Even though the summer blockbuster season overall has been a disappointment, the horror genre has managed to thrive in this time of cinematic upheaval. Releases like The Conjuring 2, Don't Breathe, The Witch and The Shallows (though God knows why) have opened to major critical acclaim while also earning back way more than what their respective budgets should have been entitled to.
Lights Out, helmed by debuting feature director James F Sandberg, continues this trend. The story revolves around Rebecca (Teresa Palmer), whose mother has fallen under the influence of a demonic entity that is now threatening her younger brother Martin (Gabriel Bateman) and the rest of her family. Based on a very popular short film that Sandberg and his wife made a few years back, the film is produced by horror legend James Wan and has, as of this point, made a 130 million dollar profit at the world-wide box-office.
That is a bloody outstanding debut financial performance.
The best part of this film was its gimmick. Essentially this spirit could only be seen or be active in darkened areas and to enter any environment touched by light would cause it physical pain. It is a unique concept that sets rules and limitations on the extent of the (for lack of a better word) antagonist's power and is used effectively to add to the stakes and to create drama throughout the movie. Playing on one of humanity's most instinctive fears (the fear of the dark) may seem like a simple or lazy concept on paper, but the way the concept is executed, with such a graceful yet precise technical style, gives the film its edge and puts it above most films you'll see this year.
Another positive aspect of Lights Out was the performance given by its leading lady Teresa Palmer. You immediately believe Rebecca to be a tough and hardened character, and Palmer personifies this beautifully early on, giving her looks of sheer and unadulterated fear when coming face-to-face with her families tormentor all the more weight. It is a well-written and competent character (her intelligence is an attribute far too commonly missing from protagonists in horror-films) but Palmer brings Rebecca to life in such an organic way that it is impossible not to root for her by the time the film ends. Also (as I suppose would be very much expected) the lighting is brilliant, and the way Sandberg managed to incorporate both natural and artificial light in his shots is technically excellent. The lighting had to be world-class for the concept to work so thank goodness it was. The movie's key themes are however what will have you leaving the theatre thinking about this further, as the whole film serves as one big metaphor for being in an abusive relationship or suffering from depression. Rebecca's mother (played exceptionally by former ER actress Maria Bello) is coerced by the spirit into becoming dependant on her and begins to push those around her away and falls deeper into the rabbit-hole of insanity as the first act progresses. It is not until her daughter reaches out to her with acts of kindness that the mother is able to begin to disperse herself from the demon and, while the arc may end in tragedy, it is a lesson to be learned of how we should treat people who are enduring personal suffering in their own lives. The film teaches us not to let them push us away but to reach out a hand and help them conquer their demons before it's too late, which is a surprisingly tender concept to be tackled by a horror flick.
The only thing that really holds this back from getting a higher rating is its fright factor. It's not as scary as The Conjuring 2, and it also doesn't really do anything too different cinematically that's going to change the genre in the years to come in the way that say The Blair Witch Project did in the late-90s. In saying that, it is very good and offers more than a conventional horror-movie. Lights Out is a film with substance and one that I would definitely watch again.
Score: 8.1/10
No comments:
Post a Comment