"Every time I turn off the lights," says a terrified Martin. "There's this ... woman ... waiting in the shadows."
"I see her too," says Rebecca.
There are horror films that exist purely for the jump scares.
They give you a bunch of red herrings, false starts and almost-scares before letting loose the big fright.
Lights Out is not one of those films.
Produced by Aussie horror maestro James Wan – of Saw, The Conjuring and Insidious fame – the film stars Teresa Palmer (Warm Bodies) and Maria Bello (Coyote Ugly) as a mother and daughter traumatised by a figure called Diana.
Diana only exists in the dark – when the lights are on, she can’t harm you.
But when the lights go out, terror reigns supreme.
Eschewing the typical horror film set-up, Lights Out lets you know what you’re dealing with straight up.
In the opening scene audiences are treated to a terrifying set-piece where darkness fiend Diana clearly appears only in the dark, as a factory worker switched a light on and off in disbelief.
Lights Out could easily turn into one of those horror films that leaves audiences yelling at the characters on screen to stop being so stupid.
But it doesn’t, because the characters, refreshingly, aren’t stupid.
It is clear that Diana will do whatever it takes to attack them, so they take precautions.
One of the best things about Lights Out is the way the director (David F. Sandberg) utilises a variety of different light sources to keep the film looking and feeling different throughout the entire 80 minutes.
The characters fend off Diana with traditional lights, torches, wind-up LED torches, giant glow-sticks, candles and mobile phones.
Their performances seem genuine and far from overacted – Teresa Palmer especially brings a sense of terror the her role of Rebecca that easily spreads to the audience.
The film’s short run-time leaves no room for unnecessary plot points or ridiculous dialogue, ramping the tension right up.
Lights Out is based on a two-and-a-half minute short (of the same name) by director Sandberg that was popular online in 2013.
Hoping to continue along the successful path he has made a series of shorts recently with such ominous titles as Not So Fast, Attic Panic and Closet Space.
"We've all had that: you turn off the lights and it's like, hey, is that someone standing?," Sandberg said at the WonderCon comic book, sci-fi and movie event in Los Angeles.
"You have to turn on the lights and it's just a coat rack or something like that."
As a test of your own courage, try watching Lights Out without covering your eyes.
Lights Out is in cinemas now, rated M.
