When going into certain films, I make it a point of
(usually) doing my research if it involves looking at previous relevant films.
For instance, in preparation for my review of Ice Age 5, I will go back and
watch the previous four so I have a better idea of what I’m getting myself
into. Is it any surprise that I haven’t gotten to it yet, with that in mind?
However, this is an extremely rare occasion where I have already done my
background work without even realising that I had. Last year, when I went to go
see It Follows (you know, that film that wasn’t exactly the Oscars), it was
preceded by an ad-hoc horror short film festival. Among the titles shown, which
ranged from the clever to the supremely strange, was a 3-minute short called
Lights Out. I didn’t think much of it at the time, probably because the
audience I saw it with at the time hadn’t shut up yet and thought we were in an
interactive screening, but apparently someone else did. RatPac-Dune, a
production company that seems to be competing with Blumhouse for the most
ubiquitous film producers of the era, picked it up and turned it into a
full-fledged production. Did this film deserve such treatment, and is it
capable of existing beyond its smaller origins?
