Light Out (2016)

Movies
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Continuing the discussion from 2016 Horror Roundup Thread:

It’s a shame that some movies are getting swallowed up in round-up threads, so I figured I’d split this off into its own discussion (click the chainlink icon and choose “new topic”).

So what to hear something funny? I’ve never even seen the short this is based on. I started watching it when it first come out because I’d heard that it was pretty cool. So I Googled it, and I started watching it. At a certain point, a certain very early point, like after the second time she switches the lights on and off, I’m all, like, “Nope, nope, nope, nope! I’m out of here!” It’s not just that it’s freaky, but I just know there’s going to be a goddamn jump scare with the lights going on and off.

So, yeah, I want to see this movie. But I also don’t want to see this movie.

-Tom

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[quote=“tomchick, post:1, topic:120482”]
It’s a shame that some movies are getting swallowed up in round-up threads, so I figured I’d split this off into its own discussion (click the chainlink icon and choose “new topic”).[/quote]

For my money, I’m intending starting new threads about every horror movie I want to talk about. Which hasn’t been that many (that didn’t already have threads). I guess we sort of did Southbound in the roundup thread. But really the roundup thread should just be for suggestions. Good horror movies require their own discussions! I was going to start a Lights Out thread this weekend since I am pretty sure I am going to see it (if not this weekend, then next, but I doubt there will be a big crowd), but glad you got it started.

I didn’t even know this was based on a short. Which I now refuse to watch, because I may as well go in as blind as possible. This makes me excited. And also already half terrified.

It has fallen off some at RT (56/13 for 81% currently). RT is just a review aggregator sure (but I like that it aggregates to the binary fresh/rotten instead of trying to weigh and average scores), but I find that with certain genres if the fresh/rotten ratio is over certain thresholds it’s probably a quality genre movie. For horror an 81% is an intriguing score as they tend to do a lot worse (with rare exceptions). So my interest for this is pretty high. Especially since if you had described it to me 6 months ago I would have laughed and said “this sounds worse than the Blake Lively shark thing”.

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I JUST did that! And in a fully-lit over-bright July daylight-filled room.
Says I, “Hah! I know when to stop watching this. You’re not gonna get me!”
Waiting for my gf to help me watch the whole thing. With the lights off.

Edit: Pretty good stuff! And the guy has a whole bunch of these shorts, all equally unnerving.
My girlfriend was screaming “helpful” instructions at her (the main character in each short), each instruction of which the director did a great job of anticipating, one way or another.

5

Saw this last weekend (my wife and I try to make it to most horror films in the theater). Unfortunately, I was not a fan. There were good of pieces here - they had some decent performers and a cool concept - but they couldn’t fit them together into something watchable. I mean, it’s not Ouija or Annabelle bad, but I think movies that are disappointing are somehow worse in some hard to explain way. Perhaps it’s because I went in to those movies knowing they’d be terrible, but I went into this one with some hope.

The thing that killed it for me was a complete lack of attention to detail. This is hard to explain, but I’ll try. It’s going to seem petty, but I think it added up to something that just left me disengaged.

SPOILERS AHOY

- The lead lives in an apartment over a tattoo shop, and they try to convince us she’s kind of punk. They make a point of showing it. So, as a viewer, you’re thinking a couple of things: Is she one of the artists? Does she have a bunch of tats? Will the tattoo shop somehow come into play? The answer to the first question remains unknown; we never have any idea at all what this character does with her life. The answer to the next questions is no.

- Speaking of punk girl (and her punk boyfriend, who I actually liked a lot), she’s punk and unsuitable as a mom for the kid because she has a couple of Hot Topic band posters on her walls. Again, I’ve known people like this, you’ve known people like this; sure, they buy some of their posters, but half of them are going to be crumpled because they were stolen from club walls, or taken home from a show, or something. No, these are pristine. Also, she never is seen listening to the music she’s plastered her walls with. Okay, she had a bong, but they never show her partying with anyone else.

- Back to punk boyfriend - early in the movie, he drives the lead over to her mom’s place. In a minivan with the TVs on the back of the headrests. Yes, punk, cool boyfriend has a mom-van. I was so confused. It was so weird. Is it actually his mom’s van? We never find out, but that kind of detail is so weird. It either indicates something about the character we’re never told, or indicates a complete lack of attention to detail on the part of the filmmakers.

There’s a lot of stuff like that in the movie. Like, how was the mom functioning at all between the dad’s death and the start of the film? Even a throwaway line like “She fired the housekeeper the other day” or something would have indicated that things were at least functional at some point recently. None of the characters feel real, the situation feels sudden and contrived, and it all just seems like window dressing so they can explain a five minute story over the course of 80 minutes.

Ah well. Maria Bello was good in this. And some of the scares were … interesting (even if not scary). There was one scene that made the whole theater laugh that I’m pretty sure wasn’t supposed to.

6

This thread is hard to find when the movie’s called Lights Out! :-)

So did many folk get round to watching this?

We watched it last night having seen the short some time ago. I was very wary after the Mama adaptation which felt so bloody long (1h 40mins–the short is a much better use of your time!). Lights Out however, was surprisingly good, pacy and shorter.

I’m terrible with jump scares and while there’s the odd cheap one here, for the most part I think they’re earned due to the format or gimmick of the horror. There’s some really neat sequences and touches and while the laws of the concept don’t make much sense under scrutiny, as a vehicle for scares it really delivers. We found the characters likeable and convincing in their performances and actions (@nijimeijer observations above aside! We didn’t notice these things!) so that helped buy into the moment-to-moment tension. In fact, it’s pretty rare I’m actively rooting for the characters to pull through.

We don’t usually watch alternative endings or deleted scenes but we had a dig into Lights Out’s and while some were interesting to see, the alternative ending should have stayed deleted. Empty Recycle Bin. I’m sooo glad that didn’t become the actual ending. Oof.

Anyway, I’d recommend this for some effective scares. The short is great but I think this was a worthy extension and exploration of the idea.

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I did see it last year some time. I remember feeling somewhat kindly towards it, because it felt like the filmmakers tried hard to bring us a quality horror movie. But I also can’t remember a single thing about it, including the plot or the actors or any of the individual scenes. There’s a blank hole where my memory of Lights Out should go.

I guess that’s my two word review of Lights Out: blank hole.

8

Solid jump scare movie. It was simple but pretty effective with its “gimmick” and like good horror flicks doesn’t overstay it’s welcome.

Only nitpick was the convenient finding of the UV light in the basement but that’s fairly minor.