J. K. Simmons in "Dark Skies".

22 Feb – Many will remember him as the grouchy publisher of the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson, or the harassed Will Pope in TNT's "The Closer", which is why actor J. K. Simmons is counting on "Dark Skies" to diversify his resume.

According to News 1130, Scott Stewart's "Dark Skies" is Simmons's horror film debut. He plays a supporting role as Edwin Pollard, a battle-scarred expert in alien abductions who warns frightened parents Lacy (Keri Russell) and Daniel (Josh Hamilton) that they could be in the cross-hairs of aliens.

"I'm pretty sure I've never done a horror film kind of thing. It's not a genre that ever appealed to me but this has so many other elements to it and at the end of the day it's just a very human story about this family."

Although this is his first horror film, the 58-year-old actor has certainly played horrific characters in the past, such as the brutal Nazi ring-leader Vern Schillinger in the HBO drama "Oz", his breakthrough role.

Simmons will next be seen in the upcoming single-camera sitcom "The Family Tools", where he plays the father of an underachieving adult son who takes over the family business.

When asked if he believes in the existence of extra-terrestrial beings like his alien-obsessed character in "Dark Skies", Simmons replied, "I try to treat everything with a healthy dose of scepticism but at this point I don't dismiss anything. The odds that we are alone in the universe, I think it's kind of arrogant to think that. "

He added, "It would not surprise me if there is someone out there. Are they watching? Are they coming? I hope not."

Recently, Cinema Online held an exclusive early screening for fans at Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) Tropicana City Mall. We then asked some of them to rate the film out of five and what their thoughts are:

Aira Azalea: I give this film only 2, 3 stars. It was slow and clichéd for me, but I stayed till the end because there were a lot of surprises and there were some moments when I was scared.

Tiffany: I rate this film 4 and a half stars out of 5. I really enjoyed the movie because it found it to be silly, and there was a twist towards the end which I did not expect.

"Dark Skies" comes from the producer of "Paranormal Activity," "Insidious" and "Sinister" and opens in cinemas on 28 February 2013.