Lightning Bug (DVD)
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I’ve heard a lot of buzz about an independent horror movie called Lightning Bug over the past couple of months. Writer/Director Robert Hall has been making the rounds at the Fangoria Convention, Comic-Con, and just about everywhere genre fans lurk — and one of the stars, Hal Sparks (who has all of two scenes), has been a great promoter of the film.
Lightning Bug starts off as a run-of-the-mill coming of age story, and unfortunately, it stays that way. The only horror aspect I could discern was that the protagonist, Green Graves (Bret Harrison), is a wannabe creatures f/x artist who wants to leave his
As Green struggles through his dreary, day-to-day life with a cruel, abusive stepfather (Kevin Gage) and a practically lifeless mother (Ashley Laurence), Green finds hope in two things: A pretty and exciting video store clerk (Laura Prepon), and his creation of a creepy haunted house for the big Halloween town celebration. His hopes are dashed again and again by outside factors, but Green perseveres even when things turn deadly.
But the movie isn’t really about anything “deadly” and definitely doesn’t have one “scary” moment in it. Nope, those who are trying to market the DVD as a horror film are hoodwinkers. Lightning Bug is a cut and dried story about an unusual boy who’s ostracized by the religious townsfolk for being interested in
The best thing about the movie is the cinematography, which is surprisingly decent for a low budget flick. The acting is fine, and the art direction is good. The sluggish direction and just plain bad editing go hand-in-hand, making Lightning Bug one of the most boring DVDs I’ve seen in quite some time. Huge chunks of the story come up missing, and there are too many continuity errors to recount here. Talky, static scenes go on and on. The music score leaves a lot to be desired… for example, there’s a wimpy ballad illustrating a musical montage about Green’s discovery of romance.
To make matters worse, the DVD is not captioned for the hearing impaired. I rely on the captions quite a bit, as I review a lot of movies while working out on the treadmill; but that’s not a big deal — it’s the total disregard for the millions of movie lovers who are hearing-impaired that gets me. In addition to the cringe-inducing music and lack of captions, the sound on the DVD is exceedingly uneven: songs are Kiss-concert loud, while the mostly mumbled dialogue is whisper-quiet.
Horror? Not even close. If Lightning Bug were being marketed as a drama, I might sorta-kinda compare it to 2004’s acclaimed Garden State (though Garden State has more artistic flair and better dialogue than Lightning Bug, for me it had the same tedious feel to it). Unless you’re interested in seeing some cool creature effects (Hall’s own work), this movie will only bug you.
Special Features
Commentary by Robert Hall, producer Lisa Waugh, Ashley Laurence, and Laura Prepon
Commentary by writer/director Robert Hall
Deleted scenes with commentary
Luciferin: The Making of Lightning Bug featurette
Music video
Outtakes
Still gallery
Trailer
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson