Review of Lightning Bug (2004) by James H — 07 Jan 2006

While many of us fascinate ourselves with the horror and the occult, many of us fail to recognize the ture horrors around us. The movie Firefly covers both of those with a bittersweet frosting. Just the right amount of each, but not enough to make it outstanding.

Lately, I've been enthralling myself with independent horror movies. Some of them B, some of them not. I originally heard about this movie after looking up films that Ashley Laurence ([i]Hellraiser[/i]) was in. When I saw this movie was being released a Canadian film festival, I was curious to how exactly it might turn out.

The film itself, tells a story about a teenage boy who's obsessed with horror films. He's great at making plaster replicas of zombies and the like and plans on working with Hollywood makeup in his future. However, his unsupportive and abusive step father always seems to stand in his way. Other local horrors occur with all the characters in the film. This stretches all the way from teen pregnancy to frighteningly conservative church groups.

Sounds like your typical drama, but it's not. The directing style with low key lighting and shady characters truly demonstrates the film's real morals. It shows that each and every one of us have a monster somewhere in our life. These monsters aren't fictitious in any way. They're very real.

While the writing is a bit sappy and there doesn't appear to be a thick plotline, the overall premise of the film is outstanding. It's not enough to have a perfect review, but it's definitely worth seeing.