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| © Warner Brothers / New Line Cinema |
New Line Cinema’s latest summer offering for horror fans, ‘Lights Out’ will get your heart rate pulsing at moments, but don’t expect much more.
The opening scene of ‘Lights Out’ borrows some of it originality from Wes Craven’s ‘Scream’. There is even a mobile phone involved although we have evolved from the 1996 model. Unfortunately for ‘Lights Out’, ‘Scream’ is still more terrifying 20 years later. What makes ‘Scream’ a superior film is the uncertainty of who will be claimed as the next victim whereas ‘Lights Out’ has very specific targets. ‘Lights Out’ is more about unresolved drama than it is about unexpected terror.
The film follows young Martin (Gabriel Bateman), a boy lives at home with his parents Sophie (Maria Bello) and Paul (Billy Burke). Martin notices that his mom, Sophie, continues to display strange behavior, conversing with an invisible person. When Martin alerts his father, Paul, of his mom’s mental state, the warning comes too late for him to act. Martin comes face to face with his mother’s conversation partner, a shadowed demon named Diana. This encounter forces Martin into a state of insomnia prompting his sister, Rebecca (Teresa Palmer), to retrieve him at school when he can no longer stay awake in class. Rebecca has unresolved drama with her mother who suffers from depression and mental illness. Rebecca maintains her distance from the family, claiming her independence and keeps her friend with benefits, Brett (Alexander DiPersia), at arm’s length. Brett, would very much like to be more significant in Rebecca’s life and is willing to go to the distance to prove his commitment to her even if it means standing in harm's way. Martin mentions to his sister that their mom talks to this friend Diana, which causes Rebecca to flashback to a traumatic childhood memory. Rebecca slowly begins piecing the whole story together and resigns herself to investigating the threat that Diana causes her family. Diana obviously has something to say about that.
The film works best in the scenes where the darkness creates discomfort and the outcome is unpredictable. Diana can only terrorize in the dark so the threat that the characters will lose lighting looms large throughout the whole film. The jump scares, although they are few, are effective and certainly elicited vocal reactions en masse from the audience. Watching ‘Lights Out’ with an audience is perhaps the only way to watch this movie. In my screening, the cries, shrieks, applause and laughter made the viewing experience worthwhile. Without an audience, this could be a tedious watch even with a short 81 minute runtime. The final scene takes a mildly disturbing turn, which is not the least bit satisfying turn in order to wrap things up. Even still, ‘Lights Out’ has enough thrill to it to satisfy those who seek it out.
