Late 2008 MacBook screen not working

Hello, I have a MacBook from around November 2008 running 10.5.8. About a week ago I was watching a YouTube video when the display suddenly shut off and the screen went blank. The video had sound to it which I could still hear. I assumed it was just a random reboot as 3 year old computers do not always perform flawlessly. I held down the power button to turn off the computer and waited 5 minutes before turning it back on. After turning it back on everything was working fine and I thought nothng of it. However today I was again watching a YouTube video and the screen randomly shut off again. I did the same thing as last time but this time when I turned it back on the screen never returned to is normal state. I have tried multiple times to no avail. Everything else seems fine I still get the startup chime and sound of the fan. While using it sometimes the light will flicker for a second in the corner of the screen and then return back to black. I tried when it is on but the screen is black to shine a flashlight through the apple logo on the back and I can vaguely see in the area of where the flashlight is. As my laptop is 3 years old I am no longer under warranty. I have a lot of important files on my laptop for college and really do not want to have to shell out for a new laptop. I have an Ipad and 2 itouch's as well and have never had an issue with an apple product. Thank you very much.

Hi, and welcome to Apple Support Communities.
Have you tried resetting the SMC? If not, this may correct the problem.

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