Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Lights Out Blu-ray Movie Review

Family Specter

Reviewed by Michael Reuben October 23, 2016

Lights Out began as a short film less than three minutes long, in which Swedish writer/director David F. Sandberg offered a clever variation on the familiar sensation of being afraid of the dark. Released in December 2013 on Vimeo and YouTube, the short went viral, attracting the attention of major industry players and prompting Sandberg to relocate to L.A. with his wife (and the short's star), where horror meister James Wan (The Conjuring) produced Sandberg's feature-length expansion of Lights Out for Warner Brothers' New Line Cinema division. The film debuted to critical and popular acclaim in July 2016, grossing $148 million worldwide. That may not sound like much in this blockbuster era, but it's a profitable haul for a film with a production budget under $5 million.

Sandberg's original short established Lights Out's central device of a supernatural presence that vanishes in the light, only to reappear in the dark an instant later, often moving closer to its victim with each flick of the switch. The feature film's script by Eric Heisserer (The Thing prequel and the forthcoming Arrival) expands this notion into the realm of family conflict, which is classical territory for the horror genre. In the film's prologue, a spectral invader appears in the shadowy halls of a clothing manufacturing plant, menacing an employee who has remained after hours. (The employee is played by Sandberg's wife, Lotta Losten, reprising a variation of her role from the original short.) Soon, however, the ghost is revealed to be haunting the family of Sophie (Maria Bello), a troubled mother with a history of bipolar disorder. The ghost also visits Sophie's estranged daughter, Rebecca (Teresa Palmer), who has left home and shut down emotionally from the trauma of being abandoned by her father—a situation that perpetually frustrates Rebecca's part-time boyfriend, Bret (Alexander DiPersia). Rebecca's half-brother, Martin (Gabriel Bateman), lives with their mother, where he is terrified by the apparition's repeated and sometimes violent incursions.

Sandberg unpacks this tortured family history gradually over Lights Out's taut 81-minute running time. (The film was originally nine minutes longer, before a major sequence was dropped during previews; see the "Supplements" discussion.) But he does so while providing the family and the audience with ever more unsettling demonstrations of the ghost's malevolent intentions. The specter, who is recognizably female, identifies itself as "Diana" (she is played by former stunt double Alicia Vela-Bailey), and Heisserer's script provides her with a back story that is probably more elaborate than it needs to be. Sandberg wisely concentrates on engineering a series of scares, cleverly working multiple variations on his initial concept of Diana's threatening outline appearing in the dark, then suddenly vanishing when she's hit with light, only to reappear in darkness moments later. By the end of the film, it's clear that this particular ghost has become an expert at engineering the environment to suit its peculiar needs, even going so far as to attack the city's electrical grid.

You don't have to be Sigmund Freud to grasp why troubled family relations are a recurring element in horror films or why our deepest and most irrational fears so often attach to those closest to us. Sandberg and Heisserer tread well-worn territory in Lights Out, but they do so skillfully, leading to a shocker of a conclusion that neatly plays off the family theme.

Lights Out Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Lights Out was shot digitally (with the Arri Alexa, according to IMDb) by Mark Spicer (Furious 7), who must have had a lot of fun arranging the film's contrasting pools of light and darkness and repeatedly casting deep shadows. Warner's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray, which was presumably sourced from the 2K digital intermediate, reflects a clean and detailed image with solid blacks of varying depth and degree that faithfully replicate Spicer's lighting design, rendering "Diana" just visible enough to be frightening, while concealing any specifics beyond her general form. (The few moments where we see parts of her more clearly are the film's least effective scares.) Washes of colored light—e.g., the red from a flashing neon sign outside Rebecca's window, or the blue of a UV lamp—provide visual contrast to the film's darkened rooms and dark, saturated palette. By way of contrast, a brief sequence at Martin's school provides brighter surroundings and more cheerful colors.

In a welcome departure for Warner's theatrical division, Lights Out has been mastered at a high average bitrate of 32.81 Mbps, which is territory typically occupied by its corporate cousin, the Warner Archive Collection. Combined with a capable encode, the higher rate ensures that Lights Out's spooky visuals have translated to Blu-ray with all their scares intact.

Lights Out Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Are you the kind of home theater viewer who likes looking over your shoulder? If so, Lights Out belongs in your collection. The Blu-ray's lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 repeatedly unsettles the viewer with rustlings and stirrings in the left or right rear speaker, as the film's spectral villain lures characters out of the light and into its clutches. Especially with a good audio system, these effects are so realistic that you may be tempted to pause the film and check your room for intruders. The big effects (screams, crashes, pounding on doors and walls) are rendered forcefully and with clarity. The dialogue is clear and properly prioritized. The score by Benjamin Wallfisch (who has contributed to soundtracks as diverse as Batman v Superman and 12 Years a Slave) is both suspenseful and intimidating.

Lights Out Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The sparse extras for Lights Out represent a missed opportunity. Sandberg's original short film should have been included (although it's easy enough to find on YouTube), and the director should have been interviewed (or a commentary recorded) about the experience of moving to Hollywood from Sweden and helming his first feature.

• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 2.40:1; 13:58): In a rare instance of underselling an extra, the material is more than just three deleted (or, in one case, alternate) scenes. Lights Out was initially about nine minutes longer, with an entire coda following the events that now serve as the film's conclusion. But after the sequence tested poorly with preview audiences, it was deleted—and it's not hard to see why. Both substantively (in terms of the film's essential "mythology") and in dramatic terms, the deleted conclusion is a letdown. I can't explain why without revealing crucial plot points, but the inclusion of the sequence in the extras is a welcome addition that allows viewers to judge for themselves.



• Introductory Trailers: The film's trailer is not included. At startup, the disc plays a trailer for The Accountant, plus the new Warner promo for 4K discs.

Lights Out Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

James Wan has become a one-man horror studio in recent years, directing two Conjuring films and two chapters of the Insidious franchise, while also producing Annabelle, Demonic and now Lights Out. A sequel has already been greenlit to this latest addition to the Wan catalog, and one can only hope that Sandberg resists the pull toward bloat and excess that weighed down The Conjuring 2. As he has so ably demonstrated in Lights Out, horror films work best when they're lean and economical. Warner's presentation is excellent and highly recommended.