Lights Out (Review)

'Lights Out' comes from a short film by director David Sandberg and stars Maria Bello and Teresa Palmer. The story concerns a young woman named Rebecca who has learned that her young brother has been recently plagued by a sinister force that only seems to be able to appear when the lights go out. Rebecca soon learns that her mentally disturbed mother (Bello) has connections to the dangerous apparition and Rebecca must soon fight for the lives of her family before the force takes them all into the dark forever.

 Producer James Wan has quite the hot streak going when it comes to horror. With this year's 'The Conjuring 2' and now 'Lights Out', he has brought good horror and clever, smart thrills back to the silver screen and Thank God for that. Is 'Lights Out' as good as 'Conjuring' however? No, not really but is it a good film on its own? Yes, definitely. The film does an excellent job at keeping the cheap scares to a minimum while slowly building up tension and suspense until its execution is needed. That's not to say the film doesn't go down the cheap route now and then, with the primary problems seeming to stem from the entity Diana.

The film can't seem to decide exactly what the extent of her powers are. Sometimes, she can cause noises and drop items in rooms where light is flooding from it, while at other times she can't enter if even the smallest bit of light is coming from it. It's not distracting neccesarily, but it is an annoyance when the film is trying to build up something only for logic to pop my disbelief bubble. Where I think the film shines is in its themes of family, light beating darkness, sacrafice, and dealing with the issues of mental illness. The film at times would remind me of 'The Babadook' with Diana almost being Mother Sophie's Babadook, an entity that holds her back and causes her torment and personal harm along with her family. It's really deep stuff for a little summer ghost flick huh?

'Lights Out' is not the best film out there, but it's a really good horror flick and well worth any fan's time. It's deeper themes may be lost on audience members, but everyone will still have a great time watching it. Just remember to check all the lights at home after you return from the megaplex.

(B+)

Check out the short film HERE