Lights Out is based on a 2-minute and 41-second short by directing newcomer David F. Sandberg. Creepy from its opening scene to its final second, which will creep you out, the film got the funding to be developed into a full-length movie that stars not one but two well-known actresses. Unfortunately, the 2016 release flew under the radar. I hadn’t heard of the movie until I listened to The Film Vault, a movie podcast site that inspired the Six Pack feature on my blog. If you’re a person who watches a lot of movies, the Film Vault is a weekly must-listen-to. Hosts Anderson and Bryan review all the recent films while doing a Top Five segment each week (top five stabbings, top five divas, top five movies we can’t wait to show our kids, etc.). Also, they assign each other movies that the other one probably would never see and require each other to follow through on these assignments. Like almost all podcasts, it can get a little long at times, and sometimes, the movies they discuss are so obscure that you might have only seen two or three of the 15+ films they discuss each week. But if you watch many movies, even if you don’t necessarily agree with their lists entirely, you’ll be introduced to many movies you’ve never heard of. And, if nothing else, you’ll at least be intrigued to research some of these films to learn more. That’s precisely what happened to me with Lights Out.
There’s not a lot to Lights Out. Sandberg and writer Eric Heisserer had to develop a story that would allow them to showcase the jerks and jolts that made their short so successful. While the duo is good with the scares, they could be better with character development, story depth, dialogue, or emotion outside the shocks. Someone offered them tons of money to expand upon a three-minute short. They took the opportunity and did the best they could. And they made a fine little movie that had plenty of scares. It wasn’t perfect. I had fun with it. It’s hard for me to get scared at the movies anymore, so even if something I see has a couple of scares that get me to jump, I’m probably giving it at least a semi-favorable score.
The premise of Lights Out is a presence (named Diana) that haunts a family. Diana doesn’t haunt the family as much as she’s protective of the matriarch, Sophie (Maria Bello – Prisoners, A History of Violence). Sophie is a mother of upper elementary school son Martin (Gabriel Bateman) and young twenty-something daughter Rebecca (Teresa Palmer – Triple 9, King of Cups). She has been acting strangely recently, and we learn that she has a history of mental illness that caused Rebecca’s father to leave her mother and Martin’s father to be of grave concern. We meet Diana as a shadow only seen by others when the lights are off. When the lights are on, she disappears. When they go off, she reappears and is closer. We get the idea. Eventually, a switch of the light will find Diana right in front of the person flipping the switch, and then all bets are off.
Sophie’s mental conditions worsen as the presence of Diana becomes more prominent (or maybe it’s the other way around). Diana is more powerful in either case when Sophie isn’t doing well. It causes Martin to stay up at night worrying about his mom talking to someone who doesn’t exist. The results of sleepless nights have taken their toll on Martin, who’s falling asleep in school. This causes the school psychologist to check in on him. Eventually, Rebecca gets involved. Rebecca lives in a one-bedroom apartment. She’s dating Bret (Alexander DiPersia – CBS’s CSI), who wants to have a more serious relationship with her. However, she prefers to keep it casual, kicking him out to the street after sex and not even letting him keep a sock in her apartment. Why is this important? It’s not. Not at all. What’s worse is that this type of personality isn’t even the nature of her character. And it’s not like she developed much. This movie takes place over about 48 hours. There’s only so much character development you can do when battling a menacing presence that you can only keep away by keeping the lights on.
Why Rebecca and Bret think they can protect Martin on their own is beyond me. How they concluded that if Sophie takes her medication, the presence of Diana will go away is a grasp. And you don’t start to feel better when you take your mental medicines suddenly. It takes a while to ask. So, I think if this massive shadow were terrifying me to the point that I figured I was going to get killed if the house went dark, I’d probably seek protection where I could pay people to stay awake while I sleep. And also, if this being cannot do anything if the lights are on, how can it (or is it a she?) unscrew lightbulbs and blow out candles? The plotlines make no sense. The premise of the story changes as a matter of convenience.
With that said, it’s still enjoyable. The acting stunk. The writing sucked. The continuity made no sense. The direction could have been better. But the spooks were plenty. And if you can get that in a movie, it’s alright with me.
Horror fans should like this one.
Plot 7/10
Character Development 5/10
Character Chemistry 5/10
Acting 6/10
Screenplay 5/10
Directing 7/10
Cinematography 7/10
Sound 10/10
Hook and Reel 10/10
Universal Relevance 6/10
68%
C-
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