I bought this movie at my local video store the other day for the whooping sum of 94 cents. I figured I could`nt lose. About 10 minutes in I was thinking that I had thrown away 94 cents and was about to eject it from the VCR and throw it in the trash. However, it began to show some promise in the thrills and suspense area so I continued to watch and ended up very pleased to add this film to my collection. Even though there is nothing original about this movie (psycho killer stalks people on an island with large knife) it is well made and well acted by a cast of unknowns. At times the suspense is riveting. I would recommend this movie for at least a one time watch.
50 Reviews
Suspension of disbelief required.
Danny_G136 September 2005
Serial killer thriller horror is actually fairly entertaining, but does require a temporary abandonment of common sense.
James Purefoy is Spader, a prisoner aboard a transport ship taking a crew of inmates to prison. Unfortunately, the ship runs into trouble and sinks, leaving only a few survivors. Spader is one of the said survivors, as is Rook, a psychopath who kills anyone he sees. The small band of survivors, including Spader, set up stall in the lighthouse which is on the land the survivors reach, and aware that Rook is out there, endeavour to protect themselves.
Lighthouse is a British horror, which generally have a gritty feel to them. This one is no different. It certainly has that hard edge we come to expect from UK horror like 28 Days Later etc.
It also generates a pretty atmospheric facade, showing up moody storms and the isolated lighthouse. Decent work was done here.
The direction is generally pretty clear, and doesn't confuse too much. It does a good job of keeping the pace fairly quick.
In a technical sense though, the dialogue is a slight problem with very murky delivery in places. I am unsure if the actors specifically muddied their lines or if it was just a bad sound system, but some of what is said is decidedly incoherent.
The acting is generally mediocre, with one particularly awful performance from Don Warrington who was hopelessly miscast. The guy is a thesp, not a jibbering wreck as he was asked to play here. He struggles obviously at times, and one can only have sympathy with him.
The rest gamely chug on, with Purefoy being the handsome and charismatic male lead and doing a reasonable job of it.
The last flaw though, with Lighthouse, is that there are just too many daft moments. Too many occasions logic is dismissed and reason flies out of the window. As such this is not exactly the most realistic of horrors but as long as you accept you're not getting common sense, it's passable enough.
Indeed, as long as you can dismiss the stupidity of much of it, it is actually OK and worth a couple of hours of your time. There are certainly much worse efforts out there.
James Purefoy is Spader, a prisoner aboard a transport ship taking a crew of inmates to prison. Unfortunately, the ship runs into trouble and sinks, leaving only a few survivors. Spader is one of the said survivors, as is Rook, a psychopath who kills anyone he sees. The small band of survivors, including Spader, set up stall in the lighthouse which is on the land the survivors reach, and aware that Rook is out there, endeavour to protect themselves.
Lighthouse is a British horror, which generally have a gritty feel to them. This one is no different. It certainly has that hard edge we come to expect from UK horror like 28 Days Later etc.
It also generates a pretty atmospheric facade, showing up moody storms and the isolated lighthouse. Decent work was done here.
The direction is generally pretty clear, and doesn't confuse too much. It does a good job of keeping the pace fairly quick.
In a technical sense though, the dialogue is a slight problem with very murky delivery in places. I am unsure if the actors specifically muddied their lines or if it was just a bad sound system, but some of what is said is decidedly incoherent.
The acting is generally mediocre, with one particularly awful performance from Don Warrington who was hopelessly miscast. The guy is a thesp, not a jibbering wreck as he was asked to play here. He struggles obviously at times, and one can only have sympathy with him.
The rest gamely chug on, with Purefoy being the handsome and charismatic male lead and doing a reasonable job of it.
The last flaw though, with Lighthouse, is that there are just too many daft moments. Too many occasions logic is dismissed and reason flies out of the window. As such this is not exactly the most realistic of horrors but as long as you accept you're not getting common sense, it's passable enough.
Indeed, as long as you can dismiss the stupidity of much of it, it is actually OK and worth a couple of hours of your time. There are certainly much worse efforts out there.
Major disappointment
stu-12517 December 2003
Visually it looked great, but it fell into madman hacks people to death in unimaginative ways with no suspense or caring for characters crap video territory very quickly. It's all been done before and a million times better in loads of other straight to video slasher shockers. Tony Imi was too good for them!
The white shoes that always stay clean.
andrewjones88817 October 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Here we have another forgettable little ditty.
A daft prison ship escape with an even more ridiculous villain called of all things "Leo".
Not sure if the director or writer understood the basic layout of a lighthouse but here it goes....there is ONE stair case leading all the way to the top but some how our super killer manages to move about freely and kill people in different rooms without anyone seeing him!
Some plot holes you could drive a truck through and some very dodgy casting decisions..Don warrington for one!
One or two well shot scenes stick out such as the poor slob on the toilet who almost but not quite avoided being killed.
No matter what super killer Leo does: swim in the sea,murder people,lurk in cellars or hack your head off, those snazzy white shoes just keep looking shop fresh.
No wounder this slop took a while to darken our doors.
A daft prison ship escape with an even more ridiculous villain called of all things "Leo".
Not sure if the director or writer understood the basic layout of a lighthouse but here it goes....there is ONE stair case leading all the way to the top but some how our super killer manages to move about freely and kill people in different rooms without anyone seeing him!
Some plot holes you could drive a truck through and some very dodgy casting decisions..Don warrington for one!
One or two well shot scenes stick out such as the poor slob on the toilet who almost but not quite avoided being killed.
No matter what super killer Leo does: swim in the sea,murder people,lurk in cellars or hack your head off, those snazzy white shoes just keep looking shop fresh.
No wounder this slop took a while to darken our doors.
2 words can sum this movie up....
KHayes66610 January 2006
Warning: Spoilers
No originality! The plot of the movie is this. A criminal psychiatrist, a sick maniac and a bunch of prisoners are on board a boat. The maniac named Leo Rook escapes his cell and proceeds to sink the ship. The prisoners, ship crew and hot psych girl get to shore and are trapped on an island with Rook. The prisoners, rather than side with the maniac, devise a plan to kill him.
The movie is your standard "bad guy picks off good guys one by one until the hero and the girl kill him in the end" so originality isn't a factor.
The cast itself is wonderful with a lot of unknowns and you get into them, so when they die you actually go "awww" instead of "yawn".
The highlight of the movie is when the fat prisoner calls Leo Rook a "sick f*ck!"
The plot is unoriginal but the cast and the setting are decent.
5 out of 10
The movie is your standard "bad guy picks off good guys one by one until the hero and the girl kill him in the end" so originality isn't a factor.
The cast itself is wonderful with a lot of unknowns and you get into them, so when they die you actually go "awww" instead of "yawn".
The highlight of the movie is when the fat prisoner calls Leo Rook a "sick f*ck!"
The plot is unoriginal but the cast and the setting are decent.
5 out of 10
Well what can I say
nelson_lee4315 April 2004
Could probably be summed up as reasonably entertaining, predictable nonsense.
Every scene moving one to the other was so predictable. In fact you could say everything that happened could have been foretold within the first half hour.
It would be wrong to judge the acting as there was none, but in fairness the film did not need to be acted out. Rather than acting, basic motions were more than adequate given the plot, the location and the fact that it was pitch dark all of the time.
However, it did entertain in a fashion. Whether this was down to the predictability of the storyline or whether it did really entertain I'm not sure.
I'm glad I neither specifically paid to see at the movies nor paid for it at the local DVD hire shop (watched it on a TV movie channel). But why do I still have this weird notion that I quite enjoyed it??
Every scene moving one to the other was so predictable. In fact you could say everything that happened could have been foretold within the first half hour.
It would be wrong to judge the acting as there was none, but in fairness the film did not need to be acted out. Rather than acting, basic motions were more than adequate given the plot, the location and the fact that it was pitch dark all of the time.
However, it did entertain in a fashion. Whether this was down to the predictability of the storyline or whether it did really entertain I'm not sure.
I'm glad I neither specifically paid to see at the movies nor paid for it at the local DVD hire shop (watched it on a TV movie channel). But why do I still have this weird notion that I quite enjoyed it??
Not really sure what to make of this movie,
atinder1 November 2013
I don't why but I got this for 50p the another day, so what the hell give a watch, thinking it haunted Light house.
It turns out it was more of slasher movie,
Well I don't know to really make out of this, it didn't hate but I didn't love either, i thougth it flowed,
There were some bloody deaths in this movie but I didn't find him scary at all but I did enjoy those very tense scenes were some were hiding from him.
If you may seem a little funny but the whole way to predicable, you know how the movie was going to end.
4 out of 10
It turns out it was more of slasher movie,
Well I don't know to really make out of this, it didn't hate but I didn't love either, i thougth it flowed,
There were some bloody deaths in this movie but I didn't find him scary at all but I did enjoy those very tense scenes were some were hiding from him.
If you may seem a little funny but the whole way to predicable, you know how the movie was going to end.
4 out of 10
Suffers from familiarity and over exuberance from its director, but still a solid sub-genre entry.
hitchcockthelegend25 August 2010
Lighthouse (AKA: Dead of Night) is directed by Simon Hunter and written by Graeme Scarfe. It stars James Purefoy, Rachel Shelley, Christopher Adamson, Don Warrington & Paul Brooke. The plot sees a prison ship on its way to the remote Marshelsea Island Prison run aground and sunk. The survivors, a mixture of cons and prison staff, struggle ashore a tiny island that's only function is to house a lighthouse. Thanking their lucky stars for surviving the wreck it's not long before they realise their luck has quickly run out. For psychotic serial killer Leo Rook has made it ashore before them and he has no intention of letting any of them survive the night.
Funded by Arts Council money, Hunter's movie took some time to make it on to the screen. What began in 1994 ended with a video release in the US (as Dead of Night) in 2000 and then two years later it got a limited theatrical release in the UK. As a slasher movie, and a generic one at that, Lighthouse doesn't veer from the norm. However, it's still a very tidy effort that gains the maximum impact from its truly eerie setting. This dark and rocky little island that is intermittently lit by the Lighthouse is perfect for stalk and slash shenanigans. And so it proves. Yes the characters are too one note and not given the best of dialogue to churn out, but for its look and nicely handled set pieces the film ends up better than average.
The cast, in spite of said bad dialogue, are more than adequate, particularly the game Shelley and the enjoyable Brooke. However, it's Adamson as nut-case Rook that leaves the best impression. As a killer Rook is really just a British version of Jason Vorhees or Michael Myers, but with his calm unflustered movements about the island, resplendent in bizarre white shoes, Rook manages to terrify and intrigue in equal measure. Why he is the way he is is not known, but this adds to the air of mystery that surrounds the man who likes to collect heads for decoration purposes! Of the set pieces, the finale is noisily OTT but works well, even if Hunter's use of slow-mo smacks of pointless pretencions. But it's with the quiet tension filled scenes where Lighthouse earns its spurs, one in the bathroom is as good as it gets for this type of film, while another involving a lifeboat down on the sand is also hold your breath enjoyable. Shot by Tony Imi on location in Cornwall & Hastings, the film is also visually appealing for those who like a grainy noir like sheen to their horror. With Hunter clearly in that frame of mind judging by his nice usage of the off kilter shot. While Debbie Wiseman's surging score has a very 50s feel to it.
It's safe to say that anyone looking for something new in this now tired of horror sub-genres will be disappointed. But the look, the feel, the setting and no shortage of the claret; more than makes up for its adherence to genre staples. 6.5/10
Funded by Arts Council money, Hunter's movie took some time to make it on to the screen. What began in 1994 ended with a video release in the US (as Dead of Night) in 2000 and then two years later it got a limited theatrical release in the UK. As a slasher movie, and a generic one at that, Lighthouse doesn't veer from the norm. However, it's still a very tidy effort that gains the maximum impact from its truly eerie setting. This dark and rocky little island that is intermittently lit by the Lighthouse is perfect for stalk and slash shenanigans. And so it proves. Yes the characters are too one note and not given the best of dialogue to churn out, but for its look and nicely handled set pieces the film ends up better than average.
The cast, in spite of said bad dialogue, are more than adequate, particularly the game Shelley and the enjoyable Brooke. However, it's Adamson as nut-case Rook that leaves the best impression. As a killer Rook is really just a British version of Jason Vorhees or Michael Myers, but with his calm unflustered movements about the island, resplendent in bizarre white shoes, Rook manages to terrify and intrigue in equal measure. Why he is the way he is is not known, but this adds to the air of mystery that surrounds the man who likes to collect heads for decoration purposes! Of the set pieces, the finale is noisily OTT but works well, even if Hunter's use of slow-mo smacks of pointless pretencions. But it's with the quiet tension filled scenes where Lighthouse earns its spurs, one in the bathroom is as good as it gets for this type of film, while another involving a lifeboat down on the sand is also hold your breath enjoyable. Shot by Tony Imi on location in Cornwall & Hastings, the film is also visually appealing for those who like a grainy noir like sheen to their horror. With Hunter clearly in that frame of mind judging by his nice usage of the off kilter shot. While Debbie Wiseman's surging score has a very 50s feel to it.
It's safe to say that anyone looking for something new in this now tired of horror sub-genres will be disappointed. But the look, the feel, the setting and no shortage of the claret; more than makes up for its adherence to genre staples. 6.5/10
Really Bad Movie
HairyMart127 April 2004
This is the sort of film that gives horror films a bad name, not as a result of graphic violence or for exploitation of women. BUT simply becuase its such a rubbish film. Please Simon (Writer & Director - so you have to take responsibility) think really long and hard before attempting another film.
Why is the most dangerous killer in the UK being taken to an island prison on a rust bucket ship with just ten others. Why has thew ship only apparently got a crew of 1 ! Why don't they just fly him to this prison - we see a helicopter later in the film !
How come the killer manages to slip past people in the lighthouse - there's one stairs yet he manages to appear on different floors, by-passing those above or below.
Even though people are killed by having there throats cuts there's never any blood stains on the floor - just on light bulbs or toilet bowls
Why is everyone so stupid ... I'll run away for ten seconds then not be able to find my way back, even though I have a torch and a radio. And the island is illuminated by the lighthouse light. Instead I'll stumble on to the boat that the killer has hidden.
Why is the most dangerous killer in the UK being taken to an island prison on a rust bucket ship with just ten others. Why has thew ship only apparently got a crew of 1 ! Why don't they just fly him to this prison - we see a helicopter later in the film !
How come the killer manages to slip past people in the lighthouse - there's one stairs yet he manages to appear on different floors, by-passing those above or below.
Even though people are killed by having there throats cuts there's never any blood stains on the floor - just on light bulbs or toilet bowls
Why is everyone so stupid ... I'll run away for ten seconds then not be able to find my way back, even though I have a torch and a radio. And the island is illuminated by the lighthouse light. Instead I'll stumble on to the boat that the killer has hidden.
A light at the end of the horror-tunnel
Coventry20 July 2005
Warning: Spoilers
With all this garbage they call horror coming out these days, you almost automatically become skeptic and negative-minded towards smaller productions before you've even seen them! My expectations on "Lighthouse" were very low (actually, I had none) but it turned out a pleasant surprise and it's really not that bad at all. This even is do I dare to use the word a GOOD chiller with a no-nonsense plot, some atmospheric tension, impressively staged set pieces and even a couple of authentic shock/gore sequences. Don't expect originality, of course, as the screenplay is primitive horror material with a psychopath stalking and butchering a small group of people in an isolated setting. This setting, however, is very appealing since it's an island with only an ancient lighthouse on it and the people are survivors of a sunk prison ship. Following the old-fashioned Jason Vorhees traditions, the killer carries a machete around which makes the murders nasty and body country fairly high. Every cliché you can name features here, but I personally couldn't care less because this is a fun and unpretentious thrill-ride and nothing more. The Leo Rook character is the closest thing to a scary psychopath we horror fans have seen in years and writer/director Simon Hunter deserves some praise for knowing his classics. There are a handful of terrific sequences, like the actual shipping accident and the 'Vertigo'-like camera-work inside the lighthouse. The extended sequence in the loo is damn close to brilliant!
Don't bother.
snave12217 August 2009
It's not that this is a terribly awful film, but it would take at least some effort to view it at this point. I tried numerous download sites, checked websites after i read favourable right ups. It is not worth the effort.
A sub standard, weak, predictable and at time plain awful plot, bad acting, no real threat. Save your time and do something more productive.
I would recommend that rather than watching this you spend the time looking for other, better, films to watch.
If you've somehow stumbled upon this title, the odds are you will find another one that's much better in no time.
A sub standard, weak, predictable and at time plain awful plot, bad acting, no real threat. Save your time and do something more productive.
I would recommend that rather than watching this you spend the time looking for other, better, films to watch.
If you've somehow stumbled upon this title, the odds are you will find another one that's much better in no time.
Fantastic shocker with Hitchcockian set-pieces
Libretio8 May 2005
LIGHTHOUSE
(USA: Dead of Night)
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Sound format: Dolby Digital
Inmates and officials from a sunken prison ship become stranded on a storm-lashed lighthouse-island 300 miles from the UK coastline, along with a monstrous psychopath (Christopher Adamson) who stalks and kills them, one by one.
Writer-director Simon Hunter's powerhouse shocker - an award winner at movie festivals in Luxembourg and Rome - combines the setting of TOWER OF EVIL (1972) with the multiplex-friendly aesthetic of Wes Craven's SCREAM (1996), and improves on its source material in every significant way. James Purefoy (RESIDENT EVIL) and Rachel Shelley (CRUISE OF THE GODS) lead a small but talented cast of newcomers and veterans (including Paul Brooke and Don Warrington) as a motley bunch of hot-heads and cowards, forced to band together in a desperate attempt to survive the killer's rampage.
The film's narrative is linked by a series of Hitchcockian set-pieces (a potential victim cowering in a toilet stall as the killer lurks outside; a terrified character trapped in a boat with a two-way radio which could betray his presence to the prowling maniac at any moment; and two prisoners chained together at the wrist who are forced to make a terrible decision during an unexpected encounter with the bloodthirsty killer), culminating in a terrific climax at the top of the lighthouse, where Good and Evil collide in a welter of stuntwork and visual effects. Hunter emphasizes suspense and atmosphere over violence, and his clever script maintains an impressive degree of logic, isolating potential victims through careful calculation rather than narrative contrivance. Lovely, evocative music score by Debbie Wiseman, too.
Incredibly, despite being co-financed by BSkyB and the Arts Council of England, and despite a warm reception at various festival screenings, LIGHTHOUSE remained on the shelf for three years before creeping into UK cinemas to lukewarm reviews and poor business. It fared little better in the US, where the movie played briefly in theaters under a new title (DEAD OF NIGHT) before being consigned to video hell. It's commercial history notwithstanding, this is a small classic, ripe for rediscovery.
(USA: Dead of Night)
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Sound format: Dolby Digital
Inmates and officials from a sunken prison ship become stranded on a storm-lashed lighthouse-island 300 miles from the UK coastline, along with a monstrous psychopath (Christopher Adamson) who stalks and kills them, one by one.
Writer-director Simon Hunter's powerhouse shocker - an award winner at movie festivals in Luxembourg and Rome - combines the setting of TOWER OF EVIL (1972) with the multiplex-friendly aesthetic of Wes Craven's SCREAM (1996), and improves on its source material in every significant way. James Purefoy (RESIDENT EVIL) and Rachel Shelley (CRUISE OF THE GODS) lead a small but talented cast of newcomers and veterans (including Paul Brooke and Don Warrington) as a motley bunch of hot-heads and cowards, forced to band together in a desperate attempt to survive the killer's rampage.
The film's narrative is linked by a series of Hitchcockian set-pieces (a potential victim cowering in a toilet stall as the killer lurks outside; a terrified character trapped in a boat with a two-way radio which could betray his presence to the prowling maniac at any moment; and two prisoners chained together at the wrist who are forced to make a terrible decision during an unexpected encounter with the bloodthirsty killer), culminating in a terrific climax at the top of the lighthouse, where Good and Evil collide in a welter of stuntwork and visual effects. Hunter emphasizes suspense and atmosphere over violence, and his clever script maintains an impressive degree of logic, isolating potential victims through careful calculation rather than narrative contrivance. Lovely, evocative music score by Debbie Wiseman, too.
Incredibly, despite being co-financed by BSkyB and the Arts Council of England, and despite a warm reception at various festival screenings, LIGHTHOUSE remained on the shelf for three years before creeping into UK cinemas to lukewarm reviews and poor business. It fared little better in the US, where the movie played briefly in theaters under a new title (DEAD OF NIGHT) before being consigned to video hell. It's commercial history notwithstanding, this is a small classic, ripe for rediscovery.
Decent thriller
rundbauchdodo15 September 2000
Even though Lighthouse doesn't exactly deliver a story that anyone would consider as original (some people are stalked by a merciless serial killer on a deserted lighthouse), it is a surprisingly watchable movie. Director Hunter adds nice twists to "classic" stalk-scenes, and the movie is chilling right from the beginning. The killer surely is a creepy figure and possibly makes you gasping for breath sometimes. The only letdown for horror-buffs like me is the fact that there's not much gore in this movie - but the few bloody scenes are staged very well and surely not for the squeamish. All in all a chilling and entertaining thriller: 7 out of 10.
Don't waste your time on this movie
duck015 June 2000
There's hope yet for slasher films in the 21st century...
BillyBC13 May 2003
Warning: Spoilers
(***1/2 out of *****) This is a bit derivative (mainly of the 1972 thriller "Tower of Evil"), but it's still decent. It's a British horror flick set mostly in and around a lighthouse located on a small, rocky island. When a ship transporting prisoners smashes onto the rocks and sinks, the survivors are forced to take refuge in the island's lighthouse, unaware that one of the prisoners, a brutal serial killer named Leo Rook, escaped his cell long before the accident and is already there waiting for them. Finding the headless bodies of the lighthouse workers in a closet, it doesn't take the survivors (including two prisoners chained together and a third convicted murderer who says he's innocent) long to figure out who's stranded there with them. The second half of this pretty fast-moving chiller concerns all of the remaining guards and prisoners (and one female psychologist) working together to set traps for Rook and/or to keep from being slaughtered. This is pretty bloody, but there's also a fair amount of suspense, particularly in the last half. Rook (Christopher Adamson) is a great, scary villain -- tall, vicious, and, most important, silent (he doesn't speak one word of dialogue throughout the entire movie, which is much more effective than some of these cinema slashers, a la Freddy Krueger and Chucky, who can't keep their wisecracking mouths shut.) Though a bit prolonged and ridiculous in my opinion, the climactic battle between hero and heroine (James Purefoy and Rachel Shelley) and Rook, while dangling from a fraying, burning rope at the top of the lighthouse in the pouring rain, is very intense and gruesome, particularly when Purefoy has to grip Shelley by her hair to keep her from falling and damn near scalping her in the process. All in all, this is a solid, contemporary thriller that offers some hope for horror movies in the 21st century. If it had been made in Hollywood, you could expect five or six sequels.
HIGHLIGHT: The ship's captain (Paul Brooke) finds himself trapped in a bathroom stall with Rook, who's oblivious to the captain's presence, on the other side. Without giving away too much, this is a very intense and well-directed scene, worthy of De Palma, where the most significant deciding factor between life and death is a can of air freshener.
HIGHLIGHT: The ship's captain (Paul Brooke) finds himself trapped in a bathroom stall with Rook, who's oblivious to the captain's presence, on the other side. Without giving away too much, this is a very intense and well-directed scene, worthy of De Palma, where the most significant deciding factor between life and death is a can of air freshener.
There's no grand in this guignol
latakiahaze25 April 2004
Very disappointing foray into slasher movie territory which misses one central pre-requisite for the genre, towit, if you're going to abandon your plot and characters you have to have blood and ingenious visceral carnage by the bucket-load. Which this film clearly does not. Bar one Argento-esque scene in which the ships Captain is stalked by the sloth-like killer in a toilet, the rest of the set-pieces are poorly constructed, badly lit and downright tedious. I hate to admit I actually fell asleep during this one (I can't imagine that happening during the best horror exploitation pics of Fulci, Deodata and the like.) The crashing soundtrack doesn't help our comprehension of the lame brain plot either. And is it just me who found the killer thoroughly unthreatening to look at? (maybe he should have worn a hockey mask or something....) Has all the directorial style of an end of term film project on a limited Arts Council grant, to which I have but one closing comment: must try harder in the future!
Mind bogglingly bad
VoodooVince23 June 2004
Where do you begin to summarise a film like this? The start I guess. Oh wait - there isn't one. You know you're in for a rough time when a film's opening drops you into a scene that feels like you've somehow already missed 10 minutes. Who are these people? Where are they and what hell are they doing? The director/screenwriter doesn't bother with any of that. They're people on a boat. With a bad man. Who escapes. That's about all you're getting folks. What then follows is some of the worst direction, acting, editing and photography you will ever have the misfortune to witness. It's truly mind numbing that a film with such horrendous technical deficiencies could ever pass muster. They should have dropped the final cut of this mess into a vat of acid and tossed the director in after it. That would have spared us this nonsense and any other ideas Hunter may have in his head.
0/10
0/10
Predictable cliche movie, a typical 'sixties' "horror" movie in every way. Awful.
imdb16 May 2000
Unbelievable that a movie like this has been produced in 1999; if it had been from the sixties I wouldn't have been surprised at all. It is full of cliches, it is terrible predictable (I watched it together with a friend and told him exactly who would be killed and in which order by the time they arrived at the lighthouse!) and awful music - completely identical to the kind they used to use in the earliest horror movies I can remember. I really can't think of any reason why someone might want to see this movie.
Why Do People Seem To Hate This?
gillythehoboslayer8 July 2004
After looking at all of the comments, regarding it as an awful slasher, I must say in my opinion they are totally wrong.
This had all the gore you need, maybe it could of had more, but still has a bloody edge, and the effects wern't all the terrible, even though towards the end when the woman is being grabbed by her hair when she's hanging off the Lighhouse does look a little bit stupid. This actually had above average acting, the characters arn't as wooden as some actors. But it is a B-Movie, and this has proudly made it's way into my top 5 in slashers.
I'd give The Lighthouse - 7.5/10
God bless British horror...now go watch Cradle Of Fear (Ultimate cheese, awful acting and terrible dialogue = a must for any horror fan like me)
This had all the gore you need, maybe it could of had more, but still has a bloody edge, and the effects wern't all the terrible, even though towards the end when the woman is being grabbed by her hair when she's hanging off the Lighhouse does look a little bit stupid. This actually had above average acting, the characters arn't as wooden as some actors. But it is a B-Movie, and this has proudly made it's way into my top 5 in slashers.
I'd give The Lighthouse - 7.5/10
God bless British horror...now go watch Cradle Of Fear (Ultimate cheese, awful acting and terrible dialogue = a must for any horror fan like me)
Craphouse
patrick-green8 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
There was a movie. With a lighthouse. A serial killer is loose and the audience is agonising, and not because the film is terrifying. The film is terrifyingly bad with awful characters, awful acting and an awful end. The serial killer was the ugliest bastard I'd ever seen, and he does not utter a word throughout the movie!!!!The whole film has a strange surrealistic atmosphere, as if the actors had been teleported into a parallel bad movie dimension. The "traumatic scenes" of the movie were more like comedy than anything else, like some awesomely bad joke told by my sister. By watching this movie I experienced no feeling of being entertained at all, it is definitely good for the trashcan.
The second best horror film set in & around a lighthouse. Ever.
poolandrews20 April 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Lighthouse starts as brutal serial killer Dr. Leo Rook (Christopher Adamson) is caught, two months later he along with several other prisoners are on-board the prison ship the Hyperion being transported to some island prison or other. However Rook manages to kill his guards & escape in a small boat to a small nearby island where a lighthouse stands, once he gets there he kills the lighthouse crew & switches the light off which causes the Hyperion to crash into some rocks & sink. Some of the prisoners & guards manage to jump ship & make it to the lighthouse island themselves where they quickly realise Rook is there also & he carries on his killing spree dispatching the shipwreck survivors one-by-one...
Retitled to the rather ambiguous Dead of Night for video release in the US this English production was written & directed by Simon Hunter & after the fantastic Tower of Evil (1972) this is easily the second best British made horror film set in a lighthouse, go on argue with me. The script takes itself extremely seriously & the whole film is played totally straight, the script also has proper adults as it's central character's rather than annoying teens who only think & talk about sex & beer like the majority of US horror films have which made for a nice change. Lighthouse is basically a dark slasher thriller set in a lighthouse, the film has a great mood & style about it but the story isn't that great & how easily does Rook, a serial killer remember, escape from that prison ship without anyone noticing he has killed two guards & literally rowed away in a small wooden boat both unchallenged & unseen. Someone wasn't doing their job properly were they? I also didn't like it that much when it slipped into standard slasher cliché territory as everyone kept on finding excuses to split up so the character's get isolated so Rook can kill them off all the more easily, didn't anyone actually figure that out? The pace is sedate but there's just about enough going on to hold ones attention, the script is fairly tight & taught which also just about injects enough personality & life into it's character's to make them interesting & worthwhile.
Where Lighthouse really scores some points with me is with it's visual style & it's genuine atmosphere & mood. Lighthouse is a terrific looking film with some great cinematography, lighting, some nicely composed & framed shots & there is a fair bit of tension generated along with one or two scares although I have to deduct a point or two since the makers used that older than dirt false scare trick of having a cat suddenly jumps out of a corner & screech at a character. The crashing waves on the rocks, the eerie lighthouse itself, the dead of night with a torrential rainstorm raging all add to give Lighhouse a great feel, atmosphere, mood & gives one or two scenes some real tension. The climax is a little silly with the two leads hanging over the side of the lighthouse on a rope which is burning but never breaks! The slasher clichés kick in again at the end to as the killer never quite knows when he's dead. There's some good gore here too, there are a couple of gory slashed throats, severed decapitated head & a couple of headless bodies. Even the CGI computer aren't that bad with one or two nice uses of CGI without ever going too overboard as it were.
With a supposed budget of about $1,800,0000 this looks great & most of that money obviously went on the look of the film rather than bad CGI or any has-been star. Apparently the film was mostly shot in the Three Mills Studio in London while the location shoot was at the coastal town of Hastings & the actual lighthouse used is the Bishops Rock off Lands End in Cornwall. The acting is pretty good from no-one I can say I have ever heard of or seen before or since.
Lighthouse is a fairly dark & atmospheric slasher film populated by proper people rather than plastic teens, if the makers had polished the story as much as the visuals then Lighthouse could have been great as it is they didn't so it isn't. Above average but maybe lacking a certain something to take it into greatness.
Retitled to the rather ambiguous Dead of Night for video release in the US this English production was written & directed by Simon Hunter & after the fantastic Tower of Evil (1972) this is easily the second best British made horror film set in a lighthouse, go on argue with me. The script takes itself extremely seriously & the whole film is played totally straight, the script also has proper adults as it's central character's rather than annoying teens who only think & talk about sex & beer like the majority of US horror films have which made for a nice change. Lighthouse is basically a dark slasher thriller set in a lighthouse, the film has a great mood & style about it but the story isn't that great & how easily does Rook, a serial killer remember, escape from that prison ship without anyone noticing he has killed two guards & literally rowed away in a small wooden boat both unchallenged & unseen. Someone wasn't doing their job properly were they? I also didn't like it that much when it slipped into standard slasher cliché territory as everyone kept on finding excuses to split up so the character's get isolated so Rook can kill them off all the more easily, didn't anyone actually figure that out? The pace is sedate but there's just about enough going on to hold ones attention, the script is fairly tight & taught which also just about injects enough personality & life into it's character's to make them interesting & worthwhile.
Where Lighthouse really scores some points with me is with it's visual style & it's genuine atmosphere & mood. Lighthouse is a terrific looking film with some great cinematography, lighting, some nicely composed & framed shots & there is a fair bit of tension generated along with one or two scares although I have to deduct a point or two since the makers used that older than dirt false scare trick of having a cat suddenly jumps out of a corner & screech at a character. The crashing waves on the rocks, the eerie lighthouse itself, the dead of night with a torrential rainstorm raging all add to give Lighhouse a great feel, atmosphere, mood & gives one or two scenes some real tension. The climax is a little silly with the two leads hanging over the side of the lighthouse on a rope which is burning but never breaks! The slasher clichés kick in again at the end to as the killer never quite knows when he's dead. There's some good gore here too, there are a couple of gory slashed throats, severed decapitated head & a couple of headless bodies. Even the CGI computer aren't that bad with one or two nice uses of CGI without ever going too overboard as it were.
With a supposed budget of about $1,800,0000 this looks great & most of that money obviously went on the look of the film rather than bad CGI or any has-been star. Apparently the film was mostly shot in the Three Mills Studio in London while the location shoot was at the coastal town of Hastings & the actual lighthouse used is the Bishops Rock off Lands End in Cornwall. The acting is pretty good from no-one I can say I have ever heard of or seen before or since.
Lighthouse is a fairly dark & atmospheric slasher film populated by proper people rather than plastic teens, if the makers had polished the story as much as the visuals then Lighthouse could have been great as it is they didn't so it isn't. Above average but maybe lacking a certain something to take it into greatness.
Well-budgeted, but uneven, slasher movie.
capkronos9 July 2003
It's a dark, stormy and foggy night when a ship transporting prisoners sinks. The survivors (doctors, officers, boat crew and jailbirds) crawl to the shore of a desolate island, find refuge inside a large lighthouse and have to fight off one of the escapees, who happens to be a psychotic killer. He burns up a rescue boat and the communication equipment and stalks the characters with a machete.
High-pedigree slasherama from England has the novely of above-average production values and acting and some well-done suspense scenes to go along with some pretty grisly slayings (neck slashings and decapitations being the killer's forte). They just forgot much of a plot, the b/w flashbacks linking the killer to one of the characters doesn't work (what a coincidence!) and it's all so dark, miserable and rainy the whole time. A few good set pieces, but a sense of humor and better-developed characters would have helped.
Score: 4 out of 10
High-pedigree slasherama from England has the novely of above-average production values and acting and some well-done suspense scenes to go along with some pretty grisly slayings (neck slashings and decapitations being the killer's forte). They just forgot much of a plot, the b/w flashbacks linking the killer to one of the characters doesn't work (what a coincidence!) and it's all so dark, miserable and rainy the whole time. A few good set pieces, but a sense of humor and better-developed characters would have helped.
Score: 4 out of 10
One of the best slasher films I have ever seen
Hagard195628 October 2005
This movie is a lot like the movies High Tension, and Creep. It revolves around a lighthouse with a killer on the loose, knocking off every few minutes one more casualty. Although the story is nothing original, the writing, and directing are top-notch and worthy. The movie looks, and feels like a high-budget, blockbuster movie. From my Country of Origin, this movie has a very thrilling and is one of the best slasher films I have ever seen.
This is the first lighthouse type movie I have ever seen, and I think it will remain the best for a while (in my perspective!).
For the overall work and amazing atmosphere, I give this movie a cheering 9/10.
This is the first lighthouse type movie I have ever seen, and I think it will remain the best for a while (in my perspective!).
For the overall work and amazing atmosphere, I give this movie a cheering 9/10.
Could do better
Hazelwoc17 February 2018
I met Simon Hunter at Raindance when I was learning film making and we talked a bit about this film.
The money shots were expensive and took up a lot of the budget, this should have been a cheaper film.
Simon has a friend called Jake West, who made the cult classic Razor blade smile on a budget of £20K, incidentally using the same actor as the baddie, If you are interesting in the art of film making then check it out.
True lighthouse does have higher production values, but is not as much fun. I liked Simon, he is a competent film-maker, but I think that given his budget he could have done better.
The story about a crashed prison ship on a remote lighthouse Island could have been a good thriller, but as a premise for a slasher movie its a bit of a waste.
Think Key Largo as a great example of that genre.
A story of a prison van breaking down in remote Scotland with the action set in and around the odd bothy would have have been cheaper, more convenient and could have allowed for a more relaxed shooting schedule, higher shooting ratio, and a better edited end film.
As it is it is neither a good thriller or slasher movie.
Pity.
Minor horror effort...
Flixer195717 August 2002
Warning: Spoilers
**Possible Spoilers ahead**
A stateside video outfit gave this the same title as a venerable old thriller from the 1940s but the two flicks are as different as night and day. This seems to be another attempt to revive the Grade D slasher genre. Don't hold your breath waiting.
A murderer escapes from a prison ship in the North Atlantic and washes up on a lighthouse island--then proceeds to wreck the ship, and stalk and slay the survivors. (Not one dopey sex-crazed teenager in sight, thank God!) LIGHTHOUSE/DEAD OF NIGHT suffers from perpetually dim photography and many predictable situations--you just KNOW one character's two-way radio is going to start squawking away at precisely the wrong time, and that the crew's last flare is going to be crammed where it will do someone absolutely no good. There are too many slow passages between murders but the killings feature enough throat-slitting and decapitation to make gorehounds stand up and cheer. There's also an unbearable scene of a woman's hair being ripped out by the roots. The acting is competent as one would expect from a British cast and the setting is unique--I haven't seen a murder movie set in or near a lighthouse since 1972's TOWER OF EVIL aka HORROR ON SNAPE ISLAND. Worth one look for slasher flick completists.
A stateside video outfit gave this the same title as a venerable old thriller from the 1940s but the two flicks are as different as night and day. This seems to be another attempt to revive the Grade D slasher genre. Don't hold your breath waiting.
A murderer escapes from a prison ship in the North Atlantic and washes up on a lighthouse island--then proceeds to wreck the ship, and stalk and slay the survivors. (Not one dopey sex-crazed teenager in sight, thank God!) LIGHTHOUSE/DEAD OF NIGHT suffers from perpetually dim photography and many predictable situations--you just KNOW one character's two-way radio is going to start squawking away at precisely the wrong time, and that the crew's last flare is going to be crammed where it will do someone absolutely no good. There are too many slow passages between murders but the killings feature enough throat-slitting and decapitation to make gorehounds stand up and cheer. There's also an unbearable scene of a woman's hair being ripped out by the roots. The acting is competent as one would expect from a British cast and the setting is unique--I haven't seen a murder movie set in or near a lighthouse since 1972's TOWER OF EVIL aka HORROR ON SNAPE ISLAND. Worth one look for slasher flick completists.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
