LIGHTS OUT Review by Staci Layne Wilson   @StaciWilson

Imagine you see something lurking in the dark. You’re uneasy, so you turn the light on and sure enough: there’s nothing there. Just your mind playing tricks on you. Sighing with relief, you turn the light off and – boom! The figure you thought you saw is closer. Snap on the lights, it’s gone. Turn them off, and it’s back… even closer now.

That simple premise was the basis of a Danish short film that went viral a couple of years back. The buzz caught the attention of the folks at Warner Brothers, who wanted to expand the spooky short from a few minutes to feature length film. The result is Lights Out, directed by originator David F. Sandberg, and starring Maria Bello and Teresa Palmer.

The cold open of the film plays on the premise of the short, even bringing back the short’s sole star (Sandberg’s wife and collaborator, Lotta Losten) and the template for terror.

Then the story segues into new, uncharted territory, introducing the players we’ll be spending the next 75 minutes with. Cold and prickly Rebecca (Teresa Palmer), is a 20-something goth-gal who left home when her mother Sophie (Maria Bello) started acting strangely, just after the mysterious death of Rebecca’s dad. Rebecca, in an act of self-preservation, left her young stepbrother Martin (Gabriel Bateman) behind and tried to start a new life, but it’s hard for her to trust anyone. She is forced to confront her choices when Martin becomes so terrified of Sophie that he runs away from home too, ultimately seeking refuge with Rebecca and her new boyfriend, Bret (Alexander DiPersia). But… Martin’s troubles have followed him.

Without giving away any spoilers in this Lights Out review, let’s just say evil apparitions ensue, as do identity crises, furtive fumblings in dark closets, murder, the usual. Regardless of red herrings, there are plenty of blackout scares in Lights Out. The set pieces are masterfully crafted and perfected by Sandberg, in spite of some over-use of CGI augmentation. The use of bright and shadow is quite brilliant, creating lots of fun and jump-scares when dealing with a phantom who can only exist in the absence of light. This is the kind of movie that really gets audiences alternating between hiding their faces in their hands to outright applause.

Rated PG-13
1 hour 21 Minutes

LIGHTS OUT Review — Electric Ghoul Ade

by Staci Layne Wilson

@StaciWilson

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