31 Days of Halloween 2016: Lights Out (now available on home video and VOD)

[31 Days of Halloween 2016: LIGHTS OUT is now available on home video and VOD.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

2016 has been a surprisingly good year for horror films. Not just in terms of quantity, but quality as well. We've had cult items like THE GREASY STRANGLER and NEON DEMON, but also more mainstream fare like THE SHALLOWS, DON'T BREATHE, GREEN ROOM, THE PURGE: ELECTION YEAR, and even the seemingly pointless prequel OUIJA: ORIGIN OF EVIL. All solidly enjoyable genre outings that surprisingly did well with both critics and audiences. Add one more film to that list: David Sandberg's LIGHTS OUT.

Sandberg first came to my attention with his 30 minute featurette KUNG FURY, a loving homage to/parody of low budget eighties action films. I had issues with it, notably the (over)use of decidedly non-eighties CGI, but it was a fun way to pass thirty minutes. Sandberg also made a short version of LIGHTS OUT for a film contest, and although it didn't win, it brought him to the attention of Hollywood, resulting in this feature length expansion. Turns out this is a different David Sandberg. Sorry for any confusion I may have caused.