Lights Out (2016)
Directed by David F. Sandberg
Rebecca must unlock the terror behind her little brother's experiences that once tested her sanity, bringing her face to face with a supernatural spirit attached to their mother.
28 connections found
View:
28 films that influenced Lights Out
What critics say influenced Lights Out
David F Sandberg’s feature debut is not in the same class as recent hits such as It Follows or The Babadook (a film Lights Out superficially resembles), but this is a very economic piece of work that gets just enough mileage out of its key high concept.
The mother-son set-up might recall “The Babadook,” a recent exercise in horror.
It’s a concept that has been brought to the screen before - in films that range from Forbidden Planet to The Babadook - and it’s going to remain a potent one for many years to come.
Much like The Babadook or It Folllows, Diana represents a lot more than what is on screen, but those films established those themes more gracefully.
“Lights Out” reminds me of two other even better horror movies from the last year or so: “The Babadook” and “It Follows.”
In a similar style to Jennifer Kent's The Babadook , Heisserer turns the monster into a metaphor for mental health issues.
There’s a pointed difference in tone between the no-frills, ingenuity-driven scares that make expert use of light (and lack thereof) to give a fright and some flashier scenes reminiscent of producer James Wan’s cheesier Saw, Annabelle and Insidious movies.
Now, courtesy of producer James Wan (Saw, The Conjuring), Sandberg and his screenwriter, Eric Heisserer, have the difficult task of extending three minutes into 81 without exhausting a smart concept or losing the snap of a compact “Boo!”
If nothing else, Lights Out is a fairy tale Hollywood success story for Swedish director David F. Sandberg, whose unnerving, online shorts caught the attention of contemporary horror mogul James Wan (the Saw movies, the Insidious movies, the Conjuring movies, all future horror movies, and – most horrific of all – the upcoming Aquaman movie).
Horror auteur James Wan, who launched a horror resurgence in the mid '00s with the low-budget "Saw," and tells his own ghost stories with "The Conjuring" films, lends his stamp of approval to the film as a producer.
It’s telling that one of the movie’s producers is the prolific genre maestro James Wan, who, since making his own twisted directing debut with the original “Saw” (2004), has become a reliable studio franchise player with a certain specialty in haunted-house movies.
Sandberg had experienced Hollywood horror producers including James Wan (director of Saw from his own low-budget prototype) to help, as he set foot on a set for the first time.
David F Sandberg’s feature debut is not in the same class as recent hits such as It Follows or The Babadook (a film Lights Out superficially resembles), but this is a very economic piece of work that gets just enough mileage out of its key high concept.
“Lights Out” reminds me of two other even better horror movies from the last year or so: “The Babadook” and “It Follows.”
“Lights Out” deserves to be considered in the company of such recent horror standouts as “It Follows,” “The Babadook,” “Goodnight Mommy” and “The Witch.”
None strike out for new genre territory, as poetic outliers such as It Follows and The Witch have.
The quality of the acting and writing puts the film on a level with last year’s It Follows where it feels there’s a strong vision at work behind the camera.
Como el acecho de un desconocido ser tras un encuentro sexual en Está detrás de ti (It Follows, 2015) .
Now, courtesy of producer James Wan (Saw, The Conjuring), Sandberg and his screenwriter, Eric Heisserer, have the difficult task of extending three minutes into 81 without exhausting a smart concept or losing the snap of a compact “Boo!”
Produced by horror impresario James Wan of “ The Conjuring ” as an expansion of Sandberg’s acclaimed, less-than-three-minute-long 2013 short , “Lights Out” sounds, on paper, fairly preposterous: A rebellious young woman and her dutiful little brother (Teresa Palmer and Gabriel Bateman) are terrorized by a woman — who may be dead, supernatural, metaphorical or some combination of all three.
The monster looks like the demon from the first Insidious; the jump scares match The Conjuring in structure (quiet, quiet, quiet, LOUD PIANO CHORD, SCARY THING VERY CLOSE TO THE CAMERA) and like The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2 – both of which have done massive box office – its main focus is on female characters.
In a disappointing summer for films, halogen horror Lights Out looked like it could be movie heaven sent - cool title, strong word of mouth and fan favourite James Wan (The Conjuring, Insidious) among the producers.
Directed by David Sandberg from an idea introduced in a previous short film of his and produced by James Wan (“The Conjuring,” “Insidious”), the horror movie opening Friday takes a common fear and fleshes out a simple idea for full-blown scares.
Horror auteur James Wan, who launched a horror resurgence in the mid '00s with the low-budget "Saw," and tells his own ghost stories with "The Conjuring" films, lends his stamp of approval to the film as a producer.
Advertisement
There’s a pointed difference in tone between the no-frills, ingenuity-driven scares that make expert use of light (and lack thereof) to give a fright and some flashier scenes reminiscent of producer James Wan’s cheesier Saw, Annabelle and Insidious movies.
The monster looks like the demon from the first Insidious; the jump scares match The Conjuring in structure (quiet, quiet, quiet, LOUD PIANO CHORD, SCARY THING VERY CLOSE TO THE CAMERA) and like The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2 – both of which have done massive box office – its main focus is on female characters.
If nothing else, Lights Out is a fairy tale Hollywood success story for Swedish director David F. Sandberg, whose unnerving, online shorts caught the attention of contemporary horror mogul James Wan (the Saw movies, the Insidious movies, the Conjuring movies, all future horror movies, and – most horrific of all – the upcoming Aquaman movie).
In a disappointing summer for films, halogen horror Lights Out looked like it could be movie heaven sent - cool title, strong word of mouth and fan favourite James Wan (The Conjuring, Insidious) among the producers.
David F. Sandberg, remaking his own short film and working under horror impresario producer James Wan (“Insidious”) sets up the terror, the monster and the dilemma — nobody believes them — nicely.
Directed by David Sandberg from an idea introduced in a previous short film of his and produced by James Wan (“The Conjuring,” “Insidious”), the horror movie opening Friday takes a common fear and fleshes out a simple idea for full-blown scares.
“Lights Out” has been made with a certain degree of style—enough to make you want to see what Sandberg might be capable of with a better screenplay—and it does contain one great moment that pays sly homage to the most famous moment from the classic thriller “ Wait Until Dark .”
Cribbing heavily from both The Ring and Cronenberg’s The Brood, Lights Out’s set-up focuses on a mentally disturbed mother (Maria Bello) with a distressing habit of carrying on extended conversations with a dead childhood friend.
It’s a concept that has been brought to the screen before - in films that range from Forbidden Planet to The Babadook - and it’s going to remain a potent one for many years to come.
Advertisement
Vuelvan a ver Fantasia o Alice in Wonderland (1951), por sólo citar dos ejemplos clásicos de Disney, y verán que la falta de explicaciones y la ausencia de razón pueden ser cosas terroríficas… incluso entre canciones sobre escobas y flores.
Tomando pautas de Linda Blair en The Exorcist , ojos en blanco que miran fijamente y una sonrisa de disfrute sádico, esta criatura es verdadero material de pesadillas.