I am a huge horror film fan, but of all the genre’s the one focuses on spirits and ghosts is the one I get least excited about mostly due to that amount that jut fail to deliver. The latest Light Out offered up a great trailer and with James Wan producing gave me hope, but could it live up to the darkness it promised or is it even worth flipping the switch for?

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Lights Out follows Rebecca who works to unlock the truth behind the terror, which brings her face to face with an entity that has an attachment to their mother, Sophie after her little brother experiences the same events that once tested her own sanity. Despite the great trailers I still went into this film with low expectations just due to being let down by so many before it, but was happily surprised by what I got. The film wastes no time getting to the point and letting us see the evil that is going to be tormenting people throughout the film. This let you know right off the bat that things are messed up all around. The story has just enough meat to keep it moving forward without trying to bog the audience down with unnecessary information in the hopes to make it cooler. With the slim run time of eighty one minutes it wastes little time getting everything moving and keeping it that way until the very end.

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Teresa Palmer and Maria Bello are the strengths here bringing the opposite ends of the spectrum to the table to butt heads while being very similar. This family dynamic plays well here to make them all characters you can invest in that all have a chance to redeem themselves in their own way. You can have great characters and a great story, but with a film like this if you don’t have a great creature or ghost and effects to match it just doesn’t work. I loved the design here as it is so simple, but effective in every way. You never wonder if there is a redeeming nature to this vengeful entity which is the way it should be. The uses of the darkness as the catalyst for the existence of it and how it moves throughout is creepy and cool to watch. They never felt the need to force a full on image but instead use some quick cuts to give you an idea and the rest of the time use the dark silhouettes to perfection.   

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This simple horror flick does what most do not and that is to entertain and be creepy all at once while offering up a tale that will keep you interested until the very end. The ending to the film is simple and effective giving character the chance to redeem themselves in the only way possible. In addition to the film there are some deleted scenes included, but the film itself is worth grabbing a copy available now on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.