Don’t Turn Out the Lights review
A birthday party loses its way and ends up faced with an unseen, unstoppable evil.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Don’t Turn Out the Lights
Directed by Andy Fickman
Written by Andy Fickman
Starring Jarrett Austin Brown, John Bucy, Jasper Cole, Bella DeLong, Crystal Lake Evans, Amber Janea and Finley Rose Slater
Don’t Turn Out the Lights Review
Much like the RV used as the centerpiece of the movie, Don’t Turn Out the Lights makes a grand entrance but eventually gets stopped in its tracks. For every positive here there seems to be a negative ready to match it. Some good ideas get drowned out by unnecessary lulls. The excitement that fills the first act disappears into the night…perhaps taken by whatever mystery lies outside of the camper doors. Just when you think the bus will start moving…the movie turns to one of horror’s most annoying sins. There’s a lot to like in Don’t Turn Out the Lights. There’s just as much wrong.
It’s Olivia’s (Crystal Lake Evans) birthday and all her friends are here. Carrie (Bella DeLong) and Sarah (Amber Janea) try to set their issues aside and enjoy the festivities. Olivia’s boyfriend Michael (Jarrett Austin Brown) pulls up in his uncle’s RV to take the group on a ten-hour sojourn to the Blue Light Music Festival. His roommate Jason (John Bucy) is along for the ride. Joining them are Gaby (Ana Zambrana) and her ex-boyfriend and current drug addict Chris (Daryl Tofa). It promises to be an unforgettable weekend.
Let’s talk positives. Don’t Turn Out the Lights hits the ground running with a high energy opening that introduces us to the characters. They don’t get much more fleshed out than the above descriptions, however. Jason may be the most interesting…a former marine who is unknown to most of the group. Carrie tries to be inviting to him which leads Sarah to immediately swoop in and make an impression. Jason shows his skills during an altercation at a gas station where he puts down two racist locals in a swift manner. That won’t be the last we see of the locals. They become part of the film’s inciting incident. It is, however, nearly the last we see of Jason. Despite being given an intriguing skill set…he is dispatched almost immediately when things hit the fan.
It’s a fun choice. We know that he can handle himself…his quick elimination is narratively surprising and serves to up the stakes of the film. How we get there is fun too. The locals track the RV and attempt to get revenge. They force it off the main road and the gang, unsurprisingly, becomes lost. A stop at a local bar only gives them the cold shoulder and an even colder warning. Turn back. Ignoring that leaves the group high and dry when their RV collides with…something. They’re stuck…something is outside…and the two strongest physical threats in the group disappear into the night.
Whatever’s outside is strong enough to pull the RV back when what remains of the group manages to get it moving again. The mystery of what’s going on keeps the intrigue going in Don’t Turn Out the Lights. Unfortunately, it’s also where we start dipping into some negatives. While the movie has a lot of ideas about what it can do to these characters…there’s not much rhyme or reason to any of it. A character that leaves the RV runs back to it and pounds on the door to gain entry. The girls left inside hesitate to do so because they can see the girl in the headlights in front of them. What’s going on? Who is at the door? Is there a time or space distortion? A great scene that sets up some intriguing questions that Don’t Turn Out the Lights doesn’t have answers for.
“Weird things happen around the RV” isn’t much of a plot. Especially when the movie relies on it for as long as it does. When you build something up for as long as Don’t Turn Out the Lights does…it needs to have a killer payoff to prove worth the time invested. In that regard, the story does find a fairly decent conclusion…as long as you don’t care if anything ever gets explained. Mysteries don’t need concrete answers to be enjoyable. Don’t Turn Out the Lights isn’t enjoyable enough to lack concrete answers.
A large part of that problem comes from the length of the movie. Don’t Turn Out the Lights is too long. Following a dynamic first act and some fun with the unknown…we spend far too much time sitting in that RV. A cycle of characters yelling at each other, calming down, and being jarred by a loud noise develops. The actors are fine…but the characters are too slapdash (or, frankly, annoying) to watch repeat this cycle.
Then there is the big sin. Don’t Turn Out the Lights opts for the quiet talks followed by LOUD NOISES thing that plagues movies who know they aren’t getting the jumps they want from viewers. It’s a lazy tactic that is more annoying than successful. You can use a couple loud noises, sure…but it can’t be your whole scare tactic or sound design. Don’t Turn Out the Lights leans heavily into it in the third act. The Nun did this. Don’t be like The Nun.
Even with those complaints…there is something fresh to the way Don’t Turn Out the Lights presents its ideas. Tighter editing (and laying off the sound mixing) could have provided a better outcome. There is enough to like here to recommend a watch. Just know that the energy you feel when the movie starts is going to be loudly whisked away by an unknown force that you will remain frustratingly ignorant of when the credits roll.
Scare Value
Don’t Turn Out the Lights has enough high points to cover some of its issues. The movie is a bit too long. We spend too much time in the RV wondering what’s going on. That much build requires a massive payoff. Don’t Turn Out the Lights finds a good ending…but not one quite worth the wait. The early energy of the movie peters out during the long night. It also uses relies on the dreaded quiet to loud concept too often. But there is something fresh about it as a whole…and a deadly mystery that keeps you engaged even if the answers don’t fully pay off for the time invested.
2.5/5
Don’t Turn Out the Lights Links
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