It was a sliver of light no bigger than a pie slice, just long enough into my bedroom to see. I never had a night light as a child; probably because all the electrical outlets in the room were hidden behind furniture. Instead the bedroom door was left ajar, allowing the light outside to cast a calm glow into my room. It wasn’t like I thought there were monsters under my bed or someone could come through the window and steal me; we lived on a high third floor. I just wanted to see the silhouettes of all the things in the room with me. Darkness did not necessarily scare me, but for some unexplained reason I knew I had to be more careful. Where this thought came from I honestly do not know; what was it about darkness that made people leery? I can remember going to the city zoo and walking through their animals of the night exhibit and immediately thinking the animals were “scary.” The bats in particular I thought were evil and this was before I even knew about Dracula. Seeing them fly around their enclosure lit only by black lights, they not only were scaring me but the visitors around me. This type of fear is not exclusive to just nocturnal animals. I knew some people who did not like cats as pets because, as they would say, they slink around in the dark and you never know what they are thinking. What is it about the darkness that scares so many people? This horror film will give you the answer.   MARTIN, played by Gabriel Bateman (Annabelle, Checkmate), was falling asleep in class. School officials needed to call in and talk to his family to find out why Martin was not getting enough sleep. The answer was not so simple. This picture was a surprise for me. I found the bare bones script and lack of CGI effects refreshing. The reason I say refreshing is because the movie had an old fashioned horror film vibe to it. With a simple premise and good acting from the cast which also included Maria Bello (Prisoners, A History of Violence) as Sophie and Alexander DiPersia (I am Legend, Forever) as Bret, I enjoyed the way the director built up tension throughout the scenes. Simply using darkness as a tool, the anticipation and shock value provided me with some fun “cheap thrills.” I thought Teresa was perfectly cast in the role of big protective sister to her little brother. Maybe it is just me but I liked the idea of having a strong female lead since many horror films tend to cast women as the helpless victims. There were a few scenes that showed blood but there was not the gore that sometimes comes with it. I think this film would have a wider appeal because most people can relate or understand the fear so many associate with darkness. As I said earlier this had the flavor of an old fashioned horror film; but do not take it for granted, you may think twice about turning off the lights tonight.

2 ¾ stars