Lights Out was, initially, an extremely well made and creepy short film. Created for the ‘Who’s There Film Challenge 2013’, it was directed by David Sandberg and starred Lotta Losten. Check out the original short:
If you’re still breathing, you can then check out the film’s trailer here:
When a mother, Sophie (Maria Bello), comes to terms with the recent loss of her husband, she is left distraught and haunted by an extremely vicious entity that can only exist in darkness. This evil force wants Sophie all for herself and won’t let anyone get in its way, including Sophie’s young son (Gabriel Bateman). After countless sleepless nights keeping his lights on, the scary form begins getting closer to Martin and he calls on the help of his older sister Rebecca (Teresa Palmer).
At first, Rebecca tries to take Martin away from their seemingly crazy mother. But with further investigation into why Martin falls asleep so much in school, he brings up the name Diana and Rebecca is taken back to confront the one thing she thought she had escaped, the dark entity that came with her Mothers past.
After a particularly scary set-up to the film, which even includes a cameo from the original short film’s actress Lotta Losten (director Sandberg’s wife) the film begins its introductions to the stories protagonists.
The cast do a good job of making the unbelievable seem believable. Young Gabriel Bateman (TV’s Outcast) puts on the scared face extremely well. Rebecca’s Teresa Palmer has come a long way in such a short time with some of her previous films. Warm Bodies, I Am Number Four and Triple 9 proving fairly successful. Teresa is growing into a fine young star of the times. My big letdown was having the always talented Billy Burke (Twilight series & TV’s Zoo) having such little screen time.
Swedish newcomer David F. Sandberg has taken his concept and given a small but sizeable budget of 5 million to direct this new film. Sandberg comes up with some great set pieces which include a lot of mannequins, clever use of lighting and some of the best sound design I’ve heard in cinema for quite some time. At one point I was even about to tell off another audience member to stop scratching her chair, when it was actually the sound within the movie. It truly gets under your skin and feels so close to you in some crucial scenes.
Sadly, apart from these positives, the film gets a little stale as it moves through each of its predictable ‘Jump Scare 101’ tactics of all the B-Grade horrors of the past. Once we find out the reasoning behind the monster of the movie (and that happens pretty quickly) the blanket is taken off. Maybe it’s just me, but I love a horror or thriller that leaves it open, at least a little, to the film goers imagination. When the true villain of the piece is revealed, usually the film can go one of two ways. For me, the suspense and mystery was dusted off with ease too soon and all we are left with is waiting to see what corner it pops out of next. Even with its ‘light gimmick’ there really is nothing to gain from hanging around this haunted house much longer than the initial short film played out.
I actually went into the film with expectations that this was another James Wan film (the creator of the now classic horrors The Conjuring and Insidious). After the first twenty minutes or so, I felt it definitely wasn’t. I kept my mind open and my phone in my pocket (trying not to google the films info due to possible spoilers). Maybe David Sandberg should have jumped on the side of Producer for his first feature here instead of James Wan? Let Wan work his magic? Then stepped into a big budget film with some more horror training up his sleeve. But, everyone has to start somewhere and it is far from a bad film.
There is still a lot going for Lights Out, especially for fans of jump scare horrors. Going back to the classic cliché tropes of horror, however, sometimes means that films can fall back on the one thing that they should try to steer clear of: style over substance.
Review Score: TWO AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Running Time: 81 Minutes
Lights Out is in Cinemas Now through Village Roadshow Films
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