Lights Out (2016)

It seems that horror films today feel they need one unique gimmick to stand out from the scores of slasher and ghost flicks to really make an impact and draw interest. Paranormal Activity (2007) did this fairly well with a stationary camera watching a couple sleeping, except when something spooky happened like a blanket moving or door creaking; Saw (2004) brought horror-torture to the mainstream, the first a fairly straightforward thriller, the rest showcases of escalating gruesomeness.

Lights Out, directing by first-timer David F. Sandberg, based on a short film he made with Lotta Losten, has one ingeniously chilling effect that it succeeds in not over-doing throughout its brisk 81-minute runtime: when the lights goes out, a shadow materializes, and when the lights go on, the shadow is gone.

The initial visual was a great sell in the trailer, but sadly the movie dispenses with the best shot early, as a factory worker sees the ghoulish specter as she leaves, flipping the lights on and off revealing and disappearing the shadow, in a set-up that is both comedic and frightening. And after that, the movie really has nowhere to go from there.

Opening with the murder of Rebecca's (Teresa Palmer) dad (Billy Burke) at the hands of the photophobic ghoul, the film sets about with a fairly routine story; the main girl, who is relationship-adverse to her otherwise charming and committed beau, Bret (Alexander DiPersia); the child (Gabriel Bateman) who knows something is wrong yet is not believed by adults; and the crazy mother (Maria Bello) who is harboring a secret.

There's nothing bad about the movie, and the scares are rather well done, if they conform to the usual routine of being very loud to startle you. Fighting a ghost adverse to light can seem like a silly task when you just leave the lights on, but of course the ghost seems to be able to cut power to a whole house so that tension can mount.

And the performers are all around pretty good. Maria Bello is a welcome sight, and is a strong addition to the cast. The direction is fine, as Mr. Palmer has been assigned to direct the forthcoming Annabelle 2, part of a spin-off The Conjuring series. Maybe he can envision more ingenious images that illicit fright, as he does so well with the initial shots of this film.

But the movie could have benefited from a little Jaws style horror, where the ghost isn't "seen" (although it never really is) until later in the movie. And the reason behind who-and-what this ghost is is a little disappointing. I understand too much ambiguity can be frustrating and lazy, but too much clarification balances the scales in the other direction. I don't mind the ghost has a backstory, but it's so definitive and finite that it takes away some of the scares. We know Freddy's backstory in A Nightmare in Elm Street, but we're never sure why he is in people's dreams (at least in the initial film).

Overall, as far as horror films go, you could do a lot worse. This one is short on gore, but the tension is real, and for a hot summer day, it's a fun respite from the heat.