Directed by:
David F. SandbergScreenplay:
Eric HeissererCinematography:
Marc SpicerComposer:
Benjamin WallfischCast:
Teresa Palmer, Maria Bello, Billy Burke, Alexander DiPersia, Emily Alyn Lind, Alicia Vela-Bailey, Gabriel Bateman, Lotta Losten, Andi Osho, Rolando Boyce (more)Plots(1)
When Rebecca left home, she thought she left her childhood fears behind. Growing up, she was never really sure of what was and wasn't real when the lights went out...and now her little brother, Martin, is experiencing the same unexplained and terrifying events that had once tested her sanity and threatened her safety. A frightening entity with a mysterious attachment to their mother, Sophie, has reemerged. But this time, as Rebecca gets closer to unlocking the truth, there is no denying that all their lives are in danger...once the lights go out. (Warner Bros. US)
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Reviews (9)
It’s a shame that this movie follows the genre template too closely, working with overused clichés, and has the runtime
of a Leslie Nielsen comedy. And it’s too bad that the characters are underdeveloped. The monster Diane has much
greater potential, as she is scarier than anything from James Wan’s masterpieces. The scenes with her escalate from
continuous goose bumps to a very intense climax.
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I can’t ask more from mainstream horror. A very simple plot that doesn’t waste much time and goes straight to what matters, scaring. The idea originally used in Sandberg’s short is varied again and again, and it still works. The ghost or monster is hidden in the dark for most of the time, but even when you can see more of it by the end, it doesn’t lose much of its horror. The “friend’s” ghost backstory that I dreaded in the trailer is delivered elegantly and it actually sounds a little disturbing. But what sets this film above its mainstream competition are the characters and their relationships. Everyone is nice or at least you can understand their behaviour. But, most importantly, they aren’t one-dimensional figures devoid of personality and, already from the beginning, the film works with relationships that are not totally banal. I won’t say that it delivers some nuanced psychological picture, but it still goes a lot further than the overrated Conjuring. Although Lights Out is basically an intimate horror movie, for me it’s better than Wan’s bigger works. The characters are under a real threat. Technically it is comparable to the premier league. It’s unlikely to be the best of the year (that one already appears regularly in indie waters), but it’s certainly the best mainstream horror flick in recent years. I will gladly watch it again. 9/10
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It seems that simplicity holds power, and that's why the creators of the film chose to take the straightforward path. The story about something lurking in the darkness, whether seen or unseen in the first scene, is harsh, eerie, and unsettling. Yes, it truly seems deceptively simple at first glance, but the creators managed to frighten the audience, and I commend them for that.
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As a small-scale film, this movie is quite fine. What’s also fine however is how the director took the original idea, which had been made into a short film, and managed to turn it into a feature film. It’s nothing complicated, but it works. It’s not silly at all. People behave the way real people do rather than behaving like rubber figurines on paper. So, all in all? A pleasant horror movie surprise – it won’t offend you and while it won’t make you excited either, it gets the mission fulfilled with a full number of survivors.
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Already running out of funny ideas for how to describe these boogeyman in da house horror movies for a first date. At the very least, the darkness-addicted villain theme could have made for an interesting filmmaking challenge, where you could have played an action game with the protagonists with cones of light in the style of PC games like Alan Wake, which the lazy filmmakers probably didn't feel like doing, so they repeat the one trick of approaching evil in a flickering environment. It would have been cool to see how Buster Keaton would have handled a similar plot.
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