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Lights Out (2016) - David F. Sandberg



Lights Out is a terrifying feature for a movie that was rated PG-13. You know how I feel about these stupid ratings. If you don't, I hate them. However, this movie seemed to do something that most of these other movies just don't do. It worked. It was a feature that frightened and creeped. It's the kind of PG-13 horror movie that I can get behind. A harken back to the eighties when that damn rating meant almost nothing.

Poor Martin has a psychotic mother that can talk with ghosts. Well, one really freaky ghost that is only visible in the dark. Her name is Diana. Martin ends up getting picked up by Child Protective Services and then his Sister. After some convincing that an entity named Diana has returned, Martin, his sister and her boyfriend decide to confront the mother and her friend Diana. This of course has some disastrous results.

I am not afraid of the dark. But sometimes you get that feeling. That horrible feeling that something bad is lurking. This movie captures that feeling perfectly and mixes it well with jump scares in a way that works well but becomes rather gimmicky. Its a good thing it's a great gimmick.

This is a pretty decent feature that tries too hard with the material it has. It's good for a date night feature as it has almost no gore. It plays up the suspense through the visual aspect. It's a very dark movie and that means the ghost is right at home.

Director: David F. Sandberg
Producer: James Wan, Lawrence Grey and Eric Heisserer
Starring: Teresa Palmer, Gabriel Bateman, Alexander DiPersia. and Maria Bello
Studio: New Line Cinema, RatPac-Dune Entertainment and Atomic Monster Productions
Release Date: June 8, 2016
Country: United States
Did ya Know: The feature film debut of David F. Sandberg. He decided to expand his original short film Lights Out (2013) into a feature film after it garnered very positive reception on the internet.


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