Lights Out (David F. Sandberg)

[Henry Gale]

IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4786282/) / Wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lights_Out_(2016_film))

http://sim01.in.com/b1686f3d790f32dce182fc5574fa9a 06.jpg

[Henry Gale]

Kinda fun, kinda unremarkable, and easily the shortest movie I've seen in the theatre in a long time (the thing is maybe 75 minutes as the end credits hit) which led me to feel like there must've been more coming, and that its insanely quick resolution was a fake-out for an unexpected twist towards a fourth act. Nope! If somethingThe Babadook is a full course dinner nicely padded out over an elegant evening, this movie is a hot dog eating contest.

I mean, horror is the one genre that I'll probably watch the most mainstream output of regardless of reviews or general cultural relevance -- since even at their worst they're great to watch with friends and I think even mediocre movies in the genre these days tend to illustrate geography and space and build atmosphere in ways I really respond to -- so even though I can objectively say this is pretty solid stuff, I don't think I responded to it as much since it just feels so much like everything else, despite how much it might do what it does better than most.

I also just saw The Neon Demon yesterday, and even if I'm not quite sure how much I really loved it, I'm still thinking about it more as I type my thoughts here about this, not to mention it left much more of a visceral impression on me. A closer example to Lights Out would be The Conjuring 2 (whether or not it had the James Wan production co-sign), and that was significantly more effective to me as well. The fact that both end with sitting on the back of an ambulance is kinda hilarious though. It feels more noticeably cliche here, not just because it's coming after the other so soon.

It just feels weird to feel all that much from or praise something that merely does a successful job of achieving its fairly unambitious goals. There are some really clever, terrifying and funny moments (a bit involving headlights is a big standout that ticks all three of those adjectives), but the backstory the film develops to explain the reasons for the evil force going after their family feels so specific to them that it's hard to feel like anyone will suddenly be more irrationally afraid of the dark due to this movie since it's so hard to have much stake in its complicated history. It almost demystifies the idea a little too early and never really evolves that general, very simple and smart horror conceit. Plus it's a classic case of the less you see the better, since once it starts showing more than just the great flickering nocturnal eyes on the silhouetted figure, it's pretty deflating to the tension.

The movie's definitely not bad, but I kinda wish it'd taken more risks to at least run the risk of being bad. Horror movies shouldn't feel this safe, even if they still manage thrills here and there.

**½ / 6.0-ish

[Ezee E]

I'd like to see this, but was shocked at the short runtime. If anything, I think more movies should do this, although I guess it risks going straight to Netflix of Amazon with that.

[TGM]

Yeah, this movie didn't really work for me. The early trailers were sorta creepy, but sadly, what you see there is about as creepy as this movie gets. The ghost haunting them gets over-explained to the point that there's no mystery to her at all, and as such, there's nothing left to be scared about her. Hell, even the girls who were sitting in the row in front of me, who clearly came prepared to jump and scream all throughout the movie, even clutching onto each other early on, I could tell had grown mostly bored by it relatively quickly, only shrieking at the very beginning during that initial scene that plays in the trailer, and dead silence both from them and all 2 other people in the theater for the entire rest of it (not that I'm complaining about that!!).

So as a horror movie, it's a complete bust. But it's not a totally bad movie. It's relatively entertaining throughout, even if a lot of the writing is very iffy (and at times flat out annoying), and the performances are mostly fine. But damn does this movie feel like a huge missed opportunity. There's absolutely no reason for anyone leaving the theater to suddenly be afraid of the dark, 'cause the dark wasn't even scary during the movie's brief runtime. And there's one scene near the end that totally works for me (the mother's sacrifice), and is a damn moving scene, almost enough to make me want to give this movie a more positive rating. But, no, one effective scene in the whole movie does not a good movie make. So, a mild nay from me.

[Ezee E]

What sucks is that there's a concept here that's just totally misused. The short film does touch on it with the mysteriousness of what darkness can do to people. In the full-length movie, it's never delved into, and instead, goes into a territory that we're all too familiar with. Mentally ill family member meets more mentally ill person that curses everyone.

UGH. The stakes are so there, but the rules change, and it just never really sets up a good scene ever.

Plus, the surrounding characters are also horrible actors.

[Irish]

What sucks is that there's a concept here that's just totally misused. The short film does touch on it with the mysteriousness of what darkness can do to people. In the full-length movie, it's never delved into, and instead, goes into a territory that we're all too familiar with. Mentally ill family member meets more mentally ill person that curses everyone.

^ This.


The ghost haunting them gets over-explained to the point that there's no mystery to her at all, and as such, there's nothing left to be scared about her.

^ And especially this.

They over-explain, and they do it too early. The daughter walks into that home office, opens a box, reads a few papers, and voila--she knows everything she needs to know. And then the whole thing is explained again, in dialogue, a little later on.

The opening was terrifically creepy. I was digging it in a J-horror/ American remake way. I had the same reaction as the girls who sat in front of TGM. Enjoyed it at first with all the fun jumpscares, then got bored quickly.

This played more like TV projected on the big screen than a feature film. It might of made a good episode in a horror anthology like Tales from the Crypt or Masters of Horror. It's way too thin to be a theatrical release.

[Dukefrukem]

Kinda sorta loved this- Some great shots and great use of terror. Sprinkled in with some jump scares here and there. Pitch Black meets the Conjuring.

I just didn't understand the bond between the mother and Diana. Why did the mother's death result in the death of of Diana?