WEEKEND WARNING: LIGHTS OUT

LIGHTS OUT
Warner Bros.
2016 Color
81 Mins.
Horror/Thriller
Teresa Palmer, Gabriel Bateman, Alexander DiPersia, Billy Burke and Maria Bello star.
Written and Directed by David F.Sandberg
Rated PG-13 for language, violence and gore.

Tell me you've seen that horrific Lights out short, if not rush and watch it now before even continuing this review and than come back. I remember my reaction after initially seeing it for the first time. It was the stuff nightmares were made of but I never thought it would work as a feature length. I wasn't impressed at first with the generic trailer but as time went on. Some truly surprising and stellar reviews came out as well as some more intriguing trailers and I began to get a little more excited at the potential. Still despite the positive buzz I had an inkling that the stretched out version was just not gonna be very good.  Well I'm happy to say I was very wrong. Lights out is a solid, nightmare inducing genre entry. At first, the concept of the whole stay in the light thing may seem a tad bit too familiar (Darkness Falls, They, Darkness, etc.) but Writer/Director Sandberg, The man responsible for the brilliant short makes the proceedings feel fresh and terrifying. The setup is simple a sort of ghost/ demon who resides in darkness targets a family and begins wiping them out one at a time so it may survive. As the film moves along you discover that the spirit was a childhood friend of the mother's unwilling to let go and intent on destroying anything that would separate her from her friend. She ferociously attacks and taunts her targets in increasingly aggressive and horrific ways.

 Upon starting I found the film a little on the corny side with it's seemingly forced cheesetastic dialogue, but as things moved along it really began to open up and all those early scenes worked to enhance the film's overall presence. When shit gets real, the scares are very innovative and aplenty with a gorgeous use of light and shadows and some truly innovative ways on how the people are attacked and how they manage to escape. The story is a bit more fleshed out but I won't tell you anymore because I don't wanna spoil anything. What sets this film apart from other less successful concept efforts is that it approaches the material in a simplistic way, fear of the dark and exploits it. It also helps that the film is filled with impressive performances from Gabriel Bateman, Alexander DiPersia, Maria Bello and most impressively Teresa Palmer, a career high here and none of the characters are one dimensional.

 In fact they are all given a bit of heft so you care about them and what's going on. What could have been another generic throwaway genre flick instead has manifested itself as a truly unique horror effort. The film is of course very entertaining but what I found most effective is how like the recent film "the Babbadook" it works on multiple levels. I feel that it's quite obvious that the movie is about mental illness and the effects of it on the individual as well as their families and friends. Notice how the apparition only appears when the mother is at her worst, going through depression and such. That really gives the material some solid cinematic heft that separates it from the rest. The film is well rounded, taut, intense and well paced at a tight but perfectly fitted 81 mins. It never overstays it's welcome or ponders on trivial things too long. That being said there are some slight bits I had issue with, I found the background story of the film's villain to be a little on the silly side and the final reveal of the creature is a bit expected. Still Lights Out is the year's best horror flick and will find a long life span in the genre ruining kids childhoods and giving adults something to think about before turning those lights out. ****.25/5


Box Office prediction: With a phenomenal 80% positive out of 76 reviews the film should have some impact this weekend. However summer tends to be an overcrowded marketplace. Still I have faith that the film will benefit highly from solid word of mouth, much as The Shallows did  and stick around for a bit. And with only a mere 5 million dollar budget the film will be a solid win regardless.


$17 Million weekend $51 total


Check out the terrifying short below!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adap4rzlM2I