Lights Out

 

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In Lights Out, a family finds themselves tormented by a spirit from beyond the grave. The only catch is, this spirit can only attack when the lights are out. The family consists of Sophie (played by Maria Bello), a woman who has a history of mental illness, Martin (newcomer Gabriel Bateman), whom the spirit seems to affecting rather strongly, and Rebecca (played by Teresa Palmer), the protagonist of the film and my personal favorite character. Her struggle to help her estranged family and piece the overall mystery of what’s happening together. This is a movie I actually was very interested in, ever since I saw the trailer. The premise was something that intrigued me. First of all, I really want to compliment first time director Dan F. Sandberg. This is a guy who shows he knows how to build tension, and use scares effectively. But, he and writer Eric Heisserer also show an understanding of something I feel a lot of horror filmmakers today (save for a select few) miss is the idea of building character development, and actually making you care for the people who are in the movie itself. The characters are all strong and feel like they serve a purpose to the overall story. The actors all come to play and are pretty damn good in the movie. Teresa Palmer and Maria Bello are really good in the movie, in particular. Palmer gives off a performance as a young woman who has flaws, but genuinely cares about her younger brother. Bello, meanwhile plays a character who actively seems to care for her children, despite clearly not being all there. Occasionally, the movie will break its own rules, but not often, and never to a point I would’ve called this a bad movie. The spirit, called Diana, is a very effective villain in the movie. She makes the most of those moments where she has power, and I like that sort of determination in an antagonist. I can’t really call Lights Out the scariest movie I’ve ever seen, but it certainly is creepy. There are genuine moments of suspense and dread that are built up by strong acting, writing, directing, and editing for a really damn good summer horror movie. 

9 / 10