Dan Myrick steps up to the plate, offering his most ambitious film since co-directing the legendary "The Blair Witch Project" which also happens to be my favorite movie of all time. I have two blair witch tattoos and am a seasoned horror vet having worked on multiple sets and am currently developing a feature film. "The Blair Witch Project" is nothing short of inspiring but, in my opinion, Myrick is the weaker of the two directors, the other being Eduardo Sanchez. Myrick hasn't released much following the success of Blair Witch, unlike his counter part, Sanchez, who took advantage of his critical success and went om the direct several truly terrifying films. Myrick has had one or two decent films over the past two decades but nothing above average. With that being said, I really like the subject matter Myrick migrates towards; it being dark, creepy, witch and culty, and sometimes very mysterious. I love this material but because of his constant low budget films, we never see a movie of his really take off. This leads us to "Skyman", Myricks most polished, most ambitious, and best directed film since Blair Witch. "Skyman" is the mostly fictional story of Carl Merryweather who witnessed something strange one summer night when he was just a boy. He claims he was visited by an alien being the same night many locals of his tiny town also noticed strange occurrences and lights in the sky. The encounters were documented by news stations and even aired, but was ultimately forgotten. Now, 30 years later and fatherless due to mysterious circumstances, Carl believes he is going to be revisited/reunited with the same alien being he saw as a child. He believes this whole heartedly and somehow knows all the details down to the exact day this will happen. What follows is a character driven journey into the unwaivering territory of alien abduction and obsession as Carl drags his sister and friend into his confused world.
Most of this film is set up in a very basic character study format. While very well directed and produced, it makes for an interesting, yet kind of boring viewing. The viewer thinks they know this is all fake but the way the movie plays out seems like it's all too real as we have heard so many similar stories through out our lives. The acting is above average and Michael Selle is basically great as Carl. It isn't until the last 15 minutes or so that this sci-fi "horror" movie grows wings and starts to take flight. These moments are subtle, scarce, but perfectly creepy and very real feeling. Myrick has given us a slice of sci-fi realism. Every incident in this movie either would happen in real life or has happened to someone in real life. Even the unexpected ending. Myrick was smart to base this film in a very real reality, never asking for suspension of disbelief. This may not be "The Blair Witch Project" but it is still a good movie and possibly one of the best UFO films ever made. Great job Myrick, I am impressed
Review of Skyman
