Don’t Turn Out the Lights
What is a hang-out movie? Or is it possible that there are specific genres of movies which together with an appropriate state of mind will feel better? Do you need to be a pothead or a genre nerd or any other kind of freak to enjoy that?
Fair enough but why do I have a sneaky suspicion that none of your friends will ever find this cool and that as a group, you all will be too dumb to appreciate something weird or even crazy? And even if we are friends in real life: haven’t you even once felt just the slightest pinch of empty sadness that comes right at the heart when you try to show something to someone who for whatever reason simply can’t get what you are trying to point at, a picture for instance that you find impressive? That’s sometimes a risk worth taking, especially where the goal is not to get your friends to join in, but start a cold war.
“Don’t Turn Out the Lights” does not sound like a good movie, much less a good hangout movie whatever that is. For people who are looking for a good yet awful horror movie that is probably for those who are 1 or tipsy. Although if golf is now just ‘slightly’ metaphysical, I wonder if it can even call itself a body count movie. Primarily set in an old and battered RV, the movie does not actually go anywhere in the time as it does not know which direction to take. Or maybe that’s a compliment.
For quite some time, you may even take a lot of time getting to a point where the movie’s protagonists who are a group of average looking friends cut-throat at times, some more so than others, are to your liking. The group is filled with such obnoxious young people because they are tagging along with their friend Olivia, who is very much self-centered and is off to a music festival. They are so disgustingly loud that there is a fair chance even But why is it so? Why does writer and director Andy Fickman have such a lowly opinion about the youth? Fickman keeps moving the film ahead and unbelievably, or perhaps it was the writer’s intention, things tend to get balanced after a while when the RV ( the group’s vehicle) starts showing the signs of breakdown which is 35 minutes into the film. As if that whole episode couldn’t possibly get any worse, they are set upon by who knows what.
Until then, enjoy scoffing at cutting stock types when the time comes and they will still only recall your history regarding how wild you can get. Still, Carrie (Bella DeLong), Olivia’s persistently judgmental and rather nervous best friend, has no such deep seated conflict or major dissimilarities in life story to make her different from Gaby (Ana Zambrana), derogatory and competitive towards Carrie. Some other stock types exist, and some are to be fair more appealing along with the other self-identifying type according to the mood. Chris (Daryl Tofa) gets high and you can tell because when he emerges from the RV’s bathroom he tells everyone, “Hah, something died inside of me and uh, fell out, **** is nasty.”Similarly, the only thing that makes Jason (John Bucy), who’s also an ex-Marine, seem special is that he just gets things done such as standing up to two lecherous rednecks who shout after Gaby, and her friends and threaten them several times in a row.
In the end, there is no need to empathize with these throwaway characters, and this isn’t even because the downfall they face post-breakdown is that riveting. Rather, “Don’t Turn Out the Lights” eventually rides on its protagonists’ hasty, not fully developed theories at the end. Because who does know what is present outside their RV? It is sometimes heard that the members of the group have individual voices, who appear on screen only as two red lights which might be headlamps of a car or not.
Rather, “Don’t Turn Out the Lights” moves from one possibility to another and another, with Carrie occasionally directing the group to these potential scenarios through frantic, and often misguided, dialogue. Maybe the unwelcomed patrons of that roadhouse earlier off-screen are honed in on Olivia’s friends. Maybe there is nothing to see outside the windows of the RV. Or maybe Olivia is terrorizing her guests in order to stream their horrified looks for the sake of viewership. Or maybe it is related to the RV owner’s collection of weird magic books. They all appear to be plausible options but none satisfy, which is the right type of irritation, especially when you are watching the movie with easily persuaded people.
As much as I want to recommend “Don’t Turn Out the Lights” more often, I rarely do because the characters and the dialogues are so bland and unfriendly making it difficult to appreciate all the twists and turns that Fickman (“Race to Witch Mountain”) seeks to tiptoe around in this interesting choose your own adventure book. On the other hand, the more I think about “Don’t Turn Out the Lights” and the strange take on paranoia being the mood killer, I have a growing liking for Fickman and his space cadet version of the film. At least, if nothing else, you will enjoy talking back to the film, or bickering with each other if you’re watching with your partner or with your fanatic friends. This is definitely not a horror film which allows the audience to roam free and as much as their imaginations can with Fickman being an exception. Do not go all alone for such a trip.
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