Warner Bros. | Release Date: July 22, 2016
7.6
USER SCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 435 Ratings
USER RATING DISTRIBUTION
Positive:
315
Mixed:
81
Negative:
39
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5
DirigiblePulpJan 5, 2017
A solid backbone is here. The storyline is simple, but effective and creepy. The darkness gimmick works well and provides a few decent scares. The cast is game. It just never evolves. It never ups the horror quotient. It is exactly what youA solid backbone is here. The storyline is simple, but effective and creepy. The darkness gimmick works well and provides a few decent scares. The cast is game. It just never evolves. It never ups the horror quotient. It is exactly what you think it is and it never challenges that notion or brings it to the next level. Expand
1 of 2 users found this helpful11
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6
Rebecca31Aug 21, 2016
The lights go out and the fun begins. Don't go to sleep with the lights off or Diana will get you. Don't go anywhere in the dark or Diana will get you. Don't even bother with the lights to be honest cause Diana will just cut the power. ThisThe lights go out and the fun begins. Don't go to sleep with the lights off or Diana will get you. Don't go anywhere in the dark or Diana will get you. Don't even bother with the lights to be honest cause Diana will just cut the power. This was a lot better than I thought it would be. Yes it's a continuous parade of jump scares, endless tension with fright after fright but the dark undertones are enough to separate it from the repetitive and generic scary movies that we get bombarded with. Recommended if you think you can handle it. Expand
3 of 8 users found this helpful35
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4
TVJerryJul 29, 2016
A boy is terrified by a menacing specter that only appears in the dark…and happens to be his distraught mother's evil friend. He gets his sister and her bf involved in fighting this malevolence ghost. These movies always have theA boy is terrified by a menacing specter that only appears in the dark…and happens to be his distraught mother's evil friend. He gets his sister and her bf involved in fighting this malevolence ghost. These movies always have the "jump-out-of-the-dark" scares and this one has its share. There's nothing else that makes this film stand out. It has a mild sense of menace, but never really raises much tension. Expand
1 of 3 users found this helpful12
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4
tropicAcesJul 22, 2016
The premise is brilliant, I said it the second I saw the trailer. But the finished product just isn't scary. It's all foreshadowed, pandering scares and the "rules" of the demon are never explained.

Palmer is fantastic but the rest of the
The premise is brilliant, I said it the second I saw the trailer. But the finished product just isn't scary. It's all foreshadowed, pandering scares and the "rules" of the demon are never explained.

Palmer is fantastic but the rest of the cast are bad, even by horror film standards. If you are easily jumpy then this may be a good rainy Saturday night watch, but otherwise it's just disappointing.
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3 of 10 users found this helpful37
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4
EpicLadySpongeJul 22, 2016
I love the way how they did with this movie, but obvious horror bait, everyone? It's no wonder I couldn't find a single thing good about this movie. It's horror bait and horror bait is what everyone does for a lot of money anyways.
2 of 7 users found this helpful25
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5
JonZsuJul 22, 2016
Lights Out is a really frightening piece, just like it should be - a lot of jump scares, there were. The film is intense and ends with an interesting twist, however, the scare is too one-dimensional and flat that's a little bit tiring, andLights Out is a really frightening piece, just like it should be - a lot of jump scares, there were. The film is intense and ends with an interesting twist, however, the scare is too one-dimensional and flat that's a little bit tiring, and the dialogues are even weaker. Expand
2 of 7 users found this helpful25
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4
KayVen17Aug 27, 2016
Deutsche Review - Kritik

Srory: 6/25 Punkte
Schauspieler: 16/25 Punkte
Technik/ Bildbearbeitung: 14/25 Punkte
Sound/ Voice: 9/25 Punkte

Gesamtpunktzahl

45/100 Punkte
1 of 4 users found this helpful13
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6
reviewfrom19842Jan 27, 2017
Lights Out is a entraining with good acting (most of the time) but has a lot of problems but it's still a enjoyable fun movie .
1 of 9 users found this helpful18
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6
TheDorkElfJul 22, 2016
Well I was surprised by how simple and fresh the idea of the monster only moving in the dark was. The film also wasn't populated with murder fodder type characters as in with most horror movies. The film didn't really scare me but it kept meWell I was surprised by how simple and fresh the idea of the monster only moving in the dark was. The film also wasn't populated with murder fodder type characters as in with most horror movies. The film didn't really scare me but it kept me on edge like a proper suspense film. This film however made the mistake of writing of stupid reasoning of the ghost. It also makes the mistake of showing the monster and ending the film on a very anticlimactic note. Despite all of its major missteps I would give a soft recommend to this film. Expand
1 of 19 users found this helpful118
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6
JohnWittenMay 2, 2017
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Dir. David F. Sandberg | Wr. Eric Heisserer and David F. Sandberg

PG-13 | 1H21M | Horror | 2016

Lights Out is far from the most heinous of horror masterpieces and also far from the least horrid of them all. Instead, it falls somewhere into that middle mushy category that is often forgotten over time, however much of a hit it was to begin with. By no means is the film terrible but by equal measure by no means is it groundbreaking or astounding. Even with almost an hour and a half of screen time, viewers may be bored in many instances as the pacing is often off-kilter at best.

As much as I would like to state otherwise, I’ve always had some small stigma where PG-13 horror films are concerned. Seeing as most directors find themselves limited in what they can and cannot do for effect in such films, I’ve rarely been satisfied by them. I’m proud to say Lights Out does deliver in that category, as predictable as the scares are and as laudably dumb as it characters may be at times. Such is the almighty curse of being a character in a modern horror film I suppose.

It has an original-ish plot I suppose for starters, although at many points it devolves into wandering about in the dark and throwing multiple close encounters of the dead kind at viewers for the sake of doing so. The cinematography is fairly standard for the most part although there are some great scenes- two of which I found particularly appealing, one featured early in the film following protagonist Rebecca’s (Teresa Palmer) father and the other utilizing a blacklight to great effect.

At times the acting isn’t the best, although perhaps that’s more of a testament to the characters themselves than the acting abilities of actors and actresses, or the writing of the script. The main attraction should rightfully be the thrill of the really good scares that are here and there, as well as the buildup in explanation of the mysterious Diana. While the “revelations” may be cliched at times and the moments of “normal life” in between the periods of crazy aren’t much fun to watch, the package as a whole is just short and sweet yet long enough to be entertaining and mostly worthwhile.

All in all, Lights Out is an enjoyable film to watch and a solid directorial debut from Sandberg. A six out of ten might seem average or even harsh, but I’d say it’s roughly a sixty-seven out of one hundred from me. Not bad at all.
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0 of 3 users found this helpful03
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