When the Lights Went Out

I love a well-acted film--especially a classic Ghost Story. The two schoolgirls, one of whom is being haunted in her family home, are perfectly on cue with every word spoken, with body language, with facial expression. Quite a good film with some genuinely scary moments. Characters are well developed. The story is allegedly based on true events, similar to the Enfield Haunting films Conjuring II and the somewhat-plodding BBC miniseries starring Timothy Spall.

The Maynard family move into their dream house, only to find out something is already living there. Len, Jenny and their daughter Sally struggle to keep their already-fragile family together as they are attacked by the poltergeist. It becomes apparent that Sally is the poltergeist's main focus of attention, and the house slowly becomes a living nightmare. Its true story time again, and here we have a 'real life' relative of the family not only writing the film, but also directing the tale. Now, whilst he doesn't pull any punches with the families struggles, it hardly touches on the financial crisis that befell many at the time. But then the film is about a poltergeist haunting a family. Imagine The Entity with several helping of stodgy hot-pot, and you get the gist of this film. But my gosh, its a mundane plodding affair, about as depressing as Sunday evening when you realise that the weekend is over. The cast are OK, Ashfield is okay as the troubled mother, but Waddington is fabulous as the anxious father. He knows his family are on the breadline, and now he has even more spirits to add to the ones he has at his local. But he is the only highlight of this otherwise poor film. Which is a shame, because the story is so interesting, but the result I'm afraid comes across more like a Heartbeat Halloween special, than a feature film.

This is a ghost story set in Yorkshire in the UK in the 1970's which is a pleasant change from ghost stories set in big houses in America which seem to have been done to death. Apparently this is based on a true story and that does make it all the more unsettling. It boasts a good solid British cast with well known faces such as Kate Ashfield (Shaun of the Dead), Gary Lewis,Stephen Waddington and Martin Compstondelivering effective performances. There are also believable performances from Tasha Connor as the teenage daughter and Hannah Clifford as her friend. The tension builds up effectively from pretty early on and there are plenty of creepy moments as the poltergeist activity increases. This isn't a gore fest so if you are looking for that you will be disappointed but as a suspenseful ghost story it works really well. When the Lights Went Out is only a small film but it shows what can be done with a limited budget and some decent acting. This is one of the better ghost stories I have seen and punches well above it's weight. Highly recommended.

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

Okay, take Poltergeist and The Exorcist then move them to seventies Yorkshire and you basically have When the Lights Went Out. It's supposedly based on a true story (but aren't they always?) about a family who encounter a particularly nasty spook in their house. This is a film where I can find many positives and only one negative. The good things are the setting (if you ignore the occasional Sky Digital dish in the background). They do a good job of portraying seventies England. The actors are also all believable. The film centres quite a bit on two young girls. Kids in films (and especially horror films) tend to be either highly annoying, or just totally unlikeable. However, I found these two girls quite endearing and hopefully they will have a long acting career ahead of them. Also, it's quite creepy. The scares are sometimes predictable, but they're there nonetheless. About the only thing that's negative is that - as far as story-telling goes - is that there's nothing new here. Hollywood has been churning out these sorts of films for years and all you have here is a British (period) version of one of those types. If you're in the mood for an easy-going British horror flick, definitely give this one a go. Just don't expect anything revolutionary.

I have to admit, the German cover art looks more demonic than the movie turns out to be. Still there are quite a few nice performances, even the mother who has the toughest job to pull off. And she barely makes it in my opinion. The movie walks a thin line between going into the dark (no pun intended) and some might like the decision it takes about jumping or not jumping over the edge (it would be spoiling telling you that, so I leave that one open). The other clever decision the movie makes it, that it doesn't try to outdo the Exorcist. It would be a lost battle from the get go, so it doesn't even try to go that direction. It does have a few nice ideas here and there, some of which are not further explored (unfortunately). Overall a decent effort.

Yorkshire, 1974: the Maynard family moves into their dream house but soon discovery it is already occupied by a violent spirit. Based on what is regarded as the most violent poltergeist haunting in Europe and not to be confused with the 'Enfield Poltergeist', from the metal bins to glass milk bottles, cigarette filled pubs, Buckaroo, Kerr plunk, wood panelled walls, seventies patterned wallpaper and 70's TV to name a few When the Lights Went Out is worth viewing for the 70s nostalgia alone. Director Pat Holden takes some queues from some well know horrors and parts of his offering are unavoidably reminiscent of The Amativille Horror, The Exorcist and Poltergeist. Although the closing is unnecessary effects laden, the overall unassuming setting adds to the ominous and uneasy feel, this coupled with the minimal melodic music and lighting create some good tension. With haunting figures and things going bump in the coal shed and dwelling as the family becomes more convinced their house isn't right, it becomes quite compelling viewing especially for those also familiar with the well documented alleged haunting. The creepy sound design makes the most mundane objects jumpy and menacing as the incidents escalate throughout. Along with the on location feel amongst the expertly recreated period, the everyday UK setting adds to an air of realism. Part horror, part family drama what's interesting is the haunting events and its effect on the daughter and family and the reaction of the school and local community. It's well filmed and acted, notable are Kate Ashfield , Steven Waddington, Tasha Connor with Craig Parkinson Martin Compston and Andrea Lowe providing some good performances in supporting roles. With a bit of artistic licence, based on The Black Monk of Pontefract, Holden gives the events context and structure to a story that's well acted amounting to a solid British haunting film.

the main story line was good and the actually haunting side was good. the era is portrayed wonderfully and most of my family loved looking back at some of the older item's and the scenery. for the true events matter, i do believe the people and the story but putting it out there saying it is a true story and having it contain some of the graphics that it did might be quite disturbing and frightening to people. one scene in particular is in the bedroom, a presence is nudging one of the characters, she believes its her husband, as she turns to face her husband she is shocked to find that her husband not there but the bed sheets risen, as she pulls back the covers she finds a gruesome figure laid staring at her. this is the only negative side i have to the movie apart from that i found the movie quite intriguing but some points are exaggerated. the live exorcism was fairly good as it was engrossing, also the technique was very accurate to a real life exorcism. some facts were wrong in the movie like the location, but the mediums and the exorcist seemed very accurate in their styles. this movie does seem real and i do believe most people would find it more intriguing to watch than more horrifying because it feels more realistic than most horror films.

A horror movie that is quite indecisive whether it wants to be a comedy as well – in spite of the fact that it deals with "the most malevolent poltergeist in Europe's history". Long segments of WTLWO have no gags, but then the "humour" rears its absurd head in the most inappropriate moments, rendering the characters' behavior illogical. The film-makers should have chosen a direction and stuck with it, instead of meandering between genres like confused teens. Just to give you an idea: the girl's father and his pal blackmail the local priest into conducting the exorcism, and they do this by showing him sex-photos of him and his maid. Several idiotic plot-devices were used by force to advance "conflict" hence the plot. Firstly, the way Sally loses her best friend is quite absurd: Sally faints during a school excursion, and her teacher instructs her friend to go inside the house to watch over her. Once there, Sally's friend must immediately do no. 1 because she "wore nappies at the age of 10" (how convenient for the writer). Predictably, she gets attacked while peeing (in what is also perhaps a world premiere of a 13 year-old girl being shown peeing and wiping – though I am excluding French cinema in which this must have been done by now). The girl's mother angrily admonishes Sally – yet Sally FAILS to tell her that it wasn't her fault and that she had fainted previously. Sally's mother appears a minute later and smacks Sally hard, in SPITE of the fact that Sally had a mysterious band-aid on her forehead, which apparently wasn't noticed by her mother for whatever baffling reason, nor did she ever even ask Sally how she hurt herself. In other words, the entire fainting episode is something Sally FAILS to inform her parents about – and they never find out about it – which I thought was extremely moronic. A dozen people could have told them about it: the teacher, Sally, Sally's pal, Sally's classmates, the school principal, etc, yet none of them do. Secondly, the role of the private exorcist. He shows up at the pub where Sally's father gets drunk, but instead of introducing himself to him, he insults him and gets into a row! What purpose could this scene possibly serve? To tell us that Sally's father likes bar-brawls? Who gives a toss! Later, the mystery man hands a visit-card to Sally who predictably FAILS to show it to her parents. Later, when she finally calls him for help, he is unable to do much; the only thing we learn from this man is that there are two ghosts instead of one – as if that wasn't quite obvious anyway. Sally keeps failing to communicate the most essential information to her parents, as if she had her tongue already cut by the tongue-cutting ghost. The ghost is a pedophilic, serial-killing priest. He fondles Sally on many occasions, in what is slightly tasteless fare. But then again, this is the same movie that gives us insight into how a 13 year-old pees! Why be surprised. I am just glad the camera didn't go down into the toilet-bowl before the flushing occurred, to help us understand what a girl's pee looks like seconds before its sent into the British Canal. There is another cretinous scene early on when Sally's father lunges out of the cellar frightened out of his wits and actually smacks his daughter full-on – in spite of just having had encountered a ghost! The writer tries hard to alienate Sally from her parents and society, using all the clichés in the text-book, and then exaggerating them to the point of absurdity.