Just how scary is 'Lights Out?'
David F. Sandberg expands his short film into a feature about a boy menaced by something evil.
- Critic's rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
"Did we wake you?"
There are a lot of scary things in "Lights Out," David F. Sandberg's efficient horror movie: things that go bump in the night, jump scares and angry spirits. But for my money, that tiny little pronoun — "we" — is the scariest.
That's because it is said by a mother to her son, a son who has been menaced by something or someone in his home. Now he believes he and his mother are alone.
He's wrong. And that's scary.
This isn't a spoiler, by the way. One of the odder aspects of "Lights Out" is how little surprise there is to the story. Screenwriter Eric Heisserer, who based the script on Sandberg's terrifically scary short film, is content to let Sandberg ratchet up the tension visually and atmospherically. There is some mystery as to why such odd and disturbing things are happening, but in some ways the film is like an amusement park ride. You see the curves and twists coming, but if you're going fast enough, they're scary anyway.
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"Lights Out" goes fast enough.
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Martin (Gabriel Bateman) lives with his mother, Sophie (Maria Bello), whose status as a single mother is established in the opening scene. But things aren't right, with Sophie or with Martin. He hears things, and when the lights are out he sees a scary looking creature in the dark, framed in shadow. Turn on the lights, and it disappears. Turn them off, and it's there — and probably closer than the last time.
Sophie, meanwhile, is locking herself in her bedroom, in the dark. She has a history of depression, and it's definitely acting up again. Martin is falling asleep at school, and when his mom doesn't come to pick him up, his sister Rebecca (Teresa Palmer) does, along with her boyfriend Bret (Alexander DiPersia), whom she keeps at a distance.
Rebecca hasn't spoken to her mom for a year at least; she's living in downtown Los Angeles. She wants Martin to stay with her, but it's funny how death-metal posters on the wall and a bong on the table will sway social services.
All roads lead back home, where Sophie is only too eager to share with an understandably terrified Martin (and the audience) what is going on.
Again, it's not the why, it's the how: The scares here are in the execution, aided by the acting. Bello is, like always, terrific, adding layers to what seems at first like the stereotypical mentally-ill movie character. She's fighting for something. Palmer, too, adds grit to her would-be iconoclast.
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In truth, the short film is scarier. But "Lights Out" is effective enough to make you want to keep the lights on, too.
Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: twitter.com/goodyk.
Lights Out (2016) | Phoenix Arizona Movie Theater Showtimes Reviews
'Lights Out,' 3.5 stars
Director: David F. Sandberg.
Cast: Teresa Palmer, Gabriel Bateman, Maria Bello, Alexander DiPersia.
Rating: PG-13 for terror throughout, violence including disturbing images, some thematic material and brief drug content.
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