"Ghosts Don't Exist..."
Although horror films of the 21st century that tend to lean more on the side of the theory that if its' dark and loud, people will find it inherently spooky, tend to be movies that are less inclined to be remembered as masterpieces of the genre, David F. Sandberg's Lights Out, the latest James Wan inflicted horror based upon the short film of the same name written and directed by Sandberg himself back in 2013, doesn't exactly break the mould of bang-average horror re-hashes, but it is most definitely one of the better additions to the genre in the past few years. Although Lights Out is yet another case of a horror movie that includes cliches galore and noticeable riffs from previous horror ventures, the film does manage to at least get the job done in the most effective time possible, swaying away from being dragged out long enough to delve into its' rather questionable plot devices whilst effectively playing out in the correct, logical fashion during its' final act.
Where the films' strengths inherently lie is the age-old idea that darkness is indeed not man's best friend, with the danger and ambiguity it brings being personified by the embodiment of Diana, a malevolent spirit latched onto the broken mind of Sophie (Maria Bello) whose children become the target of Diana's unstable nastiness. Although the film isn't exactly terrifying, the sense of threat that Diana brings with her every time she is on screen in the first hour or so is indeed quite startling. Of course, the fundamental notion of monsters in the dark isn't exactly original either, with films such as Darkness Falls and The Woman In Black coming to the forefront of my mind, yet before the big revelation of Diana within the films' dodgy final act, her presence alone was enough to be worthy of admission. Not groundbreaking, but surprisingly solid, Lights Out is popcorn-ridden horror from start to finish.
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