HORROR YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: LIGHTS OUT (2016)

LIGHTS OUT (2016)

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Lights Out is based on the same name spooky 2013 short film by it’s director David F. Sandberg, expanded to feature film length by writer and producer Eric Heisserer. It tells the story of a women named Sophie (Maria Bello) who has a history of emotional problems that has her now talking to what her daughter, Rebecca (Teresa Palmer) and son Martin (Gabriel Bateman) first think is an imaginary person. Soon, though, a malevolent entity starts to appear with harmful intent towards both Paul and Rebbeca. As they investigate this malicious presence, they find that “Diana” was once quite real and despite having a skin condition that made her allergic to sunlight, she had a reputation for being pure evil and was feared by those around her. She was also institutionalized as a girl at the same time as their mother and Sophie was her only friend till she died. Has Diana returned from the grave to bring grievous harm to anyone who stands between her and reuniting with Sophie, including Sophie’s own children?

While far from a masterpiece, Sandberg actually delivers a fairly effective and spooky little movie with some legitimately creepy sequences beyond the plethora of jump scares. For the most part he gives Diana (Alicia Vela-Bailey) a presence of malice and this helps make her a threat whenever the lights go out…and they often do. As she was allergic to the sun in life, Diana now cannot stand light, which gives Sandberg many opportunities to keep us looking nervously in dark corners and being wary when power outages occur or flashlights grow dim. And for the most part, he has a good time with it. There are a few silly moments too and there are far more jump scares than outright chills, but it’s entertaining enough and works more than it doesn’t. The PG-13 rating keeps things from getting too gruesome, but there is some violence and the film has an intense last act to keep us in our seats. Sandberg shows he might have some potential and we’ll have to wait to see if he can scare us beyond his original short concept and it’s feature film expansion.

The cast also helps make this work by presenting very likable characters. Palmer, already a prolifically working actress at 30, is a strong-willed and very endearing heroine. Rebecca comes across as a bit selfish at first, but her feelings toward her family come though as she takes on this vicious specter to save her mother and little brother. Gabriel Bateman is very likable as the young Paul. He is a brave little boy who loves and sticks by his mom despite her illness and is ready to fight along with his big sister. Maria Bello is sympathetic as the mentally troubled mother, Sophie. She knows she isn’t well and that she is under Diana’s influence and Bello portrays her conflict and emotional pain well. Rounding out is Alexander DiPersia as Rebecca’s boyfriend, Bret, who is caught in the middle of the paranormal drama. Another likable edition to the cast of characters. The film’s spooky opening scene features an appearance by Lotta Losten, who was the star of Sandberg’s original Light’s Out short. (Which is posted below the trailer.)

As said, this is not a great film by any stretch, but is an effective and sometimes spooky little flick that knows how to manipulate us with it’s plot elements. It is a bit formula, but director Sandberg shows some potential and keeps us creeped out enough to forgive him when he falls back on familiar tropes and jump scares. A good cast helps him along and makes this a fun flick for a night on the couch…with the lights out, of course.

-MonsterZero NJ

3 light switches.

 

 

 

 

 

BONUS VIDEO: Here is both the trailer and the original short on which the film is based…

 

HORROR YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: DEMONIC (2015)

DEMONIC (2015)

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Demonic is a supernatural thriller produced by James (The Conjuring) Wan and set in an abandoned house were a grisly massacre took place. In 1988 Martha Livingston had a group of friends over for a seance, which ended in her murdering all but one of them before killing herself. It was believed to be part of some satanic ceremony and the house has been empty since. The film opens with detective Mark Lewis (Frank Grillo) discovering the bodies of a paranormal investigation team inside the house with one, John (Dustin Milligan), still alive and two others missing. Now, along with police psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Klein (Maria Bello) the detective must try to pice together what happened, who did this and where the missing team members are.

Flick is written by director Will Canon along with Doug Simon and Max La Bella and moves back and forth between days earlier and present time to piece together what happened. It follows the paranormal team as they enter the house and start to discover something is not right there, to Lewis and Klein trying to get answers out of the dazed and confused John and from the evidence collected by the team. While the film is never particularly scary or offers anything we haven’t seen before, Canon does direct competently and the police investigation angle works well enough. The film really loses it’s grip in the last act, though, where it goes a little overboard and gets a bit silly and very cliché. The more subtle approach was working better and when the film goes all The Omen, it induces eye rolling instead of goosebumps. The flick did have some spooky moments and the house setting is creepy, but Canon and company opt for a more outlandish wrap-up and one we have seen countless times before. Too bad, as the film is somewhat entertaining till then and on a production level, it’s well made.

The cast is a mixed bag. Frank Grillo is strong as Det. Lewis and he is one of the reasons the film is as enjoyable as it is. He is a veteran detective faced with something out of his element in terms of the occult and supernatural and he is trying to make sense of a very unusual crime. Grillo creates a very likable character and conveys his frustration well. Bello is also strong as Dr. Klein. She is trying to get answers out of John through psychological means and the answers she is getting, puzzle and frighten her. Bello also creates a strong and likable character here. Sadly Dustin Milligan and the rest of the paranormal crew are kind of bland and are generic egotistical young hot shots. None of them are really that memorable or as strong as the veteran performers.

I was never bored by this and for the first two thirds was reasonably amused. We have a familiar story with some very common elements for this kind of tale, but early on they are used competently. The movie is never scary, but it had a few spooky moments until the filmmakers went all cliché in the last act and lost what grip they had. The film is elevated by the performances of two veteran actors, but at the same time, our younger leads are bland and forgettable. As a mild diversion it works fine, but overall very familiar, ultimately unremarkable and didn’t know enough to keep it subtle, which was working.

-MonsterZero NJ

 

2 and 1/2 axes, as veteran actors Grillo and Bello earn some extra points for this.

 

BARE BONES: OTIS, SUMMER’S MOON and THIRD PERSON

OTIS (2008)

Otis is another of the contemporary trend of trying to be hip by mixing a disturbing subject with off-color and sometimes inappropriate humor. The effect here is just dull, off-putting and silly. Flick tells of serial killer Otis Broth (Bostin Christopher) who is a disturbed man-child loosely watched over by his older brother Elmo (Kevin Pollack) and living in his dead parents’ house. He delights in kidnapping girls who he all re-names Kim, keeps them prisoner as part of a girlfriend/prom scenario then eventually kills and dismembers them. When he kidnaps pretty Riley (Ashley Johnson) he messes with the wrong family. Directed by Tony Krantz and written by Erik Jendresen and Thomas Schnauz, the film is never disturbing enough to be chilling and not funny enough to be…well, funny. The humor is sophomoric and sometimes just silly and it’s attempts to be shocking fall flat too. Only partial saving grace is a very charming and spunky performance by Johnson (the waitress from The Avengers) as his fifth abductee whose vengeful parents (Daniel Stern and Illeana Douglas) ineptly try to take matters into their own hands when police prove incompetent. I know this flick has it’s fans but, aside from liking Johnson’s resilient Riley, I was just bored.

SUMMER’S MOON (SUMMER’S BLOOD) (2009)

Despite a good turn by Ashley Greene and a disturbing portrayal by the reliable Stephen McHattie, this is just an epic fail. Greene plays Summer, a young woman who runs away from her drunken mother to find the father she’s never met and winds up the prisoner of a disturbed young man (Peter Mooney) and his mom (Barbara Niven). Three guesses who the patriarch of the house (McHattie) turns out to be. Film is just kind of a mess with none of it seeming to have much purpose and far too many preposterous conveniences occurring to carry the plot forward or be shocking. Director Lee Demarbre helms this very by-the-numbers and with little atmosphere and the script by Christine Conradt and Sean Hogan seems to like being shocking for shocking sake without legitimately trying to tell a story. We get incest, kidnaping and murder without any real reason why and by the end we really don’t see a point to it all. Greene does better than she is usually given credit for but, the film wastes it on just being bad…and at only 90 minutes, kinda boring too.

THIRD PERSON (2013)

Written and directed by Paul Haggis, this is an interesting and engaging drama with three stories told that we know will connect somehow by the time the credits roll. We have a writer (Liam Neeson) separated from his wife  (Kim Basinger) and with his lover Anna (Olivia Wilde) in Paris, while trying to complete a new book. We have Scott (Adrien Brody) on business in Rome who finds himself in the middle of a situation involving a mysterious and beautiful woman (Moran Atias), money and some shady characters. In New York there is troubled ex-actress Julia (Mila Kunis) who is trying to regain visitation with her young son after being accused of trying to harm him. Her artist ex-husband (James Franco) adamantly refuses to let her see him, while her lawyer (Maria Bello) tries desperately to change the judge’s mind despite Julia’s inability to handle the situation responsibly. The three stories are all well directed and acted and while I did figure things out before the reveal, it is still effectively done. Brody’s story is the weak link but, otherwise an entertaining drama with a fine cast.

 -MonsterZero NJ