Review of Lights Out (2016) by Joseph D — 21 Aug 2016

So much for not being scared of the dark.

Lights Out.

They took a 3 minuet & 45 second horror short, added more cast, some backstory, & stretched it to a 1 hour & 30 minuet run time; sounds like a lame cash grab, not worth a proper horror fans' time, right? Honestly, it was better than I expected.

The plot is the same as the short: there's a ghost-monster-thing, it kills people, & it only manifests in shadow, any light shined on it makes it vanish. The added backstory is kind of weak, but passable. You investigate the entity along with the characters, finding out a little at a time, & everything builds to a surprising end I didn't see coming, despite a pretty big clue drop shortly before. The atmosphere was consistently one of unease & dread, even during the day. The jump-scares weren't excessive, the terror came from not knowing when or where she'll strike. It was very effective.

The characters all did well, they felt like a real troubled family, I found myself worrying about each of them in a different way, especially the boyfriend character, whom I really liked. The ghost-monster-thing, was very well done, it seemed like she was almost totally practical, with the only CG effect being a seamless vanish & return, & damage when they figure out her weakness.

3 out of 5 stars. It was good; not great, but not terrible. If the ghosts in Ghostbusters (2016) were more like the one in Lights Out, it woulda made the film 10 times better! I ain't afraid of no light-sensitive ghost, but I did like her movie.