Review of Lights Out (2016) by Mark W — 20 Aug 2016

Lights Out is a tiresome mix of dusty horror tropes and influences, that can never quite muster up an identity of its own. The film jumps from predictable jump scare set ups to equally uninspired quieter moments setting up the limp spooks backstory.

The cast, especially Maria Bello, bring surprisingly confident performances, but it all falls apart when the actual story is concerned. Director David Sandberg may be a big fish on Youtube, where the concept for this film originates from, but given the stakes involved with a major feature, he fails to make a real mark here, providing only rudimentary film making without a sense of style or sophistication.

Ultimately, the film feels more like a product than an effective horror story, a workmanlike demonstration of crowd pleasing jumps rather than something that can truly get under your skin, like a paint by numbers of horror movie making.