Lights Out - directed by David F Sandberg
Starring: Teresa Palmer, Maria Bello, Alexander DiPersia, Billy Burke, Gabriel Bateman, Alicia Vela-Bailey, Andi Osho, Roland Boyce, Maria Russell, Elizabeth Pan, Lotta Losten, Amiah Miller, Ava Cantrell, Emily Alyn Lind
Screenplay: Eric Heisserer
That is not a typo up there - this movie really is nine minutes short of what is generally considered feature length.
It betrays this movies origins as a short film.
Much viewed on YouTube the two and a half minute clip is clever and effective.
The question is is there enough depth there to make a longer form feature out of it?
That short running time may clue you in to the answer.
In case you haven't seen the short that inspired this film (watch it here) the basic idea is that there is a restless spirit or somesuch entity that is invisible in light but can be seen as a darkened shape, shadow or figure when in darkness.
It is a very effective device for delivering scares for sure.
Plot wise the device is inserted into a story of a young woman, her younger brother, her boyfriend and the siblings Mother who are tormented by an entity named Diana.
The young boy is not getting any sleep as you would expect and so the school calls in his sister.
Rebecca - played by stunning Australian actress Teresa Palmer ("Point Break", "Warm Bodies") is a sort of rebellious, leather jacket wearing young woman who lives above a tattoo parlour.
I am not sure if she works there, owns it or just happens to live in the apartment above it - it isn't clear.
She is able to spend an inordinate amount of time away from whatever she does do for a job though.
She has a boyfriend named Bret who I am sure is supposed to appear a bit rugged and cool but is so dull as dishwater.
He wants to spend the night at Rebecca's house but after eight months of dating he has not been allowed to even once.
Teresa Palmer is a staggeringly beautiful woman but are we really supposed to believe that Bret has had this much patience?
We are of course because this is a plot device all about the fact that Rebecca has trust issues driven by her mentally unstable Mother and a Father who left them all.
Speaking of Fathers.... Rebecca and her brother martin have a Stepfather played by Billy Burke in an opening scene that also stars Lotta Losten from the original short film.
This is easily the most effective and best played scene in the movie.
Burke is dispatched in short order sadly so the one performance that threatened to be interesting is done and dusted.
The scene amounts to ten minutes or 12% of the total running time.
To be fair a lot of the problem with "Lights Out" isn't the scant 81 minute running time but the terrible characterisation.
Very little of what the characters do makes much sense.
Spending a night in the very house in which they know the evil Diana is lurking is absurd even by normal dumb horror movie standards.
I was constantly reminded of Eddie Murphy's routine about the differences between white people and black people in an Amityville Horror situation.
"Why do white people stay in the house?!" he asks.
Good question.
In "Lights Out" the characters seem addicted to staying in places of obvious danger.
Is it really believable that Martin will be happy to sleep in his bedroom after he was so desperate to get out of the very same house just 24 hours earlier?
And how about the two dumbest cops ever committed to film who show up to embarrass themselves by first ignoring Bret's pleading to take a flashlight into the house (something that I was under the impression was standard issue to be carried at all times anyway)
But the pair do give us a neat muzzle flash light reveal moment so I guess that's something.
It isn't all bad news though and there is a shining light (no pun intended) here.
Maria Bello gives the only performance that generates any interest other than Burke's brief appearance.
Yes, her character is nuts but she gives it her all.
It is Bello's character who has kept the restless Diana around and in fact treats her like a friend.
I will not spoil the whys and wherefores here - it actually doesn't really matter anyway.
The film is really just relying on a series of set pieces that trade heavily on the central 'lights out' concept.
Most of them are fairly well done but I found exactly zero of them more than moderately scary.
Far too many jump scares and loud musical outbursts are utilised.
The audience that I saw it with seemed to enjoy it but ironically still found time to light up the cinema with their goddamned cellphones.
(when will cinemas come to their sense and full ban their usage?)
There were many screams and "Oh my Gods" coming out of this crowd.
I did like some of the inventiveness that was employed here and there though.
Bret's use of car headlights and his cellphone (again- the irony) got laughs and shreiks of approval and cheers of relief in a couple of instances.
I clearly was having less fun than most of the people around me and for me this was really just a decent and comfortable enough way to kill the bit of time I had before my NZIFF screening of "Midnight Special" - nothing more.
Staggeringly though thanks to good box office a sequel has already been put into production.
I am going to go ahead and suggest the title "Lights Out 2: Dim Bulbs"
RATING: 62 / 100
CONCLUSION: A clever idea that cannot sustain a feature- albeit one that barely qualifies as such at 81 minutes- is totally scuttled by dull characters and only two performances of any interest - Bello and Burke. Flat and weak.
Screenplay: Eric Heisserer
Music Score by: Benjamin Wallfisch
Cinematography: Marc Spicer
Edited by: Michel Aller & Kirk M. Morri
Running Time: 81 minutes
Language: English
Rated: M - Horror Violence - pretty mild
Running time: 81 minutesCinematography: Marc Spicer
Edited by: Michel Aller & Kirk M. Morri
Running Time: 81 minutes
Language: English
Rated: M - Horror Violence - pretty mild
That is not a typo up there - this movie really is nine minutes short of what is generally considered feature length.
It betrays this movies origins as a short film.
Much viewed on YouTube the two and a half minute clip is clever and effective.
The question is is there enough depth there to make a longer form feature out of it?
That short running time may clue you in to the answer.
In case you haven't seen the short that inspired this film (watch it here) the basic idea is that there is a restless spirit or somesuch entity that is invisible in light but can be seen as a darkened shape, shadow or figure when in darkness.
It is a very effective device for delivering scares for sure.
Plot wise the device is inserted into a story of a young woman, her younger brother, her boyfriend and the siblings Mother who are tormented by an entity named Diana.
The young boy is not getting any sleep as you would expect and so the school calls in his sister.
Rebecca - played by stunning Australian actress Teresa Palmer ("Point Break", "Warm Bodies") is a sort of rebellious, leather jacket wearing young woman who lives above a tattoo parlour.
I am not sure if she works there, owns it or just happens to live in the apartment above it - it isn't clear.
She is able to spend an inordinate amount of time away from whatever she does do for a job though.
She has a boyfriend named Bret who I am sure is supposed to appear a bit rugged and cool but is so dull as dishwater.
He wants to spend the night at Rebecca's house but after eight months of dating he has not been allowed to even once.
Teresa Palmer is a staggeringly beautiful woman but are we really supposed to believe that Bret has had this much patience?
We are of course because this is a plot device all about the fact that Rebecca has trust issues driven by her mentally unstable Mother and a Father who left them all.
 |
| Teresa Palmer as Rebecca with Alexander DiPersia as Rob and Gabriel Bateman as Martin |
This is easily the most effective and best played scene in the movie.
Burke is dispatched in short order sadly so the one performance that threatened to be interesting is done and dusted.
The scene amounts to ten minutes or 12% of the total running time.
To be fair a lot of the problem with "Lights Out" isn't the scant 81 minute running time but the terrible characterisation.
Very little of what the characters do makes much sense.
Spending a night in the very house in which they know the evil Diana is lurking is absurd even by normal dumb horror movie standards.
I was constantly reminded of Eddie Murphy's routine about the differences between white people and black people in an Amityville Horror situation.
"Why do white people stay in the house?!" he asks.
Good question.
In "Lights Out" the characters seem addicted to staying in places of obvious danger.
Is it really believable that Martin will be happy to sleep in his bedroom after he was so desperate to get out of the very same house just 24 hours earlier?
And how about the two dumbest cops ever committed to film who show up to embarrass themselves by first ignoring Bret's pleading to take a flashlight into the house (something that I was under the impression was standard issue to be carried at all times anyway)
But the pair do give us a neat muzzle flash light reveal moment so I guess that's something.
 |
| Maria Bello and Billy Burke.... two small bright lights |
Maria Bello gives the only performance that generates any interest other than Burke's brief appearance.
Yes, her character is nuts but she gives it her all.
It is Bello's character who has kept the restless Diana around and in fact treats her like a friend.
I will not spoil the whys and wherefores here - it actually doesn't really matter anyway.
The film is really just relying on a series of set pieces that trade heavily on the central 'lights out' concept.
Most of them are fairly well done but I found exactly zero of them more than moderately scary.
Far too many jump scares and loud musical outbursts are utilised.
The audience that I saw it with seemed to enjoy it but ironically still found time to light up the cinema with their goddamned cellphones.
(when will cinemas come to their sense and full ban their usage?)
There were many screams and "Oh my Gods" coming out of this crowd.
I did like some of the inventiveness that was employed here and there though.
Bret's use of car headlights and his cellphone (again- the irony) got laughs and shreiks of approval and cheers of relief in a couple of instances.
I clearly was having less fun than most of the people around me and for me this was really just a decent and comfortable enough way to kill the bit of time I had before my NZIFF screening of "Midnight Special" - nothing more.
Staggeringly though thanks to good box office a sequel has already been put into production.
I am going to go ahead and suggest the title "Lights Out 2: Dim Bulbs"
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