Look, we write about horror movies here at Cinema Blend. It’s what we do. Over time we have become fairly jaded with what constitutes genuine terror. We thought we had seen it all; we were wrong. A new trailer for the upcoming horror film Lights Out has just hit the web, and it has firmly ensured that we won’t be going into any dark rooms anytime soon. Check it out below.
As you can see from the trailer, Lights Out centers on a young boy named Martin and his older sister Rebecca. Over time the two realize that whenever the lights go out, they can see a woman lurking in the shadows. They begin the investigate the strange phenomenon going on around them, and eventually find out that it has something to do with a mysterious event from their mother’s past that feeds on the fear of those it hunts. As they slowly unravel the mystery buried in the past, they start to understand that all of their lives are in danger, as something will come for them whenever – as you probably could guess – the lights go out.
Lights Out seems to capitalize on the nearly universal fear we all have of the dark, which makes sense considering James Wan (the mastermind behind The Conjuring, Saw, and Insidious) has a hand in producing the film. One of the things that makes the trailer work so well is the fact that the movie really keeps the mysterious specter hidden in the shadows as it picks people off one by one. We never get a good look at the film’s central monster, so we allow our brains to fill in what might be out there. Our main hope is that the movie itself will remember how effective this tactic is, and keep the monster hidden from view in order to allow our imaginations to run wild. Seriously, a sillouhette has never been so damn terrifying.
One of the things worth noting about Lights Out is the fact that the film’s young protagonist named Martin seems incredibly mature. Numerous recent horror films such as Goodnight Mommy and The Babadook have revolved around child protagonists, but depicted them as immature, misguided, or generally helpless. In Lights Out, Martin seems to be on the same page, and at the very least able to contribute meaningfully when the adults finally figure out what’s going on. It’s a small detail, but one that prevents Lights Out from falling into the usual trap of using the "useless kid" trope.
Are you brave enough to see Lights Out in theaters? Find out when the movie finally premieres on July 22. Stay tuned for more terrifying details.
