New Line Cinema's new horror film Lights Out, from The Conjuring 2 producer James Wan and first-time director David F. Sandberg, made a strong impression with its trailer debut and panel at WonderCon 2015.

Starring Maria Bello and Teresa Palmer, Lights Out offers a new twist on a familiar horror trope: a figure haunts someone when the lights go out. In this case, it's actually the parent who is haunted by a terrifying figure instead of the child.


"I always figured it would be more scary if the parent has the invisible friend," Sandberg explained on the panel. "It sort of started there, and then it turned into this whole story of dealing with your parents and family history."

Bello, who plays haunted and schizophrenic character Sophie, gave the movie her vote of confidence; she watched it recently, and happily shared that she "watched it between my fingers." "That's when I knew it was pretty good," she said. "For a horror film, it's such a drama, and a family drama."

She teased that the villainous, shadowy figure Diana, with whom Sophie has a history, might be more than meets the eye. Bello challenged viewers to really think about what Diana could be when they do see Lights Out, which hits theaters on July 22.