Lights Out is the latest horror film to release in the cinemas and being only a few weeks now since The Conjuring 2, horror fans are lucky to have another film to go and see this week. Lights Out plays on the concept of some monster/ghost that only appears in the dark. Turn off your lights and it might just get you!
Lights Out has got some nice scares in there and I have to say one of them made me jump in my seat at one point and that’s always what I love about watching horror films in the cinema. But is it worth a watch this weekend?
I would say it is worth a watch. As horror films go, the story is pretty much just average. You have a crazy mother who sees a ghost in the dark and that same ghost terrorises the family who lives in that home. We’ve seen this type of thing before, but that’s not to say it isn’t good. This film is really one of these popcorn films you see on the weekend. It’s fun to watch, it’s got some nice scares in there for you to see and a story to get you through to the end. It’s a good time, similar to how the recent Ghostbusters film was, it’s fun but not magnificent and not something you’d watch over and over and want to add to your film collections, it’s just good for a first time watch only.
Actors are okay in this one. The best of the bunch of them is Teresa Palmer who does quite well with her role, she plays the central character in the film and has a lot to do. The rest of the actors seem to me to be forgettable. Most of their characters could have been killed throughout the film and I would not have cared that much really. Young Gabriel Bateman who plays Martin was quite good though as the kid who’s always really scared of the ghost in the dark. But there wasn’t anything really special about the acting for me to shine a light on at all.
Director David F. Sandberg who has only ever directed short films before Lights Out did well really. All the jump scares are pretty good, the ghost in the dark is pretty scary and the tone and feel of the film was decent. The only real issue Lights Out has is with the script which is really very average, it’s a thing that happens with most horror films, they seem to be more about the scares than the actual story. As a whole experience, it’s not too bad.
Overall Lights Out is certainly worth watching if you’re in the mood for a horror film this weekend. It may not necessarily be something that you’re going to want to watch over and over again or maybe even add to your movie collection. But it’s certainly a fun popcorn horror film experience with some decent scares. The only thing is that the characters aren’t that great and the story is fairly generic, but hey, it was still a bit of fun.
