In 2013, writer/director David F. Sandberg created a chilling short film called "Lights Out." It made rounds through several horror festivals before going viral on YouTube the following year.
In 2016, Sandberg has returned to the horror scene with a feature-length interpretation of that short film, aptly titled Lights Out.
This nimble 80-minute version follows a troubled family as they struggle to maintain sanity following the death of their patriarch. A malicious spirit named Diana makes that difficult. As Becca (Teresa Palmer), her boyfriend Bret (Alexander DiPersia), and younger brother Martin (Gabriel Bateman) encounter Diana in the dark, they learn more about her and the troubled past she once shared with their mother Sophie (Maria Bello).
For PG-13 horror, one could do far, far worse than Lights Out. It's a solid story which cracks along at a great pace. By the time you leave the theater, you'll hardly recognize that it's been less than an hour and a half.
Another great thing about this movie is that the characters are generally more well-realized than your typical horror bodies. Becca, Martin and Bret are all resourceful, smart people, and they react realistically for their situation. On a couple of occasions, different characters encounter Diana before simply turning and running away to find a weapon and hide. Just about anyone who sees something or someone scary in real life would probably do this. The only character I didn't care much for was Sophie. She's developed well enough, but I feel like this is the 800th time I've seen Maria Bello play somebody's strung-out mother. Get her another script like A History of Violence!
The interesting thing about Sophie's character, though, is that the whole story proves very maternal because of the stakes she carries for the villain. There's no Diana without Sophie. Sophie doesn't want to lose her "friend," but she also has a motherly duty to protect her children. Lights Out owes a lot to Jennifer Kent's The Babadook in this way. There's a grieving family, a distraught mother, resourceful children in peril, and a monster which, in many ways, is made stronger by feeding into that sense of grief. Diana and The Babadook even look similar.
This actually brings me to a couple things that I didn't care for in Lights Out. I mentioned before how I didn't care to see Bello play the strung-out mom yet again, even though she does it quite well. Another thing I didn't like was Diana's look. The monster in Sandberg's original short film is a creature of horrifyingly unique design. When Diana is finally exposed in a terrifying sequence reminiscent of the best haunted house attractions at Halloween, she looks just like your standard craggly witch. One would think that with a studio budget, Sandberg would make another unique looking monster. Diana is scary as hell when she's seen in the dark throughout the movie, but when she's ultimately revealed, it's a bit of a letdown. It's also upsetting that the film relies so heavily on unearned jump scares. Having seen the film just twice, many of them don't hold up. There are one or two that occur in places you don't quite expect, and therefore those shocks work. But the film's freakiest moments come whenever the characters see Diana off in a corner disappearing and reappearing in flashing lights. That buildup is scarier than the inevitable payoff where the monster reappears in the dark, simply standing closer to whoever is watching her.
In the end, Lights Out is a decent first studio feature for Sandberg, even though I personally think it works better as a short film. Horror fans should see this one as it makes a strong case for why the genre still needs PG-13 movies.
B
