Lights Out Review

PG13: Terror Throughout, Violence Including Disturbing Images, Some Thematic Material and Brief Drug Content

Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema

1 hr and 21 Minutes

Cast: Teresa Palmer, Gabriel Bateman, Alicia Vela-Bailey, with Alexander DiPersia, and Maria Bello

When a bloodthirsty supernatural being that lurks in the shadows preys upon a family, a young woman must fight to protect herself, save her little half-brother, and uncover a mystery about her family's shadowy past.

REVIEW: I hate it when movies are made entirely from a small short film. Remember what happened to Pixels last year? The guy who created the short had nothing to do with the feature film itself. When Hollywood gets their hands on a short they do nothing but make a longer and tedious version of wait you let the short film director of short film direct this? Hey this actually pretty good.

THE GOOD: With this being a small 2 minute short that was impressively filmed, you would guess there wasn’t much to expect with this film. You guessed wrong. Lights Out has to be the most perfect PG13 horror film since Insidious. With the film you have a really tight story about being afraid of the dark and it is presented in a terrifying and rather humorous way. There are a lot of genuinely funny moments that goes with the tone of the film, but when it needs to get serious it does. 

One of the benefits of this film is that it is extremely short. That means there are no moments the film drags at all. Even you think there is a moment you say “this su-” Boom! Jump scare and then the movie ends. There is a brilliant beginning, a strong middle, and a terrifying end.

Another thing that makes this movie great is the characters. Though it is a short film you get enough time to get to know the leads being Rebecca (Palmer), Martin (Bateman), and to an extent Rebecca’s boyfriend Bret (DiPersia). There is a sequence where you’re screaming out for her boyfriend not to die, because even he is a good character. The entire cast’s performances are great especially from Teresa Palmer. She’s like her character from Warm Bodies but more strong and caring on the inside than you see from the outside.

THE BAD: Though the film has a tight script, there comes a point you think the way to have a solution with the problem with Diana. When the film concludes it takes the easy way out which makes the film depressing in the end when you clearly see another way for Diana to die.

LAST STATEMENT: Just like 2016’s earlier Hardcore Henry yet even much tighter, Lights Out brings a inspirational short film and expands the story to a creative and rather frightening full feature experience for all audiences.

Rating: 4.5/5 | 92%

Super Scene: Short Recreation in the intro.