LIGHTS OUT. (2016) DIRECTED BY DAVID F. SANDBERG. BASED ON THE 2013 SHORT FILM BY DAVID F. SANDBERG. PRODUCED BY JAMES WAN, LAWRENCE GREY AND ERIC HEISSERER. SCREENPLAY BY ERIC HEISSERER.
STARRING TERESA PALMER, GABRIEL BATEMAN, MARIA BELLO, ALEXANDER DIPERSIA, BILLY BURKE, ALICIA VELA-BAILEY AND LOTTA LOSTEN.
REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©
'There's a dead woman in the house, Mom. And you invited her in...'
I must admit, I had a few nightmares after watching this supernatural horror film. It uses a certain type of CGI that always gives me the willies, even though I tend to scoff at it and say that it's not as scary or as effective as the ways- and the scares- of yore. (Isn't 'yore' a great word? I'll never stop using it, no matter how many times they take it out of the dictionary!)
But LIGHTS OUT gave me a few bad moments and one very sleepless night, and I'd now like to pass on some of its rather grim delights to you guys, heh-heh-heh. No reason why I should be the only one suffering the nightmares from hell...!
I like the story behind this hugely successful and well-received horror flick. Back in 2013, the director made a short film, also called LIGHTS OUT, starring his lovely wife Lotta Losten, for a film competition. Although he didn't win the competition, his video went viral. Even I saw it and liked it, and I never watch the stuff everyone else is enthusing over. I'm a terrible snob like that, haha.
Anyway, a major studio picked it up and suddenly David F. Sandberg was directing his first full-length big-budget feature. There's even a sequel planned, which should be fun. Scary good fun...!
I also like the nice cosy domestic setting in which the film is placed. Blonde Rebecca is an extraordinarily beautiful young woman, but she's so terrified of commitment that she's totally wrecking the head of her boyfriend, Bret. His longish hair and hipsterish beard give him a kind of douchebaggy look but he's actually really into this chick and wants to be there for her. Awwwww...! How sweet. On his own head be it, I say. Rebecca's really got some issues.
Rebecca lives apart from her mum Sophie and little step-brother Martin for very good and cromulent (a Simpsons word, but it really, really works in this context!) reasons. But when a frightened Martin comes to Rebecca and tells her that their mentally fragile Mom's been hanging out with a strange friend called 'Diana,' Rebecca realises that she needs to re-connect with her family before something really, really bad happens to her little brother...
'Diana' the entity is terrifying and deeply malevolent. I'm not going to reveal a single solitary word about her back-story or her connection with Sophie's little family but I'm telling you that she's a bonafide ghoul with glowing eyes and lethal claws and she could turn up literally anywhere in the house. Bathroom, bedroom, the creepy basement where you keep the mannequins from your old business, anywhere. You'd better watch out...
The film is full of terrific jump-scares which, scoff as we might, certainly get the job done. We may have learned over the years where to anticipate them and when and whatnot, but it's my humble opinion that we still react to these kinds of shocks on a deeply primal kind of level.
Which is why I went to bed after watching the film thinking, 'yeah, I'm fine,' then lay there petrified in the bed all night feverishly listening out for scratching noises coming from the region of my bedroom door...
It's pretty funny the way the people in the film are safe as long as they can access some sort of light source, however unlikely. Like the way that you can put the willies up Dracula by fashioning a cross out of two bits of twig or a couple of crossed pencils. So, it's just that easy, huh...?
The film reminded me of a few other horror movies you might know. Namely, Guillermo Del Toro's MAMA (2013); Jennifer Kent's THE BABADOOK (2014); horror maestro John Carpenter's THE WARD (2010), which was written by my very good friends Shawn and Michael Rasmussen (we're friends on Facebook, okay? That makes us friends!); and even Pascal Laugier's MARTYRS (2008), that most shocking and disturbing of all horror films.
It also reminds me, rather hilariously, of that brilliant episode of THE SIMPSONS about 'the
screamapillar.' Homer is hiding in Mrs. Bellamy's darkened closet and every time he lights a fresh match, a new horrifying sight is revealed. It's, like, stop lighting the f***ing matches, dude! And, to the people in LIGHTS OUT, leave those f***ing lights alone, you morons...!
But anyway, thankfully it's not our job to tell folks in films what to do to keep themselves safe. It's our job to piss ourselves laughing at 'em when they make every mistake in the horror-movie book. Like wiping the steam off the bathroom mirror when they know full well the ghost/murderer is gonna be reflected there when the mirror's wiped clean.
Like running away from the serial killer through the haunted woods and coming suddenly on an old abandoned house and thinking it would actually be A GOOD F***ING IDEA to hide out in it...!
Like running away from the serial killer through the haunted woods and coming suddenly on an old abandoned house and thinking it would actually be A GOOD F***ING IDEA to hide out in it...!
Like saying 'Don't worry, I'll be right back!' before high-tailing it off to the basement alone to tinker about with the busted fusebox or stepping outside in the dark to find out who or what made that mysterious noise. Even things like turning around too suddenly or sharply can constitute fatal rookie mistakes. Stupid people in horror movies make 'em all the time, lucky for us...!
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY OF SANDRA HARRIS.
Sandra Harris is a Dublin-based novelist, film blogger and movie reviewer. She has studied Creative Writing and Film-Making. She has published a number of e-books on the following topics: horror film reviews, multi-genre film reviews, womens' fiction, erotic fiction, erotic horror fiction and erotic poetry. Several new books are currently in the pipeline. You can browse or buy any of Sandra's books by following the link below straight to her Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B015GDE5RO
You can contact Sandra at:
http://sandrafirstruleoffilmclubharris.wordpress.com
I am always there,
ReplyDeletejust out of your line of view.
I know, you know, I'm there.
You can feel me.
Sometimes you've seen me out of the corner of your eye.
Just a quick glimpse.
That slightly scares you when you look round, and see nothing.
That's the way I like it.
Then theres that bright FLASH, you sometimes see, as the light hits my sharp white teeth.
Oh so sharp.
You've looked in the mirror and seen a quick movement in the reflection behind you as I've dashed back into the shadows.
I'm sure thats made you wonder, was someone there?
I am always there.
Then theres those hairs on your neck that bristle as I come a little too close to you, or on the back of your hand when I blow my cold, oh so cold breath.
That shiver in your spine that you shudder when I place my hand in the small of your black or the creak of the floor when I move my position, so I can see you better.
As you lie in bed tonight look for me.
Perhaps you'll see me standing in the shadows. You might see the white of my sharp teeth as I look down on you, but then again perhaps you'll just see the shadows.
But is one of them mine ?
One day I promise, you will see me face to face as I take you by the hand on that final journey that is just the beginning.
Untill then remember through out the day . Just out of your line of view.
I am watching you