After having a supernatural experience, a young boy reaches out to his older sister Rebecca. It is son discovers that whatever is haunting them has a strange link to their mother and Rebecca's own troubled past.
Lights Out was close to the top of my most anticipated film list this year, with horror veteran James Wan on hand to steer this latest title down dark paths I couldn't wait to see what lay in store.
The entity was easily the star of the show. The sense of mystery was kept almost all the way till the credits rolled. The ghostly figure would be lurking and twitching in the shadows and even when it was not visible, the paranoid sense that it was never too far away was gripping. It was always uncertain just what the creatures limits were, could it fit inside the smallest of shadows, just how much light was needed to vanquish it, could it ever be stopped? Frail and gangly in appearance with only the white's of it's eyes glowing made it a memorable and fearsome creature, possibly even a contender to be a new horror icon.
Acting was fairly thin unfortunately, Maria Bello doing a good job of playing a conflicted but caring mother role. The problems mainly lay with main heroine Rebecca. She may of had her younger brother's safety in mind but came across as lazy and selfish, displaying almost no emotion during some scenes then suddenly bursting into tears or having moments of immense bravery. This felt a little disjointed and didn't make her a hero to root for.
With the entity only able to move and attack it's prey in pitch darkness it forced the heroes to think strategically. This gave way to some really clever scenes in which the entity would cleverly adapt to the defences put in place and hide in the smallest pockets of darkness. There was a real sense of paranoia with this film, just how dark to a spot have to be to house the creature, could the characters live the rest of their lives with the lights on!? A particularly clever scene involved an unsuspecting police offer shooting at the entity only for it to close in on him with each subsequent shot. A lot of attention to detail and thought had been put into the scares and it showed. Each encounter was like a puzzle that heroes had to solve. You barely had chance to catch your breathe between these paranormal assaults.
The Verdict
Lights Out is a well made and clever horror film. The acting may be somewhat below average but the terrifying entity and frequent scares more than make up for it. Keep your lights on for this one!
4/5
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