Lights Out (2016)
Director: David F. Sandberg
Writers: Eric Heisserer, based on a short film by (David F. Sandberg).
Cast: Teresa Palmer (Rebecca), Gabriel Bateman (Martin), Maria Bello (Sophia), Billy Burke (Paul), Alexander Dipersia (Bret), and Alicia Vela-Bailey (Diana).
Opening Credits:
The latest adventures with my five week old baby daughter is funny, At least to my family it is. She wakes at any moment. Delaney is like plugging yourself into the Matrix. The real world as we know doesn't exists. To her the Matrix is her fantasy, and the real world is a dreaded life altering event, made up of screams and spit up. Dirty diapers and the stench that goes along with all that stuff. Yup i'm convinced my kid is in the Matrix. Always happy making her parents miserable. My wife and i have this schedule going, it's pretty standard, and we thought we were smart. Yeah right. Think again because every time we think we have it, the baby decides to "Play the Game." When you think everything is going well, and under control. Nope not us. The baby keeps coming back for more. She cries for bottle. Pulls the Neo thing and does a little move with her mouth. I look at her in slow motion trying to not have her spit up, burp her. She doesn't want to be burped so she dodges the bottle like Neo did in the Matrix. I miss every time, and granted it could be me being tired, but every time. Really...I mean she's a great baby but i thought i had things under control.
My wife and i have this awesome schedule for her, and sometimes it works, but on a bad day you're looking at 3 1/2 hours of sleep. And here it comes...Her spit up...Yes that's right. When a baby is a bit full, or she pulls the horror movie of movies. You know the one where the girl spews on the priest. Yup, my little Delaney pulls that off and you're changing shirts, and in my case my Star Wars PJ's. Babies are cute, and beautiful, but remember they're also full of issues that make it fun to be a parent. Funny as it may seem, but this little button of joy likes to play us like a fiddle. Either way i thought this might bring on some joy, laughter to you. It's my way of decompressing. Talking about ones kid is an experience of a life time. The joys of being a parent is draining and laughable sometimes. It's just the way it goes. Life has a way of changing it up, in your face kinda way, and for the Knight family little Delaney Quinn Knight is that change up fast ball.
Review:
Paul is skyping his son, Martin (Gabriel Bateman). He is working late at the mannequin factory. His son tells him about mom. She is acting strange. She is talking to herself, and it scares the boy. Paul tells his son not to worry, he's looking into some therapy, hopefully she can get out of this problematic situation as soon as possible. The video ends, and Paul's assistant, Esther (Lotta Losten) walks in to tell him she is finished for the evening.
On the way out Esther closes up, she begins to turn off the lights, she notices something...A figure. A female. Something...She turns on the light switch...The room is clear, no problems or whatever...The light switch turns off and the figure advances toward her, changing positions...Esther is startled by what she saw and continues to notice what was wrong with what she had just seen. As she continues to play with the switch..The final time the figure reaches her. Trying to escape, she turns, but the figure grabs on to her, and attacks her so violently that screams are silenced.
Paul continues to work...The lights go out briefly...Paul notices a figure advancing towards him...The next time the lights are on.. He tries and runs.. But the figure is to fast..All the lights inside the warehouse are off.. And the next thing Paul can do is turn and run again..But the figure is to fast, and his body is crushed by her attacks...Dragging Paul's body from the ground up, smashing bones, and killing him almost instantly.
The Lights Out movie had to one thing that to me overall makes this movie ingenious. The fact that the director used practical effects is awesome. The super special effect thing did not play here. And to me that is perfection. The film had a great story. In the first Act the film moved, did not stray from the point, which is the shadow figure. You know some horror films that bore the heck out of you. No real direction, just plain stupid effects that are supposed to scare you but instead it pissed you off. I hate those types of films. Lately there has been a trend in good old story telling, and horror movies are getting better. But there are some that are really either over the top or just plain stupid. For example the Ouija movies that are just plain ridicules, i mean how stupid can the folks be, using the board that is. You know it's dangerous but yet you keep using it. And the fight with the evil spirit within the possessed someone in the film that brings on baggage. These types of films use the same formula. They're intrigued, then they get the board, try and communicate with the spirit which is evil in the first place. The board happens to finds it's way back to the victims house, the supernatural way. Instead of using conventional means, keep it simple stupid the film makers go the Exorcist meets house on Haunted Hill.
Horror films are not the same. each one has the desired effect, but when it's truly a great film, the director does something unique. The film uses practical effects or the story has a disturbing story arc. Lights Out does it with very few actors, and guess what it scares you, right from the start. The main core of the film is the effects and the acting along with the story. The story isn't slow, but it's just enough material to give you a horrific feel. What i mean by that is simply that the film makers didn't go off into another world to bring you a good story. The horror was simple, not out of this world. The protagonist in the film wasn't stupid either, which if you remember back in the day, the old horror movies had the good guy or girl open the basement door, look in, and walk downstairs to their pending death. You know what's going to happen before it happens. The film shakes it off right from the beginning. Lights Out doesn't go that direction, instead they dive right into the story with a mom with problems...Her son is alone because of her issues, and he reaches out to his sister which happens to be the bad child of the family. Next up we have the shadow figure that happens to be the moms best friend. A twisted story acted out in a perfect way. The film goes right into it, and that to me is just wonderful, because how many times have you watched a horror flick and noticed the film was a drag, and just wanted it to be over, so many times around. Not to worry Lights Out isn't that type of film.
There are so many horror films that are just great to watch, and Lights Out is defiantly one of them. The Conjuring (2013), Conjuring 2 (2016), Don't Breathe ((2016), Sinister (2012), Orphan (2009), and the Ring (2002), and Ringu (1998) the Japanese version is just as horrific if not better that the American counterparts. This list is what you should check out after reading this review. These films are filled with screams and more. The scares are just enough to make you jump off your seat. These films are enough to hopefully fill in your horror wants and needs. The main reason why i brought in these great films along with Lights Out is that they're unique in each way. The stories are more than effects. The Conjuring for example is a film based off the life events of Ed and Lorraine Warren, which happens to be my favorite of this list. They're loosely based, but the films are entertaining enough and horrific to enjoy. Don't Breathe, Sinister, Orphan, and The Ring films are all great. They're strong films that scare the hell out of you if you're in the right state of mind.
My final thoughts on this film is if you want a really good horror film that doesn't do the Hollywood thing, then this movie is for you. Try and remember that many great films started off simple, and afterwards unfortunately these big films suffer when a sequel is in production. The story suffers because it's Hollywood. They want the bigger production, huge capital streaming in their banks, making the bigwigs a great deal of money. Keeping it simple is the important thing to try and remember as a film maker. Wanting a huge movie is great but keep the formula, and that is the key to a great horror film. The sequel to Lights Out is in development, hopefully David F. Sandberg and Eric Heisserer can keep the same formula and continue to scare the hell out of people. What made the first one good was the simplistic film making style, and to me it was a huge part of the success. The budget was about 4,900,000 and the opening weekend earned 21,688,103. A total gross of 67,235,683. An example of practical effects and how well the audiences enjoy it. Lights Out is pure horror, it keeps you under that cover while you're watching the film from the first Act all the way to the final Act of the film. See it, get under the covers, and buy the movie, and don't forget to watch it with the "Lights Out."
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