Sandberg, who extended his own impressive short by the same name into this extended film, should have let this one rest. Can’t always have the lights on.

If you’re relying on jump scares and thing that go bump in the dark, you won’t find it here. The horror genre has already had a surfeit of means and methods that rely on that. Sure, on the other side, the film can be dark and can be slow for those who aren’t into this kind of psychological horror. However, no doubt, it is refreshing to see something chillingly different in this genre.

On the whole, with good editing, and trademark James Wan techniques of building up anxiety and good usage of light, the film definitely does manage to raise the hair on your neck when needed. Entertaining, scary in parts and funny at times, LIGHTS OUT makes for a decent one time watch.

The atmosphere here is suggestively creepy. Dark frames, dim flickering lights, sudden switch on and offs, striking sounds delivered suddenly, shadowed faces and faces shrouded in darkness and the general lame tricks that shore up the genres myriad affectations. They are all so obvious and predetermined that you can’t help but feel cheated by the déjà vu surrounding the experience.

We wish there was more emphasis on the mother’s mental condition, but the movie focuses only on creating the abrupt scares, which become typically predictable towards the end.

Ultimately, Lights Out is a perfectly acceptable waste of time for those looking for an orgy of jump scares that are professionally framed.

And if the lights begin to flicker, just run.