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When the Lights Went Out (15)

Horror, Thriller

Poltergeists attack a family in Yorkshire during the 1974 nationwide blackouts.


The critical consensus

Writer/director Pat Holden’s horror film is reputedly based on real events, but seems to have more in common with the box office smash The Exorcist which it imitates in slavish fashion.

**(*)(*)(*)Eddie Harrison, The List, 11/09/2012

Aesthetically authentic and frightening in parts. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem all that different to what has come before it.

***(*)(*)Simon Crook, Empire Online, 10/09/2012

Pat Holden's chiller is a hokey effort but a decent cast.

**(*)(*)(*)Alison Rowat, The Herald, 13/09/2012

Scares aren’t exactly forthcoming, unless you count the frightening facial hair and wig combo Martin Compston is forced to wear to play Sally’s supposedly crush-worthy teacher, or, indeed, the bizarre Irish accent Gary Lewis’s philandering priest seems to have adopted to make him sound more authoritative as the local exorcist.

*(*)(*)(*)(*)Alistair Harkness, The Scotsman, 13/09/2012

Director Pat Holden delivers a few effective shocks but overcooks the climax.

**(*)(*)(*)Marc Lee, The Telegraph, 13/09/2012

Preposterous and cheesy, if occasionally oddly enjoyable.

**(*)(*)(*)Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, 13/09/2012

Like Britain in 1974, it's underpowered.

**(*)(*)(*)Anthony Quinn, The Independent, 14/09/2012


Features about When the Lights Went Out (15)

When the Lights Went Out revives 1970s ghost story

Ian Youngs, BBC, 11/09/2012

Where and when?

General release. Check local listings for show times.

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