Review of Lights Out (2016) by Brad P — 10 Aug 2016

Horror movies, in my opinion, usually start off with an uphill battle when it comes to critic reviews. Critics are particularly harsh on horror movies, often because the film relies on jump scares, too much CGI or recycled ideas from prior horror films.

Lights Out, in a way, does suffer a bit from those very problems, but it overcomes them by simply doing it better than those films that it borrows from. Mama, a film from Guerrmo Del Toro, is a very similar film, but is far less scary.

This movie benefits greatly by its relatively short run time (81 minutes) and feels fast, tight and focused. It also barely gives us time to relax or breathe, as the scares come fast and never let up from the first 5 minutes into the film.

The dim, dreary locations (mostly Maria Bello's house) are spooky and envelope us in tense atmosphere even when nothing is happening. You want to open a window or turn on several lights in every room, especially the basement.

This movie has been described as a thrill ride, deliberately fast-paced, with lots of action and few chances to relax. The movie takes place over a period of just a few nights and days, and every night something creepy or worse happens.

It reminded me of Poltergeist, not because the films are similar, but because every night you feel like something bad is going to happen, and it usually does. This movie isn't very unique or especially novel or new, but it simply does better what other movies like it have tried to do.

I really enjoyed it in a dark, crowed theater, so I paid to see it twice in consecutive nights.