![]() ![]() What the film adaptation gains in theme and character, it sadly loses in satire. He’s unafraid to show it, almost bucking every convention in recent years horror filmmakers have been taught when trying to make a creeping, undulating ghost story. Sandberg is able to terrify while also grinning, nodding along, and enjoying the near-satirical ridiculousness of what he reveals the terror to be. ![]() Yet all the way through, there’s something oddly post-modern about that short film. It’s worth enjoying for the terrifying last shot alone. The Lights Out short achieved that so brilliantly in such a short space of time, building to a climax where Losten hides under the bed covers as, in the darkness, she hears the invader creep into her bedroom before… well, that would be telling. It’s that terror of missing something, the terror of being invaded almost. There’s something primal about the fear that, intentionally or not, evokes the Weeping Angels from British TV series Doctor Who, creatures which of course moved closer to someone the more you blinked, the more you stopped fixing them into the stone creatures, Medusa-style, they were. Repeatedly turning the light on and off, she sees the same shadow looking at her until, finally, the mottled, decayed body of a straggly, naked woman is standing inches from her when the light goes off. A simple premise a woman on her way to bed, turning out the light in the hall, only to see the creeping visage of someone illuminated in shadow. Made in 2013, with Sandberg’s muse and indeed wife Lotta Losten in the frame, Lights Out was a three-minute exercise in near silent, pared back terror. You wouldn’t have credited this as the direction following the original piece Sandberg directed for the Who’s There? short film competition (which he didn’t win). Sandberg, Lights Out is a deconstruction of mental illness wrapped around the trappings of, ostensibly, a B-movie spooky horror feature. Birthed from a short film that went viral, Lights Out has enjoyed a fascinating journey from YouTube curio to the launchpad of an unknown talent. The brainchild of Swedish writer/director David F. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |