In 1974 the Maynard family move in to a new house . Their teenage daughter quickly becomes more and more disconcerted about being in the house , almost as if there's a supernatural presence at play . Within a short period of time it becomes clear a poltergeist is stalking the family
Supposedly based on a real life haunting that became known The Black Monk Of Prontefract . I knew nothing about this case so looked it up on Wikipedia to find that the researchers found it to be faked . Oh what a surprise that was . I mean if ghosts exist that means there's a life after death when most human beings spend their entire existence wondering at nearly every point if there might actually be a life before death . Perhaps the debunking meant the story didn't ingrain itself on the British psyche similar to that one in Amityville ? It might also explain why the characters have had their names changed in this film
Despite being fiction WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT does succeed in doing what it sets out to do - scare the audience . Okay director Pat Holden hardly needs to break sweat because of the scare tactics are achieved through sound mixing silence followed by deafening crashes but is more than efficient in making the audience jump . Some people might be annoyed by a lack of a truly physical threat but as someone who has spent the last few eeks watching one grade Z horror film after another where the selling point is gore then this is a nice , understated restrained change of pace
One thing Holden is possibly conscious of is how ridiculous the mid 1970s were culture wise . Music and fashion reached a nadir in this decade which had never been seen before and thankfully one hopes will never be seen again . Imagine watching Gary Glitter on TOP OF THE POPS presented by Jimmy Savile followed by IT'S A KNOCKOUT with Stuart Hall . Add to this hideous hairstyles and flared trousers and you wonder why the dead would bother contact the living , therefore Holden doesn't make WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT seem too much like the 1970s
Supposedly based on a real life haunting that became known The Black Monk Of Prontefract . I knew nothing about this case so looked it up on Wikipedia to find that the researchers found it to be faked . Oh what a surprise that was . I mean if ghosts exist that means there's a life after death when most human beings spend their entire existence wondering at nearly every point if there might actually be a life before death . Perhaps the debunking meant the story didn't ingrain itself on the British psyche similar to that one in Amityville ? It might also explain why the characters have had their names changed in this film
Despite being fiction WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT does succeed in doing what it sets out to do - scare the audience . Okay director Pat Holden hardly needs to break sweat because of the scare tactics are achieved through sound mixing silence followed by deafening crashes but is more than efficient in making the audience jump . Some people might be annoyed by a lack of a truly physical threat but as someone who has spent the last few eeks watching one grade Z horror film after another where the selling point is gore then this is a nice , understated restrained change of pace
One thing Holden is possibly conscious of is how ridiculous the mid 1970s were culture wise . Music and fashion reached a nadir in this decade which had never been seen before and thankfully one hopes will never be seen again . Imagine watching Gary Glitter on TOP OF THE POPS presented by Jimmy Savile followed by IT'S A KNOCKOUT with Stuart Hall . Add to this hideous hairstyles and flared trousers and you wonder why the dead would bother contact the living , therefore Holden doesn't make WHEN THE LIGHTS WENT OUT seem too much like the 1970s