"Lights Out" (2016)

Rating:  PG-13

Genre: Horror

Directed By: David F. Sandberg

Written By: Eric Heisserer

Released: July 22^nd, 2016 

Runtime: 81 minutes

Studio: RatPac-Dune Entertainment

Summary:

When Rebecca (Teresa Palmer) left home, she thought that her childhood fears were behind her. As a young girl growing up, she was never really sure of what was real when the lights went out at night. Now, her little brother Martin (Gabriel Bateman) is experiencing the same unexplained and terrifying events that jeopardized her safety and sanity. Holding a mysterious attachment to their mother (Maria Bello), a supernatural entity has returned with a vengeance to torment the entire family.

Review:

I could tell by the trailer that this was going to be good! The trailer was creepy. So, the movie was surely going to be a step up from there. I think the opening of the movie so strong. The build-up of tension, the setting, the placing of the objects as in all the mannequins is brilliant. Let’s be honest – mannequins are creepy. The object of our fear or suspicions is left on the screen long enough for us to know we definitely saw what we think we saw, but also it continues to reappear in exactly the same place and stature each time the lights are off leaving us no doubt in our minds. I actually think this made it all the more creepy. Diana was created with a photorealistic prosthetic suit that could also function as a green screen suit so as to remove her from the scene when the lights came on. 

Almost all of the trailer’s creepy moments came from the opening of the film. So I was seeing these “fright moments” again, and yet the trailer spoiled nothing because there was still so much more to come after the opening. Considering how a lot of trailers lately feed you so much of the plot up front, this was a pleasant surprise that they were able to show so much and yet leave so much as a surprise. I found myself looking away for a lot of the film which doesn’t happen with too many horror films for me anymore so I had a lot more fun than I expected watching this!

To the plot’s credit the explanation and reason for needing to have the lights out is plausible. The explanation as to why this creature continues to haunt the house is a bit questionable but nothing to get too upset about. It is what it is. 

I could go launching into the underlining meaning behind everything that happened in this film really being about depression. That Diana is really Sophie’s depression in human form. Then go on to scold about how Sophie with her depression is treated by the other members of her family. Then I would have to go into the ending of the film and have a scold about how it was resolved if this is all indeed the case. It’s not exactly a message that should be going around…If I’m correct in this speculation then shame on the people involved. If I went into this point further I would ruin the entire film so I won’t. I won’t go into any of this because I’m sure many other people have across the internet and I would rather focus on taking this film at face value because that’s how I enjoyed it. If I thought to much about this side of it I wouldn’t have enjoyed it at all and that’s no fun for anyone.

I was curious to know how many times they actually said the name “Diana” throughout the film. It sounded like a lot. I tried to google it but couldn’t find an answer. Oh well…

For all the horror fans in the world this is worth a viewing – with the lights out.

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