Looking for a spooky fun horror movie to watch? Well, Lights Out fits the bill.
My favorite thing to do when watching horror movies now is not knowing a single thing about them. No trailers, no reviews, no synopsis. While it becomes difficult to decide what to watch when you do that, often the result is a movie experience like no other. Our most recent success story is probably going into The Invitation blind. It ended up taking top spots on me and Brian’s best of the year list so far. There was a surprising buzz behind Lights Out. The buzz felt like the kind that an indie horror would get even though it was distributed by Lights Out. That’s why when Brian and I heard about it, we were instantly intrigued.
When the movie started and the opening beats began Brian turned to me and said “it’s starting already. I’m not ready for this.” That’s because had an eerie mix of dark and brooding atmosphere and these well-executed jump scares that instantly put you on edge. I had a heard time keeping my hands away from my face, which is a lot more impressive considering we were watching in a dine-in theater and I could have been eating my Philly flatbread.
The opener does what every good horror opener should do and that makes you ask “what the hell is going on?” It Follows’ opening scene does this perfectly and so does the one in Lights Out. I’ll leave you to be freaked out by this one.
I think that it’s pretty safe to give a vague synopsis of this movie because unlike The Invitation it isn’t integral to the plot. We are introduced to Rebecca (Teresa Palmer), a seemingly normal angst-filled punk millennial with commitment issues. While this sounds like the making for that horror movie character that you hope dies first, the movie provides enough depth to make her more relatable than anything.
Her mother suffers from a mental illness that seems like manic depression, which gives Maria Bello some really great material to work with. Rebecca resents her mother for not being there for her during her childhood. In reaction to this, she runs away, which is a theme that is revisited often throughout the film. Her kind-of boyfriend Bret (Alexander DiPersia) even says in one of the film’s stronger character moments: “Are you doing this to help him or hurt her?”
That story arc is what carries this film past its jump scares and classic horror movie formula to actually make it kind of compelling. That being said, there are some really effective scares in the movie that make it for an incredibly good time at the movies.
The movie presents some interesting rules. Their mother has an “imaginary friend” who she only talks to in the dark. This causes Martin (Gabriel Bateman), Rebecca’s little brother who still lives with his mother, insomnia. However, this friend ends up not being so imaginary and is willing to do anything to stay “friends” with their mother. The catch? It can’t be seen and has no power in light.
The movie sets the rules and sticks to them and even presents more rules that raise the stakes. Narratively there is no separation between the character drama and the supernatural elements. They’re one in the same. It makes the movie go by so fast and prevents it from being clunky like other horror flicks that try to alternate between the two.
I say this a lot about movies but Lights Out doesn’t try to reinvent the horror movie. It uses some good old fashioned jump scares and a tense atmosphere to make a really effective scary movie. One of my favorite moments of the movie comes at the beginning when a character turns off the lights in a room and sees the monster then turns it back on to just have it disappear, then turns the lights back off to see it again, and does it again, and again until… well, you’ll just have to find out. Lights Out is good fun that makes for a perfect late night popcorn flick. 7/10
Lights Out is available on DVD, Blu-Ray, and digital on Amazon!
Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.