BREAKING IN

Gabrielle Union     Billy Burke     Richard Cabral     Ajiona Alexus     

Levi Meaden     Mark Furze     Jason George     Seth Karr

     Picture a large house out in the woods with acreage around it.  That’s where Shaun (Union) grew up, and now that her father has died (they have been estranged, so she hasn’t been home in years), she is responsible for selling it.  Neither she nor her two kids are happy about giving up a weekend at home, and when they arrive at the house, it’s a bit creepy with its electronic gadgets and high tech security system (alarms, cameras, lights—all connected to a monitoring station.  You would think they would get a feeling of safety—which was the idea of having it installed—but the house is a bit creaky, and son Glover’s (Karr) association to it is one of loneliness.  His sister Jasmine (Alexus) is relieved that she has cell phone service “way out here.”

     Shaun is trying to adjust to feelings brought up by her childhood home, and just wants to get everything settled and get back to husband and hearth.  

     Intruders weren’t on the agenda, of course, but soon after the family arrives, there they are.  The first one, Eddie (Burke) moves stealthily and comes upon the kids, then goes out to the patio looking for their mother.  What follows is a cats and mice game in and out of the house with harrowing twists and turns.  The rewarding part, of course, is the fact that the mother is not your stereotypical “mom”; Shaun is clearly up to the crime team in wits and daring.  And although the film publicity plays up the mom-doing-everything-to-protect-her-young, I think winning—along with morality—is built into her character.  She will do what she does primarily to protect her children, but it goes farther than that into assuring that justice will be done.

     Gabrielle Union is stunning in the role, including fitness that allows her to jump across fences, run into the woods with agility, and be a worthy opponent in a physical fight.  She is good as well in her role as mom and wife, but with a past that weighs her down from time to time.  This event is only one instance of that.

     I think the four “bad guys” roles are well cast with a leader (Meaden) trying to contain his crew, especially Duncan (Cabral), the most deranged, and Peter (Furze), the most bothered by limits that have been crossed.  Eddie (Burke), with a critical role in the operation, has been missing most of the time, thanks to an encounter in the woods with Shaun.

     Breaking In is well written by Ryan Engle and directed by James McTeigue.  Their characters are plausible and behave in ways that are within the realm of believability.  The scare factor is maintained pretty much throughout, in a what’s-going-to-happen-next mode.  I spotted just a few times when credulity was strained, i.e., when Shaun was talking to her daughter in loud whispers that the bad guys were sure to hear, and when she didn’t take the children and run when it looked like she could have. 

Otherwise, for a horror film, I was moved and carried along by the drama.

This film will thrill you and chill you in its play on electronically “safe” houses.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

LIGHTS OUT

Teresa Palmer   Gabriel Bateman   Maria Bello   Alicia Vela-Bailey   Alexander DiPersia   Billy Burke

          “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.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland