Lights Out | |
---|---|
Directed by | David F. Sandberg |
Screenplay by | Eric Heisserer |
Based on | Lights Out by David F. Sandberg |
Produced by |
|
Starring | |
Cinematography | Marc Spicer |
Edited by | Kirk Morri Michel Aller |
Music by | Benjamin Wallfisch |
Production companies |
|
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 81 minutes [1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $4.9 million [2] |
Box office | $148.9 million [3] |
Lights Out is a 2016 American supernatural horror film directed by David F. Sandberg in his directorial debut, produced by Lawrence Grey, James Wan, and Eric Heisserer and written by Heisserer. It stars Teresa Palmer, Gabriel Bateman, Alexander DiPersia, Billy Burke, and Maria Bello. It is based on Sandberg's 2013 short film of the same name and features Lotta Losten, who starred in the short. [4]
In the film, when a terrifying force arises from her family's past, a woman must protect her young half-brother from a spirit that kills its victims in the dark. After the short film's success, Sandberg announced a feature film adaptation based on his short film. Principal photography for the film began in June 2015 in Los Angeles. Filming was completed on August 5, 2015.
The film had its world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 8, 2016, and was released in the United States and Canada on July 22, 2016, by Warner Bros. The film received positive reviews from critics, with many praising the direction, screenplay, acting, cinematography and musical score, and grossed $148 million against a budget of $4.9 million. A sequel is in development.
In a textile factory during closing hours, after an employee named Esther says goodbye to her boss Paul, she encounters a silhouette of a strange woman with claw-like hands when the lights are off, but she cannot see it when the lights are on. After she leaves, Paul encounters the woman as well. He tries to run away and locks himself into an office, but is killed after the lights go out.
Some time later Paul's son, Martin, witnesses his mother, Sophie, talking to something in the dark. Sophie notices Martin and comforts him about the event, but as Martin goes back to bed he notices a strange figure in the shadow behind Sophie, and locks himself in his bedroom out of fear. Shortly thereafter Martin begins to have trouble staying awake at school. The nurse is unable to get in touch with Sophie to inform her of this, so Martin's older maternal half-sister (Paul's step-daughter) Rebecca is called in to the school nurse's office instead. A Child Protective Services agent questions Rebecca about Martin's living conditions, and Rebecca tells the official that Sophie is taking antidepressants.
Martin tells her that their mother has been talking to a woman named "Diana". Rebecca assures him that Diana is not real, and that she had also heard their mother talk to the imaginary girl when she was a child. Once they arrive at Martin's house, Rebecca gets into an argument with Sophie when she realizes her mother is not taking her medication, but Sophie tells Rebecca she has no right to lecture her, accusing Rebecca of abandoning her like Rebecca's father did. Questioning her mother's sanity, Rebecca takes Martin to her apartment, much to Sophie's despair. That night, Rebecca is awoken by the same shadowed woman that killed Paul. She narrowly escapes an attack when she turns the lights on, making the woman disappear. The next morning, Rebecca notices that the name "Diana" has been scratched into her floor, along with a scratch drawing of a stick figure. She remembers finding the same name and drawing as a child and realizes Diana is real.
Rebecca finds a box of medical records and research in Paul's office, which reveal that Sophie was admitted to a mental hospital as a child. While there, she befriended a young patient named Diana, who suffered from a severe skin condition that meant she could not go out in sunlight. It was believed that she was evil and was able to "get into people's heads" since Diana's father committed suicide after Diana influenced him to do so. In the end, Diana was accidentally reduced to ashes by the hospital staff when they tried to perform an experimental treatment on her under intense light. Sophie has a conversation with Martin, who was taken back to their mother by the CPS agent, and she decides to allow Martin to meet Diana after turning the light off. However, Martin is frightened by Diana and runs away from them back to Rebecca's place.
Rebecca, her boyfriend Bret, and Martin stage an intervention with Sophie about how she is letting Diana haunt them. Sophie becomes irate but secretly asks Rebecca for help, as Diana will not let Sophie go. The group stays the night at Sophie's, intending to get her help in the morning. To avoid an attack from Diana during the night, they rig the house to be as brightly lit as possible, but this proves useless when Diana cuts the power of the whole neighborhood. She traps Rebecca and Martin in the basement and attempts to kill Bret. Despite being injured, Bret escapes by shining the headlight of his car and drives away. Later, Sophie confronts Diana, trying to tell her to spare her children, but is knocked unconscious by Diana when she tries to take her medicine. In the basement, Martin and Rebecca find a black-light; Rebecca is able to clearly see Diana with it, but realizes it is not powerful enough to ward her off.
Bret returns with two police officers. When the officers free Martin and Rebecca from the basement, they also see the shadow of Diana and try to go after her, but she kills them. Rebecca and Martin exit the house, but Martin insists on getting Sophie out as well. Rebecca goes back alone for her mother. As she climbs the stairs, Diana reveals that she killed Rebecca's father years ago because, like Paul, he tried to help Sophie recover from her trauma. She injures Rebecca for trying to do the same, but as Diana prepares to kill her, Sophie, who has recovered, appears with a gun from one of the dead officers and shoots at Diana, who says that can't harm her, to which Sophie replies, "I know." Sophie has realized she is the tether for Diana to exist in the real world and kills herself to save Rebecca and Martin. As Sophie's body falls, Diana vanishes from existence.
After the long night, Bret comforts Martin and Rebecca in an ambulance outside the house; a light flickers inside the ambulance but Bret assures them that Diana is truly gone.
Sandberg, along with his wife Lotta Losten, created the initial short film for a film competition. Although the film did not win the competition, the short soon went viral, leading to Sandberg being contacted by several agents, to the point where he had to develop a spreadsheet to keep track of them all. [5] One of the contacts was Lawrence Grey who wanted to collaborate with James Wan in order to produce a feature-length version. Although Wan enjoyed the short, he was hesitant that it could be turned into a feature until Sandberg produced a treatment for the feature-length version. [5]
The move to Hollywood was somewhat hectic for the couple, requiring that Losten quit her day job in order to do so. Once in Hollywood the two were unable to get an apartment due to not having a US credit score, forcing them to rent Airbnb on a monthly basis. [5]
Sandberg originally based the character of Rebecca on a real girl that he knew who was suffering from depression, and who was engaging in self-harm, which is why Rebecca has scars on her arms, but the development of the film made it less about depression and more of a ghost story in which Diana would have been the real person who died and became a ghost. Wan came up with the idea of making Diana the ghost. Rebecca's boyfriend was also given a twist of being a rocker, but is actually committed and responsible, even driving a safe car like a Volvo. Another twist Sandberg liked was making the imaginary friend for the mother rather than the trope of having the friend be for the child. [6]
In June 2015, Gabriel Bateman and Teresa Palmer were cast in the film as the child and teenager leads. In that same month, Maria Bello was cast in the film as the mother of Bateman and Palmer's characters, alongside Alexander DiPersia as the boyfriend of Palmer's character, Billy Burke as the stepfather of Palmer's character and father of Bateman's character, and Alicia Vela-Bailey as the main antagonist Diana were also starring. [7] [8] [9] [10]
Principal photography for the film began in June 2015 in Los Angeles. Filming was completed on August 5, 2015. [11] Sandberg had not worked with a film crew or visited a film set before directing Lights Out; he had to ask the first assistant director, "So when do I say action?" [12]
Special effects of having the ghost appear and disappear were mostly done by using a split-screen technique as also used in the short. Sandberg said "Whenever she's in frame with another character, it's basically just a split screen. So you shoot it with her and without her. You turn the camera on with her, you turn it off and she walks off, and then you turn it on again. It's super simple, actually." Sandberg also made a list of what he called the "light gags", or different ways to create light sources from flashlights to cell phones and gunfire. In the scene when Diana appears in Rebecca's room, James Wan suggested replacing passing car headlights in an early treatment with the flashing neon sign that appears in the final film. [6]
After hearing concerns from critics that the ending of the film was promoting suicide, Sandberg interviewed with The A.V. Club where he said he was distressed about that idea, and wanted to explain his position. He said that he originally wanted to make a film about depression, as he has also suffered from it, and that one of his friends had died by suicide. Diana was not a ghost back then, but during the development of the film, it became more of a horror film. It still retained some themes about depression and mental illness. He had originally shot a second ending to the film in which Martin becomes depressed and Diana comes back one more time before she is killed. Test audiences concluded that Sophie's sacrifice would have been in vain. [6]
The film had its world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 8, 2016. [13] The film also screened at Comic-Con on July 20, 2016, [14] and was released on July 22, 2016. [15]
Lights Out grossed $67.3 million in the United States and Canada and $81.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $148.9 million, against a production budget of $4.9 million. [3]
In North America, Lights Out was projected to gross $13–15 million from 2,900 theaters in its opening weekend. [16] It made $1.8 million from its Thursday night screenings and $9.2 million on its first day. [17] The film exceeded expectations and earned $21.7 million in its opening weekend, finishing at third place behind fellow newcomer Star Trek Beyond and holdover The Secret Life of Pets . [18] [19]
In other territories, the film earned $8.5 million in its opening weekend from 3,737 screens in key markets of Russia and Australia along with 30 smaller Eastern European and Asian markets. The film benefited from being released in the wake of the global success of The Conjuring 2 . [20] It debuted at first place in Russia with $1.7 million. [20] Its other top openings were recorded in South Korea ($3.9 million), France ($1.5 million), the U.K. ($1.4 million) and Spain ($1.1 million). [21] [22] Its biggest earning markets are South Korea ($7.7 million), Mexico ($5.5 million), the U.K. ($4.5 million) and Spain ($3.9 million). [23]
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 75% based on 183 reviews, with a weighted average rating of 6.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Lights Out makes skillful use of sturdy genre tropes—and some terrific performances—for an unsettling, fright-filled experience that delivers superior chills without skimping on story." [24] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 58 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [25] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. [26]
Lucy O'Brien of IGN gave the film 7/10, saying: "[w]ith an unnerving monster at its core, great cast and relentless final sequence, Light's [ sic ] Out is a debut director Sandberg should be proud of. A clunky script occasionally loosens its grip on the nerves, but chances are Diana will still have you sleeping with the lights on for a good while after leaving the theatre." [27] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film 4 stars out of 4, stating: "[e]ven the most cynical, jaded, seen-it-all-before critic cannot deny certain visceral reactions to a film. Lights Out gave me the chills." [28] Justin Lowe of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "[a] surprisingly maternal horror movie that relies as much on fraying emotional bonds as supernatural suspense to create tension, Lights Out deals with an array of primal fears that threaten to unravel a family's fundamental relationships, along with their sanity." [29] Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times wrote, "[s]packling over any copycat cracks with strong acting and fleet editing, Lights Out delivers minimalist frights in old-school ways." [30]
A few critics were less taken with the film. James Berardinelli of Reelviews gave 2 stars out of 4, saying: "[u]nfortunately, the film stumbles, offering too few legitimate scares and displaying an overreliance on traditional horror movie clichés." Berardinelli detested the film's camerawork, described characters as being "thinly drawn", and the screenplay as "spending inordinate amount of time providing a backstory..." [31] Rex Reed of Observer gave 1 star out of 4, saying: "the film's screenplay focuses almost entirely on the number of resourceful and ingenious ways the characters dream up to keep the lights on, stave off the next attack and stay alive—lights from candles, flashlights, cellphones, the car in the driveway—before the batteries die; The fun wears out fast and so does the "gotcha" factor." [32]
Award | Category | Subject | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Fright Meter Award | Best Special Effects | Lights Out | Nominated |
Palm Springs International Film Festival | Directors to Watch | David F. Sandberg | Won |
In July 2016, a week after the film's release, it was announced that New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures had greenlit a sequel. Heisserer and Sandberg will return to write and direct the film, respectively, while Wan and Lawrence Grey will return to produce under their Atomic Monster and Grey Matter Productions banners. [33] [34]
As of 2024, there has been no update on the sequel's development. [35]
James Wan is an Australian filmmaker. He has primarily worked in the horror genre as the co-creator of the Saw and Insidious franchises and the creator of The Conjuring Universe. The lattermost is the highest-grossing horror franchise at over $2 billion. Wan is also the founder of film and television production company Atomic Monster.
Teresa Mary Palmer is an Australian actress. A prominent scream queen, she is known for her roles in horror films, as well as projects of other genres in both Australia and the United States.
American Psycho is a 2000 satirical horror film directed by Mary Harron, who co-wrote the screenplay with Guinevere Turner. Based on the 1991 novel by Bret Easton Ellis, it stars Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, a New York City investment banker who leads a double life as a serial killer. Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Josh Lucas, Chloë Sevigny, Samantha Mathis, Cara Seymour, Justin Theroux, and Reese Witherspoon appear in supporting roles. The film blends horror and black comedy to satirize 1980s yuppie culture and consumerism, exemplified by Bateman.
Annabelle Frances Wallis is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Jane Seymour in Showtime's period drama The Tudors (2009–2010), Grace Burgess in the BBC drama Peaky Blinders (2013–2019), Mia Form in the supernatural horror film Annabelle (2014), Jenny Halsey in the supernatural adventure film The Mummy (2017), Rebecca Crosby in Tag (2018), Sandra in Silent Night (2021) and Madison Mitchell in the horror film Malignant (2021).
The Conjuring is a 2013 American supernatural horror film directed by James Wan and written by Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes. It is the inaugural film in The Conjuring Universe franchise. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga star as Ed and Lorraine Warren, paranormal investigators and authors associated with prominent cases of haunting. Their purportedly real-life reports inspired The Amityville Horror story and the associated film franchise. The Warrens come to the assistance of the Perron family, who experienced increasingly disturbing events in their newly occupied farmhouse in Rhode Island in 1971.
Annabelle is a 2014 American supernatural horror film directed by John R. Leonetti, written by Gary Dauberman and produced by Peter Safran and James Wan. It stars Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton, and Alfre Woodard. Principal photography began in January 2014 in Los Angeles. It premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on September 29, 2014, and was theatrically released in the United States on October 3, 2014, by Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema.
Insidious: Chapter 3 is a 2015 supernatural horror film written and directed by Leigh Whannell in his directorial debut. The film is a prequel to the first two films and the third installment in the Insidious franchise. The film stars Dermot Mulroney and Stefanie Scott, with Angus Sampson, Whannell, and Lin Shaye reprising their roles from the previous films.
The Conjuring 2 is a 2016 American supernatural horror film directed by James Wan. The screenplay is by Chad Hayes, Carey W. Hayes, Wan, and David Leslie Johnson. It is a sequel to 2013's The Conjuring, the second installment in The Conjuring series, and the third installment in The Conjuring Universe franchise. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga reprise their roles as paranormal investigators and authors Ed and Lorraine Warren from the first film. The film follows the Warrens as they travel to England to assist the Hodgson family, who are experiencing poltergeist activity at their Enfield council house in 1977, which later became referred to as the Enfield poltergeist.
Shazam! is a 2019 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name. Produced by New Line Cinema, DC Films, the Safran Company, and Seven Bucks Productions, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is the seventh installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). It was directed by David F. Sandberg from a screenplay by Henry Gayden who co-wrote the story with Darren Lemke, and stars Zachary Levi, Mark Strong, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, and Djimon Hounsou. The film follows teenager Billy Batson (Angel) as he is chosen by the ancient wizard Shazam (Hounsou) to be his new champion by saying the name "Shazam", allowing him to transform into an adult superhero (Levi) with various superpowers. Billy and his foster brother Freddy Freeman (Grazer) must discover Billy's new powers in order to stop the evil Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Strong) and the Seven Deadly Sins.
The Gift is a 2015 psychological thriller film written, co-produced, and directed by Joel Edgerton in his feature directorial debut, and co-produced by Jason Blum and Rebecca Yeldham. The film stars Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall as Simon and Robyn Callem, a couple intimidated by a figure from Simon's past, played by Edgerton.
Gabriel Michael Bateman is an American actor. He is best known for starring in numerous horror films, including as Robert in Annabelle (2014), Martin Wells in Lights Out (2016), Andy Barclay in Child's Play (2019), and Kyle Flynn in Unhinged (2020).
Don't Breathe is a 2016 American horror film co-produced and directed by Fede Álvarez, who co-wrote it with Rodo Sayagues. It is the first installment in the Don't Breathe franchise. The film stars Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zovatto, and Stephen Lang, and focuses on three home intruders who get trapped inside a blind man's house.
Annabelle: Creation is a 2017 American supernatural horror film directed by David F. Sandberg, written by Gary Dauberman and produced by Peter Safran and James Wan. It is a prequel to 2014's Annabelle and the fourth installment in The Conjuring Universe franchise. The film stars Stephanie Sigman, Talitha Bateman, Lulu Wilson, Anthony LaPaglia, and Miranda Otto, and depicts the possessed Annabelle doll's origin.
The Conjuring Universe is an American horror franchise and shared universe centered on a series of supernatural horror films. The franchise is produced by New Line Cinema, Atomic Monster, and the Safran Company, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The films present a dramatization of the supposed real-life adventures of Ed and Lorraine Warren, paranormal investigators and authors associated with prominent yet controversial cases of haunting. The main series follows their attempts to assist people who find themselves harassed by spirits, while the spin-off films focus on the origins of some of the entities the Warrens have encountered.
Lawrence Grey is a Canadian-American film and television producer.
David F. Sandberg is a Swedish filmmaker. He is best known for his collective no-budget horror short films under the online pseudonym ponysmasher and for his 2016 directorial debut Lights Out, based on his 2013 acclaimed horror short of the same name. He also directed the horror film Annabelle: Creation (2017) as part of The Conjuring Universe, and the DC Extended Universe films Shazam! (2019) and Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023).
Lotta Losten is a Swedish actress, designer, and photographer. She is best known for her collaborations with her husband David F. Sandberg, including the 2013 short film Lights Out, the 2016 feature film adaptation of the same name, and Shazam!.
The Nun is a 2018 American gothic supernatural horror film directed by Corin Hardy and written by Gary Dauberman, from a story by Dauberman and James Wan. It serves as a spiritual spin-off to The Conjuring 2 and is the fifth installment in The Conjuring shared universe. The film stars Taissa Farmiga, Demián Bichir and Jonas Bloquet, with Bonnie Aarons reprising her role as the Demon Nun, an incarnation of Valak, from The Conjuring 2. The plot follows a Roman Catholic priest and a nun in her novitiate as they uncover an unholy secret in 1952 Romania. It is followed by a sequel The Nun II, released in 2023.
Malignant is a 2021 American horror film directed by James Wan from a screenplay by Akela Cooper, based on a story by Wan, Ingrid Bisu, and Cooper. The film stars Annabelle Wallis as a woman who begins to have visions of people being murdered, only to realize the events are happening in real life. Maddie Hasson, George Young, Michole Briana White, and Jacqueline McKenzie also star.
M3GAN is a 2022 American science fiction horror film directed by Gerard Johnstone. It was written by Akela Cooper from a story by Cooper and James Wan. Allison Williams and Violet McGraw star, Amie Donald physically portrays M3GAN, and Jenna Davis voices the character. Its plot follows an artificially intelligent doll who develops self-awareness and becomes hostile toward anyone who comes between her and her human companion.