Wait, did something brush past me in the dark? You know, I used to lie in bed awake at night. That unformed space between the light switch and myself could create its own horror movie. What would ignite such chills? Probably an episode of Unsolved Mysteries, hosted by the late Robert Stack. Bringing this up adds some relevance to Lights Out. After all, the latter dabbles in underlit, spooky surroundings.

Those tasty previews for Lights Out end up betrayed by a silly delivery. Maria Bello stars in David F. Sandberg’s film concerning a mother whose connection to a dark entity could undo the whole family.

In the theatrical trailer, a light extinguishes and the silhouette appears. On with the bulb and it’s gone. Out and you get the picture. This supernatural presence could have been modern cinema’s equivalent to The Entity. Sadly, Lights Out perishes under a flood of gushy exposition. In other words, solving the mystery proves the ultimate undoing.

Especially vexing, Bello gets caught off-guard playing the one-note, manic depressive mother. She’s capable of so much more than Eric Heisserer’s timid screenplay can allow. Here she shrills under a sleep deprived gaze. Finding the positive proves problematic as Teresa Palmer endeavours to add some authenticity to this dire setup. Alas, she’s the secret weapon that mostly stays under wraps.

For Lights Out to work, we require less talk and more scary scenes in the void. Therefore, such terse measures only frustrate our hunger for something creepier. 

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