Lights Out
Dan Abel

Review by Dan Abel Patron

Lights Out 2016

★★★

Watched 15 Jun 2021

Rebecca is a young woman with commitment issues who hasn't quite grasped adulthood yet. She abandoned her family years ago. One day she get's a call from her brother's school and picks him up. He hasn't slept in days. Even worse is the reason why. A light fearing entity named "Diana" has been stalking him at night time. Rebecca is all too familiar with that name so she decides she's returning to the family to help save her little brother.

David F. Sandberg's wife Lotta Losten is usually the star in all of his short films, even the short with the same title that served as the basis for this film. Including her here in the feature length product is pretty cool even if it is for a minute. He picks up where he left off with the use of sound which is excellent, but the tension just isn't the same as it was in the short. I love the idea behind the creature "Diana" and it looks creepy in the dark even though you can really only see it's eyes and it's silhouette. That was all great until they explained it's origins. That disembodied sigh you thought you heard a little earlier today? You weren't hearing things. That was me releasing the most powerful sigh the world has ever heard. I may be in NYC but I've been told that kids as far away as Latvia heard it.

I wish I had more to say but unfortunately I don't. Lights Out wasn't awful, nor was it great. It falls in the grey area occupied by a group of generic 2000-2010s horror films that miss the mark. Even the jump scares were the lame kind that make people hate the concept. Before I saw the short film yesterday I had never heard of this film, and at first I was surprised until I took a look at the Wikipedia page and saw that it made $140 MILLION DOLLARS on a a budget of $4 million. How did I miss this!? Considering how much money they made it's no surprise that there is a sequel in development. The ending was definitive so there's really no need for one, but the protest isn't worth it. Would I recommend Lights Out to my fellow horror buffs? Sure, just don't bring high expectations, and wait until this is over before you watch the short. Maybe its better that way?

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