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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 28 AUGUST 2016 38 This Week IN CINEMAS TODAY Embassy Cinemas Valletta Tel. 21 227436, 21 245818 Suicide Squad (15) 10:30, 14:15, 18:05, 20:50 Finding Dory 2D 10:00, 12:15, 14:30, 16:45, 19:00, 21:15 The Shallows (12) 16:30, 18:40, 20:50 War Dogs (15) 10:20, 13:40, 16:10, 18:40, 21:10 Pete's Dragon (U) 10:00, 12:15, 14:30, 16:45, 19:00, 21:15 Lights Out (15) 10:00, 12:10, 14:15, 16:20, 18:20, 20:45 Valletta Living History (U) 10:00, 10:45, 11:30, 12:15, 13:00, 13:45, 14:30, 15:15 Eden Cinemas St Julian's Tel. 23 710400 Finding Dory (U) 14:00, 18:35 The Carer (15) 14:00, 18:10, 23:00 The BFG (PG) 14:00, 16:25, 18:50 Nerve (15) 14:00, 16:10, 18:20, 21:05, 23:20 War Dogs (15) 14:00, 16:20, 18:45, 21:10, 23:40 Pete's Dragon (U) 14:05, 18:40 Swallows and Amazons (PG) 14:10, 16:20, 18:30, 20:45, 22:55 Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (15) 14:10, 16:25, 18:50, 21:15, 23:30 Nine Lives (PG) 14:10, 16:15, 18:30, 20:50, 23:00 The Shallows (12) 14:15, 16:20, 18:30, 21:00, 23:05 Lights Out (15) 14:20, 16:30, 18:50, 21:00, 23:00 Jason Bourne (12A) 14:25, 18:15, 20:55, 23:35 Suicide Squad (15) 14:30, 21:10, 23:15 Wiener-Dog (TBA) 16:10, 20:45 Finding Dory (U) 16:20, 20:50, 23:10 Pete's Dragon (U) 16:25, 20:55 Suicide Squad (15) 18:00 The Legend of Tarzan (12A) 21:15, 23:35 Empire Cinemas Bugibba Tel. 21 581787, 21 581909 Nine Lives (PG) 11:15, 13:30, 16:00, 18:20, 20:45 War Dogs (15) 10:30, 13:30, 16:00, 18:30, 20:55 Suicide Squad (15) 10:40, 13:15, 15:55, 18:30, 21:05 Finding Dory (U) 10:30, 14:00, 16:15, 18:30, 20:45 Pete's Dragon (U) 10:30, 13:30, 16:00, 18:30, 20:50 Swallows and Amazons (PG) 10:30, 13:05, 15:40, 18:15, 21:00 The Shallows (12) 11:15, 13:30, 16:00, 18:35, 21:00 HORROR movies are great at distilling our keenest and most fastidiously repressed fear and anxieties. That is, when they're not too busy trading in the bas- est of schlock to assuage mouth- breathing gore-hounds and/or bored moviegoers simply after a cheap thrill. But the best of them have the power to perform the pop culture equivalent of cheap communal therapy – or exorcism, if you will – by allowing us to confront our fears and take the corresponding adrenaline ride that comes along that experience from the safety of the cinema auditorium and/or our home screens. And although it's very much a slick product of a particular strand of commercially depend- able horror movies to come out of late – aided along by its pro- ducer and very much serving like a springboard-vehicle for its up- and-coming director – David F. Sandberg's Lights Out has some depths to explore. After her stepfather Paul (Billy Burke) dies in freak accident in- volving a mysterious humanoid entity at work, Rebecca (Teresa Palmer) feels compelled to pro- tect her little brother Martin (Gabriel Bateman) from their mentally unstable mother, So- phie (Maria Bello) – who ap- pears to have stopped taking her medication and is often seen talking to an imaginary friend… who may or may not be the en- tity that killed Rebecca's stepfa- ther (who was Martin's father). With Rebecca's boyfriend Bret (Alexander DiPersia) in tow, the siblings soon discover that the entity in question is not just a figment of their mother's imagi- nation, and that in order to rid themselves of what has become a dangerous family curse, they need to find a way to tackle it head on… without losing their lives in the process. With the help of contemporary horror maestro James Wan – the director behind the hugely suc- cessful The Conjuring and In- sidious franchises – and working off a script by Eric Heisserer, this debut feature film from Sand- berg was adapted from a short film by the Swedish director, who made something of a name for producing 'no budget' hor- ror shorts. In this way, whether by accident or design, Sandberg places himself in parallel to his Australian colleague Jennifer Kent, who also spun a domestic horror yarn about mothers, chil- dren and haunting family history out of a short film and into the striking feature The Babadook. Sadly, Sandberg doesn't really have the depth and heart-rending texture of The Babadook – to say nothing of its powerful perfor- mances – and as a result Lights Out cleaves close to formula and adheres to a more conventional string of dramatic beats to get a rise out of the audience. That it's 'curated' by James Wan is evident in the sleek photography and judiciously arranged plots and sub-plots, while also keep- ing to Wan's predilection for jump scares and spookiness over twisty plots and gore. This ensures that, at the very least, the film maintains a healthy pace while retain- ing a down-to-earth, domestic feel throughout that helps us to stay on board with the only marginally outlandish concept that animates this family chiller. The 'monster' is used sparingly, and the inevitable jump scares – when they do arrive – feel earned. What's most rewarding is that Sandberg and Heisserer actu- ally have a strong thematic fo- cus – the burden of a tortured family history and the new gen- eration's responsibility of con- fronting it and seeing it through – that is built upon and reflected through the proceedings. While this is regrettably telegraphed in the most unsubtle way you can imagine – a final line by the young Martin really hammers it home in a way that's borderline- embarrassing – and neither is it helped along by uninspiring performances all round, it also means that in its own pulpy way, here's a horror film that's actu- ally trying to say something. A compact piece of genre en- tertainment that hints at greater things for its emerging director. When family history takes revenge ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ LIGHT FANTASTIC ★ ★ ★ ★ SCINTILLATING ★ ★ ★ DEPENDABLE FLASHLIGHT ★ ★ LOW BATTERY ★ CANDLE-WAX FILM By Teodor Reljic LIGHTS OUT (15) ★ ★ ★ Mummy dearest: Maria Bello Gabriel Bateman and Teresa Palmer play beleaguered siblings in this domestic ghost story