My mother was wrong. There WAS something hellish that lived in the pitch-black corners and darkened recesses of my childhood bedroom. And I always knew that the crawl space under my bed was the shadowy central hub of all that evil activity. I knew it to be, but I was never able to prove it… until now.

Under the production team of horror master James Wan, first time director David F. Sandberg brings to big screens Lights Out, a creepy little film that preys upon our primal fear of the malignant evil we all think resides in the dark. Sandberg takes that universal source of unease and molds a spooky little yarn around it. He never tries to reinvent the genre and never shies away from the familiar. Instead he stays with many of the tried-and-true genre tropes that have always scared the pants off us, and just makes them work. It’s brisk, it’s breezy, and at a fast-paced 81 minutes, Lights Out never overstays its welcome.

After a disturbing little prelude that takes place in a mannequin warehouse (what could be more scary?), we flash forward to meet 10-year-old Martin (Gabriel Bateman) who seems to be experiencing the same unexplained and terrifying events that had once tested the sanity of his much-older step-sister, Rebecca (Teresa Palmer). Rather than face her fears, Rebecca simply moved out of the family home when she turned 16. Now she’s distant, disconnected, and almost completely estranged from her family.

Though returning home is certainly not on her agenda, Rebecca’s concern grows after she receives a call from Child Protective Services about Martin falling asleep in class. She has a fairly good idea what’s been keeping him up at night and knows that if it’s the same thing that drove her to abandon the family, she can’t let him face it alone.

Whatever happened to the family centers on mother Sophie (Maria Bello) whose current mental state continues to unravel to the point of needing heavy medication to control the deep bouts with depression. Her sickness has brought about vivid memories of a childhood spent with Diana, her best friend who had severe medical issues of her own that caused extended stays in a mental institution. Well, Diana is back and has since become a frightening entity with a mysterious attachment to Sophie. Rebecca knows that Diana’s newfound obsession with Sophie means no one is safe.

Sandberg makes a lot of good decisions that ultimately spell success with Lights Out. His basic premise -- that is grounded in our instinctual fear of the dark -- is certainly nothing new. In fact, it has become quite tiresome over the years as numerous directors have taken stab after stab into the darkness with hopes of finding something that works. For a whole host of reasons, most don’t. Sandberg’s perfect timing, brisk pacing, and especially his creative use of dark and light keeps us on our toes for the film’s entire run time.

For reasons that are explained away by the film’s plot, dirty Diana can’t stand the light, so she’s always gliding, sliding, and disappearing into the protection of the shadows. Heightening our sense of hopelessness, reality doesn’t seem to affect her, nor do the laws of gravity. There’s a particularly effective scenario that plays over and over throughout the film -- and was even prominently featured in the trailer, so it’s no spoiler to discuss it here -- involving the creature standing in a dim hallway or darkened door threshold. She’s there when the lights are out, but disappears as soon as they are clicked on. So simple, yet so effective.

Other than the occasional demonstration of what light does to her pale skin, we’re never given a very good glimpse of what Diana is or what she’s made of. But her evil intentions are always made perfectly clear. Nothing kills tension more than overexposure to the villain, especially a supernatural one. Sandberg knows this, and the effect is more visceral because of it.

After the show, I heard several viewers say they thought the film was funny. While that’s probably just a bit of a protective reaction to having soiled the theater seat, Sandberg does often round off some of the sharp corners of sheer terror with a creative use of humor which works perfectly against the white-knuckled terror.

Despite its overtly simple tactics and well-worn premise, Lights Out definitely proves I’ve been right all along about what dangers lurk in the darkness.

(Released by Warner Bros. and rated “PG-13” for terror throughout, violence, disturbing images, some thematic material and brief drug content.)

Review also posted at www.franksreelreviews.com.