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USD $1 ₱ 55.61 -0.0650 March 19, 2024
March 18, 2024
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‘Lights Out’ Doesn’t Outstay Its Welcome

The movie basically turns the monster into a manifestation of the mother’s instability, and it plays well into the idea of being afraid of things lurking in the dark.

Lights Out doesn’t waste any time introducing its central threat. The opening sequence follows a man in his place of business being stalked by a dangerous, claw-wielding entity that seems to only appear in the shadows, and dematerializes in the presence of any sort of direct light. The film then shifts its attention to siblings Rebecca and Martin (Teresa Palmer and Gabriel Bateman). Martin starts seeing the same shadowy entity, which seems to share some connection with their mother, Sophie (Maria Bello). Rebecca, who hasn’t had much contact with her family over the last few years, is forced to confront her mother, and things in her past that she’s tried very hard to leave behind.

The film is mainly about its central mechanic. It is a delivery system for a series of scenes where a mysterious, scary-looking figure can be seen and darkness, and disappears when the lights are turned on. It is a fairly creepy effect that does play in some very primal human fears, and the film finds pretty clever ways to play with that idea. The film is able to develop tension out of something as simple as a flickering light. And it’s able to bring genuine relief out of characters simply finding some way to light up a room.

The film ties to this the story of a couple of kids trying to deal with a parent with mental illness. A horror tends to benefit when its threat is tied to some sort of emotional subtext. The movie basically turns the monster into a manifestation of the mother’s instability, and it plays well into the idea of being afraid of things lurking in the dark. The film kind of stumbles in fleshing it out, however. The backstory provided is unnecessarily involved, and the resolution pretty abandons the theme for what is essentially just another shocking moment.

But in the end, it’s all quite fun. It might be noted that the film is just 81 minutes long, credits included. This is a rarity in this era of bloated mainstream cinema. This film doesn’t want to inundate people with an excess of plot and information. It doesn’t try to stretch things out with extraneous characters and pointless scenes. Its characters aren’t deep, but they aren’t stupid, either. Once they see the problem at hand, they’re immediately trying to figure it out and deal with it.

And so the film moves briskly. The direction isn’t very distinct, but it works well enough. The film’s visual efforts are mainly directed towards playing with the central mechanic. Lights go on and off. Things lurk in shadow. It’s basic horror stuff, but it’s fairly effective. The acting is good enough as well. Teresa Palmer plays her character’s toughness believably. Gabriel Bateman has fun playing a kid character that’s unusually competent and self-possessed. And Maria Bello brings the mother’s instability to the forefront. She becomes the heart of this film, even as she emerges as a harmful figure.

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Lights Out is a pretty simple film, and that’s a virtue. It isn’t really trying to build to some sort of big narrative twist. It isn’t trying to build up a body count. It has a story to tell, and a nifty little mechanic. It plays those elements out, and gets out before things get old. There are certainly problems if one bothers to think about it. But at 81 minutes, the film is short enough and fun enough to forgive its failings. In an era where horror has gotten strangely dour and convoluted, Lights Out emerges as a fun, silly little horror flick that doesn’t outstay its welcome.

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Lights Out
Horror
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4.2/5
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