A nagging sense of missed opportunity somewhat weighs down Dark Skies, an intermittently intriguing and fairly restrained chiller that fails to fully flesh out some of its more interesting and distinguishing narrative elements. Relying less on CGI spectacle than his previous genre efforts, Legion and Priest, writer-director Scott Stewart’s generally well orchestrated supernatural mood piece details a suburban family who find themselves under peril of unfriendly alien visitation.

The PG-13-rated Dark Skies may have trouble touching the upper limits of the nine-figure worldwide grosses for Paranormal Activity, Insidious and Sinister, with whom the movie shares producer Jason Blum. Nevertheless, with the easy international translation of its premise, Dark Skies should deliver a handsome return-on-investment, with strong ancillary value and ready-made franchise opportunity. For the full, original review, from Screen Daily, click here. (Dimension, PG-13, 97 minutes)