David F. Sandberg is a Swedish director who, with his actress wife Lotta Losten, has made a series of short yet effective horror films. They can be found on his YouTube Channel under the moniker "Ponysmasher." One of these short films, "Lights Out," is the focus of this entry.
I discovered "Lights Out" a couple years back while I was aimlessly browsing YouTube for horror shorts. While not a horror fanatic I do enjoy a well-made horror movie, particularly if it is effectively scary. There is something that fascinates me about a truly creepy horror movie, especially one that manages it on a small budget. The first "Paranormal Activity" hit that chord with me, as does "Lights Out."
Plenty of horror films with big budgets fail to capture that genuine creepy atmosphere that this short nails so well. The short plays off fundamental fears, and I feel that the best horror movies often do the same.
I'm not the only one impressed by this short film. In fact, it went viral and has led to Sandberg being offered the chance to turn his film into a full length feature, produced by Hollywood director James Wan. The movie comes out next month. Now, based on the trailer it does seem a bit "Hollywoodized." In fact, I would be surprised if the movie is as creepy as the short film is. From what I can gather in the trailer, the movie gives the monster a back story. In my experience, the more I know about a monster the less scary it is. What makes the short version of "Lights Out" so terrifying is that we know nothing about the monster. We don't know its origin, its motivation, or what it does to its victims. Now, we also know nothing about the protagonist. But essentially the protagonist is a stand-in for ourselves. We have all been home alone, and we have all been spooked by strange shapes in the dark. What I fear for the feature length version is that much of this will be lost by over-explanation. However, it's possible that the movie will still be effective in its own way. Apparently James Wan has been impressed with Sandberg's performance thus far, as Sandberg is next lined up to direct "Annabelle 2," a sequel in a franchise which is also produced by Wan.
The most fascinating thing about Sandberg is how very rags-to-riches his story is. Before "Lights Out" exploded on the internet he was just a struggling filmmaker living with his wife in his native Sweden. Now the pair has moved to LA and he is making big-budget Hollywood movies, all because of a little low-budget short that he filmed in his own apartment.
I sincerely hope that the movie is well-received so Sandberg can continue making movies, which is clearly his passion.
