Lights Out

It seems that simplicity holds power, and that's why the creators of the film chose to take the straightforward path. The story about something lurking in the darkness, whether seen or unseen in the first scene, is harsh, eerie, and unsettling. Yes, it truly seems deceptively simple at first glance, but the creators managed to frighten the audience, and I commend them for that. (2017-01-26)

It’s a shame that this movie follows the genre template too closely, working with overused clichés, and has the runtime of a Leslie Nielsen comedy. And it’s too bad that the characters are underdeveloped. The monster Diane has much greater potential, as she is scarier than anything from James Wan’s masterpieces. The scenes with her escalate from continuous goose bumps to a very intense climax. (2016-08-09)

Already running out of funny ideas for how to describe these boogeyman in da house horror movies for a first date. At the very least, the darkness-addicted villain theme could have made for an interesting filmmaking challenge, where you could have played an action game with the protagonists with cones of light in the style of PC games like Alan Wake, which the lazy filmmakers probably didn't feel like doing, so they repeat the one trick of approaching evil in a flickering environment. It would have been cool to see how Buster Keaton would have handled a similar plot. (2016-11-09)

A mediocre horror film that doesn't come up with anything new. All the scenes felt vaguely familiar. The one that irritated me the most was the scene where Diana first appeared. If the woman who saw her had flicked the switch a few more times, I would have gladly disposed of her myself. Diana seemed like a fusion of the creature from The Ring, Freddie Krueger, and Edward Scissorhands. The plot was predictable. Instead of building up an atmosphere, the filmmakers concentrated on a constant supply of scares, but at least I got to wrap my Christmas presents in advance. I’m afraid I’ve seen far worse horror movies. What I consider a plus is that it managed to go without brutally murdering 6 to 8 high school/college students. (2016-11-17)

I wouldn't hold out much hope that Lights Out will defend the top spot in horror this year. The trailer struck me as a bit underwhelming, but the film itself is one of the best we've seen in cinemas in the last few years (not counting The Conjuring). David F. Sandberg sets a relentless pace from the opening minutes and rolls out one scare after another, you only have a maximum of 5 minutes to breathe, which is great; the last film to sech such a pace was Drag me to Hell. The idea is very functional, whenever it's dark danger is near, you are worried about all the characters, because their lives are really on the line, and the ghost, even though it's mostly in the dark, is scary, makes disturbing noises, and most importantly is on the scene very often. On the plus side, the half-hour finale with an unexpected twist makes Lights Out an intense 80-minute spectacle that should appeal to anyone who is at least a little bit at home with horror. The Conjuring gives a better impression in terms of story, visuals and setting, whereas Lights Out relies only on scares and it worked. Story 6/10, Atmosphere 9/10, Gore 4/10, Visuals 7/10, Action 8/10, Suspense 9/10, Humour 3/10. Entertainment 8/10, Scares 9/10. 85%. (2016-07-22)