The Lights (2009) User Reviews

Why I can't watch movies with my friends....

[innocuous · 4/10 · 4 December 2010]

I sit through movies like this making the following types of comments: "Why are the cheerleaders' outfits Carolina blue and white while the players' uniforms are solid burgundy? Can't they agree on their school colors?" and "Why is the store clerk giving the girl her change in bills and coins when the purchase price was an even $16.00?" and "How can the 'best place' to watch a meteor shower be 12.5 miles outside of town? Don't they pretty much cover the sky throughout an area?"

Perhaps I should get a job sitting around the shooting sets pointing these things out to the directors.

One nice aspect of the film is that the story is open to some interpretation, especially the purpose/role of the titular "lights." Odd things happen and you are given very little clue as to why.

This is strictly an amateur production, but it's very watchable. The score is mixed a little too loud, but technically everything is within reasonable limits. The FX are decent for an independent film, too. And, after all, Charlie and Emilio aren't going to support Joe forever.

Please don't let there be a sequel...

[fjaye · 3/10 · 24 April 2012]

Considering the movie's title, you'd think the lights would be significant--but they aren't. They just appear in the sky from time to time and then disappear.

And that's symptomatic of the whole film: things are just *there*. The teens frolic in a swimming hole, and are apparently spied upon--but we never know for sure. An "incredible meteor shower" drives the road trip, but it's over in minutes, and my local July 4 fireworks show is more exciting. And so on.

I think the biggest fault is the script itself. The story is very thin, and little happens for the first hour. When the plot finally takes off, there's only about 20 minutes left to go.

For an ostensible slasher film, there's little gore, no real profanity, and no nudity (even though several opportunities for it present themselves). Why the version I saw is unrated is anyone's guess.

The final shot sets up a possible sequel, and I surely hope there isn't one.

Overall, I must agree with the earlier reviewer "innocuous"--the production screams "amateur" with every frame. And not in a good way.

Not bad for a low budget film. If you can sit through the slow sections, it has some decent thrills.

[Bababooe · 5/10 · 12 March 2018]

Ok, started out great. A wife serves dinner to her husband. And decides to tell him, rather than writing a letter, that she is leaving with another man. Very stupid move. I mean she knows her husband. She should have just taken off. So, the guy starts freaking out, takes out a shot gun and wants to know who she's been seeing. Cut.

We are now shown some teenagers planning a trip to see some meteor shower, and they hit the road. This segment with the teenagers look like it was directed by a different director. The whole look of it is TV/Video/Cheap cinematography. It's not a bad watch. We get some silly dialogue. And the actors did the best they could. The music throughout was decent as well. There was a scene with these two couples of teenagers that ran with a bunch of midget horses that must be the happies thing I've seen on film. So, in that regard, going from a happy setting to what they will eventually collide with is very good.

Meanwhile, a couple of religious suit dudes knock on the wacky husband house. He kills them both. A biker breaks his chain, knocks on the killer's door, gets killed.

The kids watch the meteor shower and then their car won't start. They shack up in the killer barn. The killer shows up. They meet the killer. Two of the kids get killed. A sheriff gets killed. Two of the kids survive.

It's a low budget film. Some back story. Some decent acting. Nothing great. Music was good. Worst is the digital video feel of the cinematography. The cinematography itself was ok.

Rating is a C, 5 stars.