LIGHTS OUT – Review

Anything could be lurking in the darkness. Imagining what could be hiding in the shadows opens a door to all sorts of nightmarish visuals. Horror films frequently fall back on characters nervously peering into the dark unknown, while audiences grip the armrests with sweaty palms. It’s an effective horror tool that will continue on film after film long after the lights turn back on in the theater.

LIGHTS OUT builds an entire film around the threat of sleeping without a nightlight. It’s a simple enough idea that could then be taken in many directions. David Sandberg builds upon his own 2 and a half minute short film in such a way that the wealth of possibilities hiding in the darkness has now become rather limited. In the process of creating a more personal and dramatic story, he has actually restricted the depth of what the darkness can hold.

Growing up, Rebecca (Teresa Palmer) was never really sure of what was and wasn’t real when the lights went out. Now that Rebecca is older and has moved out of the house, she doesn’t experience the shadowy woman in the night. However, now her little brother, Martin (Gabriel Bateman), is experiencing the same thing. The frightening entity seems connected to their despondent mother (Maria Bello), so it is now up to Rebecca to help save her younger brother from the darkness.

I applaud the film more for delivering strong characters instead of strong scares. A swapping of the typical relationship roles brings an interesting twist to the main female lead, Rebecca. She is the strong and more aloof one in her relationship, while he’s the more needy and clingy type – she very specifically doesn’t call him her boyfriend. It’s a refreshing role reversal that isn’t typically presented on film.

Mario Bello is perfectly cast as a distraught mother dealing with her own personal demons. She effectively portrays a mother who is burdened by the very real hardships in her life and the unseen guilt from her past. The ghastly woman in the shadows becomes a metaphorical symbol for Mario Bello’s depression and grief. Horror fans don’t have to be reminded of the sensational THE BABADOOK from 2014, which also used this same “boogeyman as an emotional metaphor” structure. Given the fact that the short film that LIGHTS OUT is based on has zero story, I can’t help but think that screenwriter Eric Heisserer and director David Sandberg might have been inspired by this recent superior film (along with maybe a few other films). Even a flashback sequence or two of the characters as friends in the 60s is presented in the scratchy Super-8 film style that was recently at center stage in SINISTER.

Given the nature of the story, Sandberg has a limited bag of tricks: scratching noises are heard off-screen, a shadowy figure stands silently in the dark and then disappears in the light, and elongated fingers pull a person into the darkness. These tried but true scares are repeated again and again. Given the short running time, I can’t help but think that a few of the scares might have been more effective if they had a little more setup, drawing out the tension for both the characters and the audience. As a result, there’s a familiar beat or pattern to the scares that becomes apparent after a while.

That being said, horror fans will still find enough to like about LIGHTS OUT. At 82 minutes, the film moves along at a brisk pace and delivers an in-your-face sound design filled with loud bangs and creepy voices set against a classic horror score. LIGHTS OUT doesn’t offer anything particularly memorable aside from the opening scene, which is essentially a longer but masterfully staged version of the short film. However, it does show the promise of a young horror director who is beginning to find his footing in the dark world of horror.

Overall rating: 3 out of 5

LIGHTS OUT opens in theaters July 22