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    Lights Out

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

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    “Lights Out” is a strong first film for director David F. Sandberg. This is a picture from people that have clearly studied the ins and outs of horror, know what’ll give you chills and apply their knowledge to ensure you get your money’s worth. Make sure you buy the extra-large popcorn, as you’ll drop a bunch of it during its most frightening sequences.

    When the lights go out, you see the silhouette of a woman in the darkness. Turn the lights on, and she’s gone. Turn them off again and she’s appeared once more but has edged a couple of steps closer to you. When Rebecca (Teresa Palmer) learns from a social worker that her young half-brother Martin (Gabriel Bateman), the one she abandoned with her screw-loose of a mother (Maria Bello as Sophie), is kept late at night by his fear of the dark, she comes to rescue him from his night terrors. When she begins seeing “Diana” as well, the family must band together and find out what this malevolent spirit wants and how to get rid of it.

    The most ingenious thing about “Lights Out” is how it expands on the short it was based on. If you take a look at the quick story (which features Lotta Losten, briefly appearing in this film as well) you’ll see how effective the simple premise can be. Some people claim they’re not afraid of the dark, but they’re lying. The darkness contains all of your nightmares wrapped in that most terrifying of concepts: the unknown. When you throw in this idea that every time the lights dim a grotesque shadow starts making its way towards you, you can’t help but start freaking out. But then what? Is this film simply going to be a series of jump scares as the lights turn on and off? That’s where the screenplay by Eric Heisserer comes in. This film is actually about 2 fears, which work in conjunction marvelously. The second phobia the film plays up that of abandonment. It’s a wonderful addition. In so many horror movies, you’re screaming for the people to forget about their friends and RUN! Doing just that would doom our characters. Imagine the guilt you’d feel knowing that saving your skin meant leaving your family behind, the family you’ve already left behind in the past. Looking at the character of Martin, imagine being left alone without your mother, your older sister, any adult to hold your hand and tell you things are going to be alright. Suddenly, the smartest move in a regular horror show has transformed into the worst thing, a cruel act that leaves your family to a fate that’s sure to be worse than death.

    This theme of abandonment and the counterpoint, the decision for characters to hold on to each other and fight back makes for a story that’s high on tension and filled with scares. You care about Sophie, Martin, Rebecca and her boyfriend (Alexander DiPersia) you feel compelled to watch. It’s an intimate picture that focuses on that creeping dread you get from seeing lights flicker, or mentally counting down how long batteries are going to last. It’s quite clever in how it executes its premise of lights going in and out as well. I was very impressed by all of the different ways the film plays with light and with darkness. It reminds me of a thriller from a few years ago that I really liked, “Cellular”, how it takes different things that can create light, different ways that light can be used and throws them all in as the characters use their wits to combat an opponent whose strength is only limited by the shadows.

    As with many horror films, “Lights Out” becomes less frightening the further in you get. As the characters muster up their courage, discover more about the wretch that’s tormenting them, the information gives them strength and as an audience member, you’ll also become less scared. Thankfully, this is where the characters, the acting and the writing come in to pick up the slack. At first, I was cowering in my seat, seriously wondering if I shouldn’t have made an extra trip to the washroom before the film started. By the end of the story, I was scared for a totally different reason. I really wanted these nice people to make it out ok. That’s what I call good filmmaking. “Lights Out” knew ahead of time what its weaknesses would be and pre-emptively compensated. It’s a spooky good time at the cinema and unlike so many front-heavy horror films who receive bad reviews and vanish like thieves in the night with the money of so many scare-starved teens, this one’s got lasting power. “Lights Out” is a good film, one that scared the willies out of me even though I saw it during the brightness of a long weekend. (Theatrical version on the big screen, August 1, 2016)

    8
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    adamwatchesmovies@  6.8.2016 age: 26-35 2,866 reviews

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