I remember working a night shift about a winter or two ago and my buddy and I were reading up on horror movies. Later that night he sent me a link to an article about the top horror shorts you could find on YouTube. I watched Lights Out in the cab of a dimly lit truck and a shiver went down my spine. It was simple, to the point and tackled a fear that everyone could relate to. 

  The thing that makes Lights Out stand out to me is that director David Sandberg, who got to bring his short to life on the big screen, didn’t let the Hollywood budget complicate his film. He kept the story fairly simple, he kept the budget low and he kept the Fx’s as real as he could. He made a solid horror film with a budget of only $4.9 million dollars, which in this day is nothing if you look at other movies like the $35 million dollar Poltergeist remake. 

  There are two things I really love about this movie. One is that he got his wife, the star of the original short, to play the first character you see. I always love when directors have little nods to their past works. The other thing I loved about this movie was that he made Diana, the dark dwelling creature, with a real prostetic suit instead of using all CG. The real suit just gave her such a natural feel and made her movements that much more creepy. 

  With Lights Out already green lit for a sequel, I’m excited to see more work from David Sandberg. His next project is going to be Annabelle 2.