‘Lights Out’ turns on the terror — big time

Horror flick willmake you afraid of the dark

David F. Sandberg’s excellent horror flick “Lights Out” focuses on common fears and universal phobias.

Built on a clever premise, the film is a model for low-budget horror flicks, resourceful and smart. The most charismatic character is the ghoul itself.

Teresa Palmer plays Rebecca, a gorgeous, hot-tempered, goth chick with commitment issues. The one person to whom she is devoted is her younger brother, Martin (Gabriel Bateman), who must contend with their mercurial mother, Sophie (Maria Bello), in the wake of his father’s violent death.

This spare film cuts right to the chase. Sophie has a ghostly friend, Diana, who dates all the way back to her teenage years, when Sophie was a mental patient.

Diana is jealous and possessive

of Sophie. She deals with meddlers in painful, terrifying ways.

The premise here is that Diana — who, during her short, troubled life, suffered from a condition that made her hypersensitive to light — appears only in the dark.

Using light as their weapon, Rebecca and Martin try to overpower the demon, who both terrorizes their mother and threatens their own lives. Ultimately, the ghoul is inextricably linked to their mother with a relentless stranglehold.

Palmer’s performance turns stereotypical at times, but that’s as much the fault of Eric Heisserer’s screenplay as of the actress’ portrayal. Rebecca is intended to come across as edgy and damaged, possibly because of her rocker boyfriend Bret (Alexander DiPersia) and the heavy-metal posters all over the walls of her apartment. Palmer’s greatest assets here are her large, luminous eyes.

But the standout in “Lights Out” is talented 10year-old Bateman, playing Martin, a boy wise beyond his years and simultaneously terrified by and protective of his mom.

Martin provides the emotional component missing from the connection between Rebecca and Sophie, and Bateman’s earnestness and bravery are heart-rending. And Bello is excellent as a tormented woman coming apart at the seams.

James Wan — who launched a horror resurgence more than a decade ago with his low-budget “Saw” and who tells his own ghost stories in “The Conjuring” films— is a producer on this project. And “Lights Out” features the same high-concept, cinematography-driven horror seen in Wan’s own best work.

Sandberg (who is directing the “Conjuring” spinoff “Annabelle 2”) also has a knack for smart, even soulful horror. “Lights Out” could well make you afraid of the dark, if you aren’t already.