow-motion camera with classical music for soundtrack. Seriously. Don't waste your precious time watching this crap.

What's up with 4.4/10? I was totally mesmerised by this movie. A must see by any sci-fi fan. Visually inspiring and acting was on-par. I'm surprised there's not more nominations! Rate this movie high, it deserves all the votes it gets!