Lights Out

Lights Out started out as a three minute film made for a short horror film competition that won a lot of acclaim, and eventually went viral on line.  When Hollywood bought the rights for a feature film adaptation, they fortunately brought along producer James Wan, the current master of mainstream suspense.  He has brought his skill and knowledge to assemble a strong creative team, as well as better acting talent than you would expect in a low budget summer thriller such as this.  And while it's not quite as effective as Wan's own The Conjuring 2 from just last month, it still has enough thrills to satisfy.

In most movies of this type, it's usually a child who makes first contact with the malevolent spirit, and initially sees it as some kind of secret friend, until the entity starts to show its true intentions.  In a unique twist, this film has the child's mother being the one with the closely guarded supernatural secret, and her young son fearing for his life as well as for mom's sanity.  Early in the movie, little Martin (Gabriel Bateman) catches his mother Sophie (Maria Bello) talking to someone or something that lurks in the dark secluded shadows, and can't seem to approach the light.  This leads to Martin sleeping with the lights on, with whatever his mom has brought into their house scratching and banging just on the outside of his bedroom door.  The kid obviously has trouble sleeping, and when it affects his performance at school, a concerned school nurse calls on Martin's 20-something half-sister, Rebecca (Teresa Palmer).

Turns out Rebecca knows something about mom's secret, as it impacted her childhood as well.  With the dark spirit starting to grow deadly (it knocks off Martin's father in the film's effective opening), she tries to take the boy away and have him live with her.  Unfortunately, child protective services comes and brings Martin right back to his mother, since Rebecca can't legally take him away without proof of wrongdoing.  Digging into Sophie's past for proof, Rebecca and her boyfriend Bret (Alexander DiPersia) uncover the tragic history behind a strange childhood friend of her mother's known only as Diana (Alicia Vela-Bailey).  Supposedly, Diana had a skin condition that made her extremely sensitive to the light.  Rebecca makes the connection that her mom is somehow keeping the spirit of her former friend in her home, and that spirit is now killing anyone who threatens to separate them.

Zooming by at a very brief 81 minutes, Lights Out certainly could have done a better job at explaining itself at times (I'm still a bit confused as to what led to the death of Diana as a child), but it also makes for a very tight and mostly effective thrill ride.  The tension doesn't really shoot up until the film's final 15 minutes, but even before then, we're invested in what's going on because director David F. Sandberg knows how to make the most of his brief running time.  He also wisely mostly avoids jump scares and easy jolts, and lets the suspense build during crucial scenes.  He also gives his actors some quiet character building moments, which not only make us more sympathetic toward them, but shows that he is able to get some strong performances out of his cast from the most minimalist of materials.  Let's face it, the movie is essentially built around a single scare - that of being alone in the dark, and having something you can't quite see watching you from the shadows.  But, Sandberg finds ways to keep it effective for the whole running time, and seldom repeats himself.

In another smart move, the film avoids cheap CG effects for the most part, and instead depends on an effective physical performance for its monster.  This makes whatever is creeping about in the shadows all the more effective, because it is physically in the same space as the actors, creating a definite air of tension.  In fact, during the instances it does rely on effects for the creature, it takes you out of the film, since they're never as convincing.  As for the actors themselves, everyone gives a better performance than you would expect from a movie like this.  Even the always reliable Maria Bello, who wouldn't be blamed if she treated this project as a paycheck, creates a certain amount of sympathy as the mother torn between the love of her family, and the supernatural entity she finds herself drawn to.  The movie could have definitely used her more and created even more genuine drama, but what's here is effective.

Lights Out works because it sticks to its main idea, and knows how to exploit it to the fullest.  It's not the deepest or most thrilling horror movie to come along, but for one that's mainly targeting teens on a summer weekend, it's a lot better than it probably deserves.  I just hope it's not cheapened with a string of unnecessary sequels, as the film works just fine as a standalone story.  However, this is Hollywood we're talking about here, and I'm sure this isn't the last time we'll see Diana creeping about in the shadows.

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