Lights Out

I saw the YouTube sensation that is "Lights Out" a couple of years ago, thankfully in a well lit office early in the day.  That 3 minute short was truly terrifying.  Created on a very, very tiny budget but managing to capture the fears of a lonely woman going to bed with little noises freaking her out until the climatic finale.  It had a massive impact on me and one that still lasts to this day.  Prior to the release of this film, it would be one that I would always recommend a watch to for any horror aficionado.

I have put the video here for anyone that is interested....

When I saw the trailer for this, just after the new Blair Witch trailer....really?....I thought, "surely 3 minutes was enough to convey the message of the film, can it be dragged out to a 80 minute movie?"

I was almost expecting the film to start with the original, like Pixar always have a short animation at the start of their films, I was wondering if this would be the same,  unfortunately not.  This would have proven that 3 minutes and little to no budget can achieve pretty much the same as dragging it out for another 77 minutes.

Now don't get me wrong, there are some genuine scary moments that really flare up the goosebumps in the extended version and thankfully it never seems to slow down for the whole run time unlike recent horror films, but there is not much you can do with this which is why the short works so well.

The fact that Diana can appear literally anywhere in the shadows is a haunting notion, nowhere is safe whilst always being nerving and ominous, and with the character being physically there instead of a CGI cartoon character the added tension was noted.

As far as a horror movie, Lights Out is enjoyable, scary in parts and with decent pace, but I still feel that the 4 minute version achieves a lot more than this big budget version. I hope this is not a new venture for James Wan scouring youtube channels for his next ideas.