A mysterious being that can only be seen in deep shadows and vanishes when the lights go on is plaguing a young woman (a good Teresa Palmer) and her little brother. It’s a simple, hardly new device, but nicely used here. Her investigations indicate a connection with her unbalanced mother (Maria Bello, doing an excellent wacko).

This little creeper offers up interesting characters, real frights and a steady sense of dread. But it stumbles badly when it tries on a laughable scientific explanation for what this thing is. Overall an above average, gore-free fright night at the movies. Japanese title: Light / Off. (81 min)