“Lights out” is what parents are known to say
to their children at bedtime, but in this horror show, the ghost Diana
(Vela-Bailey) is commanding everyone to darken the house so she can come
out. And if they don’t do it, she does it decisively, scarily. The film is gripping and jump-worthy,
with gruesome special effects, eliciting many groans and screams from the
audience.
The back-story is that Rebecca (Palmer) has
left her mother’s house to get away from strange goings-on. Sophie (Bello) has a history of
psychiatric problems, so this doesn’t seem extraordinary. But then, Rebecca is contacted by her
brother’s (Bateman) school after Martin shows signs of something being
wrong. The child welfare
authorities are involved, but Rebecca is reluctant to follow up on the choices
they give her. Not being very
experienced in childcare, she attempts to take Martin under her wing (not a
good time, given her ambivalent relationship with her boyfriend Brad)
(DiPersia), and is a little lame at first until Martin lets her know he is
seeing the same things she did that prompted her to leave home.
Now, of course, this is a horror show, so she
doesn’t contact the police; she attempts to manage the situation on her
own. Brad wants to help, and at
first she pushes him away, as she is wont to do, but eventually accepts his
help. The story continues with the
name ‘Diane’ being carved on the wood floor, a drawing of the family (in which
Diane has inserted herself) being snatched away mysteriously, and doors opening
and closing on their own, usually with a bang.
Lights
Out is well done, with only a few of the characteristics that I inevitably
feel are stupid, like going down into a dark cellar when there’s been a
disturbance, not calling the authorities, not explaining to loved ones what’s
going on, etc. For the most part,
writer/director David F. Sandberg and writer Eric Heisserer sustain the suspense
while keeping the action reasonably plausible and intelligent, all nicely
enhanced by composer Benjamin Wallfisch’s music.
The actors do a fine job, with Teresa Palmer
ably taking on the starring role, showing emotional transitions, shock, and
panic throughout her trials. Child
stars seem to have a naturalness that adults may or may not have, and Gabriel
Bateman is a case example, showing a child who is logical, sensitive, and duly
frightened by the occult. I
especially appreciated the character Brad, Rebecca’s long-suffering boyfriend,
masterfully played by Alexander DiPersia.
Maria Bello is inevitably fine in her performances, and she underplays
nicely a haunted woman whom everyone regards as crazy.
This is a film that genuinely horrifies without
resorting to heavy-handed special effects, which, for me, is scarier in making
it more plausible. Although ghosts
may not necessarily be plausible, enough people believe in them—and they have
some validity in relation to emotional disturbances—that if they are well done,
as here, they can serve as a metaphor for many kinds of human fears.
For me, the most eloquent scene of Lights Out is toward the end: “There’s no me without you.”
Go and be chilled to the bone.
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