It is like watching their home video for the family. The effects were poorly made and half the actors didn't have the true facial expression with emotion for their parts.
40 Reviews
Cheap effects with amateur actors
deafo4 August 2021
Interesting
OmStarsong17 August 2022
Not sure I've ever seen a movie that had nearly all 1's and 10's.. The 10's were probably family, friends and folks who just got that vibe that clicked at this point in their lives.. The 1's are probably those with great expectations who were looking for something specific.. To them I would say avoid theater at all costs.. The moon may be made out of cardboard and without a sense of imagination and wonder you'll be disappointed.. 🙄 Obviously it's an Indy made on a cheap budget, but once you get past all that just appreciate it for what it is, a simple story with an intended message.. Sometimes that's all the entertainment I need.. I gave it the same score as Michael Bay's last film.. There are at least 3 good character actors I've seen for years and that was a pleasant surprise.. They probably didn't make much, but maybe they had fun as their contribution was appreciated by me.. If you can understand it for what it is, a simple low budget Indy then homely you'll find it worth your while.. I look forward to seeing more of Stapp's work.. 🤗
Good concept with multi-faceted promise but lacks essential cinematic qualities.
austincross-8240919 February 2023
I picked this up at Dollar Tree for a $1.25. The concept was interesting and a quick Google search categorized this film as "science fiction." There are also elements of indie comedy and horror. The acting is questionable at times, but everyone fits into the vibe and aesthetic of the film, so I can move past that. The storyline is confusing but the loose ends are tied up in the end somewhat haphazardly. There were times I laughed out loud, such as the scene where Matthew asks "Is that a brontosaurus?" as well as the scene where the security guard and the Elvis impersonator have an Elvis pun-off. The issues are glaringly obvious, but there is a charm to it that kept me watching. This is an okay indie watch. Strong 5 out of 10.
Absolutely Rubbish
peterandjules11 August 2021
The first few ratings of this film are. It from the public.
They must be from the producers to try and get you to watch this garbage.
It's probably one of the worst films I have ever seen 😠Poor acting Poor script Absolute rubbish. Trust me.
They must be from the producers to try and get you to watch this garbage.
It's probably one of the worst films I have ever seen 😠Poor acting Poor script Absolute rubbish. Trust me.
One of the stupidest movies
sly_extrem14 August 2021
Dont get fooled by the 10ers! Warning!!'
Cleorolas8912 August 2021
Created an Account Just To Rate This
ogradyc12 August 2021
The IMDB reviews for this one are so odd - so... suspiciously positive.
I watch a lot of movies... A lot. Mostly horror, thriller... The indies and the unknowns, too. Covid has sharted out a lot of bad stuff over the last year and a half while major studios held back a lot of their premiere titles; so I got very familiar with looking for lower-budget gems during that time... You can imagine how much trash I've watched and sat through.
With that in mind, know that I created an account here at IMDB just to post a review of this particular movie so I could at least tailor a realistic representation that'll sit alongside the suspiciously fake looking glowing reviews and laughably high rating for a movie this bad...
The movie is cheap. Like art-house cheap. I laughed out loud at the very first scene in the movie - which looked like it was filmed in a basement with red flashlights... so I can't say I didn't see what was coming.
The premise is ok and Tony Todd is a plus; but besides him none of the characters are relatable or likeable. The acting is mediocre at best (though I do like Tony it's not his best work either).
The movie goes nowhere. It slides in and out of coherence and becomes nearly nonsensical by the time you're 3/4 into it... and by then you're praying for the credits and wishing you'd picked a better movie to watch while at the same time wondering how you got 3/4 the way into a movie this bad.
After it ended I reflected on the fact that some very suspect-looking user reviews on this site definitely contributed to my watching this movie - there are numerous 10/10 reviews...
in reality - Was it bad enough to actually create an IMDb account to pan this movie?
Would appear so.
I watch a lot of movies... A lot. Mostly horror, thriller... The indies and the unknowns, too. Covid has sharted out a lot of bad stuff over the last year and a half while major studios held back a lot of their premiere titles; so I got very familiar with looking for lower-budget gems during that time... You can imagine how much trash I've watched and sat through.
With that in mind, know that I created an account here at IMDB just to post a review of this particular movie so I could at least tailor a realistic representation that'll sit alongside the suspiciously fake looking glowing reviews and laughably high rating for a movie this bad...
The movie is cheap. Like art-house cheap. I laughed out loud at the very first scene in the movie - which looked like it was filmed in a basement with red flashlights... so I can't say I didn't see what was coming.
The premise is ok and Tony Todd is a plus; but besides him none of the characters are relatable or likeable. The acting is mediocre at best (though I do like Tony it's not his best work either).
The movie goes nowhere. It slides in and out of coherence and becomes nearly nonsensical by the time you're 3/4 into it... and by then you're praying for the credits and wishing you'd picked a better movie to watch while at the same time wondering how you got 3/4 the way into a movie this bad.
After it ended I reflected on the fact that some very suspect-looking user reviews on this site definitely contributed to my watching this movie - there are numerous 10/10 reviews...
in reality - Was it bad enough to actually create an IMDb account to pan this movie?
Would appear so.
10?! Uhm?!....
Alcaminhante12 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I rarely give such low ratings to movies but I had to say something this time because this IMDb rating, really feels like someone went to a lot of trouble to rig the reviews here. I love independent cinema, I collect Blu-ray's from indie movies but this is one that I won't be watching again for sure.
The high reviews here in IMDb feel totally out of place and unreal.
Usually it's me on the other side giving great reviews to indie movies that people seem to hate on IMDb. Not this time. This time I totally agree with the bad reviews and I cannot get over the feel that all the excellent opinions were planted by the filmmakers and family or friends. And only them.
I love this type of twilight zone story, indie supernatural stories set in small towns tend to work well but not this time.
The story on this one is so predictable that I immediately though this was going to be some copy of the classic twilight zone story, The hitchhiker because the concept was evident from the get go. So zero mystery, zero suspense and nothing will amaze you at the end because the new age type spiritual message is so thrown down our throats that it totally ruins the good idea this story obviously had when it comes to the mystery of the lights.
The pacing on this movie is really off. Many times it seems takes are left running forever adding unnecessary seconds to many of the scenes making everything extend artificially as if the filmmakers really needed to hit 95 minutes but had no content to go beyond 45. At first I thought the movie was trying to be artsy but soon became evident that was just terrible editing. Perhaps because there was no material to be filmed.
Something that worked against the actors too as there are plenty of terrible performances in this that could be avoided with good editing to trim the unnecessary forced moments in many of the lines.
The pace in dialogues is so off that it's clear when an actor is just waiting for the other to stop speaking to be able to deliver his line next and that totally ruins the flow of the story.
It's a weird mix with the acting, it's as if they just picked people from the street and filmed stuff just because.
Some dialogues are actually funny in a good way but then the amateur delivery almost ruins them completely. The hitchiker and the waitress are really good but then other actors are so bad that they ruin everything. Although I bet much is to blame on the director too. This is really a weird movie. There's some weird twin peaks vibe to it as if this is trying to be some David lynch movie but nothing works.
The movie has a cool soundtrack but once again there are so many songs in this stuff that many times I was wondering if the movie was just made to showcase some cool indie bands material and not to tell the story, because even the songs tend to stall time because there's plenty of sequences in this where the story actually stops to give room for the songs to be played to illustrate pointless narrative points.
So overall is this a terrible indie movie? It's bad but it's not terrible although I felt that it's necessary to pull this rating down a bit to realistic levels as I'm sure there will be plenty of people which will be fooled by the unreal 8, 9, 10 ratings. At best this deserves a 3 for the effort but that's it.
It's the first time I say this about a movie on IMDb but it really feels like the excellent reviews were just planted here by the filmmakers, family and friends. Don't be fooled.
The high reviews here in IMDb feel totally out of place and unreal.
Usually it's me on the other side giving great reviews to indie movies that people seem to hate on IMDb. Not this time. This time I totally agree with the bad reviews and I cannot get over the feel that all the excellent opinions were planted by the filmmakers and family or friends. And only them.
I love this type of twilight zone story, indie supernatural stories set in small towns tend to work well but not this time.
The story on this one is so predictable that I immediately though this was going to be some copy of the classic twilight zone story, The hitchhiker because the concept was evident from the get go. So zero mystery, zero suspense and nothing will amaze you at the end because the new age type spiritual message is so thrown down our throats that it totally ruins the good idea this story obviously had when it comes to the mystery of the lights.
The pacing on this movie is really off. Many times it seems takes are left running forever adding unnecessary seconds to many of the scenes making everything extend artificially as if the filmmakers really needed to hit 95 minutes but had no content to go beyond 45. At first I thought the movie was trying to be artsy but soon became evident that was just terrible editing. Perhaps because there was no material to be filmed.
Something that worked against the actors too as there are plenty of terrible performances in this that could be avoided with good editing to trim the unnecessary forced moments in many of the lines.
The pace in dialogues is so off that it's clear when an actor is just waiting for the other to stop speaking to be able to deliver his line next and that totally ruins the flow of the story.
It's a weird mix with the acting, it's as if they just picked people from the street and filmed stuff just because.
Some dialogues are actually funny in a good way but then the amateur delivery almost ruins them completely. The hitchiker and the waitress are really good but then other actors are so bad that they ruin everything. Although I bet much is to blame on the director too. This is really a weird movie. There's some weird twin peaks vibe to it as if this is trying to be some David lynch movie but nothing works.
The movie has a cool soundtrack but once again there are so many songs in this stuff that many times I was wondering if the movie was just made to showcase some cool indie bands material and not to tell the story, because even the songs tend to stall time because there's plenty of sequences in this where the story actually stops to give room for the songs to be played to illustrate pointless narrative points.
So overall is this a terrible indie movie? It's bad but it's not terrible although I felt that it's necessary to pull this rating down a bit to realistic levels as I'm sure there will be plenty of people which will be fooled by the unreal 8, 9, 10 ratings. At best this deserves a 3 for the effort but that's it.
It's the first time I say this about a movie on IMDb but it really feels like the excellent reviews were just planted here by the filmmakers, family and friends. Don't be fooled.
No Exit
nogodnomasters15 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
The film is narrated by Vincent (Stelio Savante) and not Tony Todd who has a small role as the mayor of Marfa, Texas. Four college kids on the road traveling decide to stop there and see the famous ghost lights.
The film develops its characters, but they simply were not lovable. While they fully explain things at the end, there are so many clues as to what it going on it really can't be called a mystery.
Guide: No sex or nudity. No swearing as I recall.
The film develops its characters, but they simply were not lovable. While they fully explain things at the end, there are so many clues as to what it going on it really can't be called a mystery.
Guide: No sex or nudity. No swearing as I recall.
I definitely recommend this film
Tricia714 August 2021
I'm giving it an 8 out of 10 but would have given it more if the camera work wasn't so distracting. I was close to turning the film off during the opening scene with the kids in the car. I'm not too sure what the cinematographer was going for but it didn't work.
But I'm glad that I didn't stop watching, in fact I've now put the Marfa Lights on my bucket list. There's a sense of the eerie and fantastical that the writer (It looks like he's the director as well) really tapped into and all credit to him (Andy Stapp) for that.
After starting slowly and being overly 'talky' for what was seemingly a road trip film, the characters and the story really grew on me and it did pay off nicely at the end. I appreciated the twists and turns. There were one or two plot-lines that caught me by surprise. It was good to see Tony Todd again although it was really Stelio Savante's performance that anchored the film and gave it gravitas. Tracy Perez (who's work I don't know) was easily the most believable of the four kids. Neil Sandilands (who we most recently saw in Sweet Tooth) overplayed the drunk, he hammed it up unnecessarily but it didn't take me out of what I was watching. And I absolutely loved the locations they filmed in. Why have I not been to Marfa? The last ten or so minutes were really strong although (once again) the camera lingered on and followed characters that weren't speaking, completely ignoring where the tension and conflict in the scene really were. Not sure what they were going for. But I especially liked the use of split screens that brought the two storylines together in the final scenes.
Ninety minutes well spent.
I definitely recommend this film.
But I'm glad that I didn't stop watching, in fact I've now put the Marfa Lights on my bucket list. There's a sense of the eerie and fantastical that the writer (It looks like he's the director as well) really tapped into and all credit to him (Andy Stapp) for that.
After starting slowly and being overly 'talky' for what was seemingly a road trip film, the characters and the story really grew on me and it did pay off nicely at the end. I appreciated the twists and turns. There were one or two plot-lines that caught me by surprise. It was good to see Tony Todd again although it was really Stelio Savante's performance that anchored the film and gave it gravitas. Tracy Perez (who's work I don't know) was easily the most believable of the four kids. Neil Sandilands (who we most recently saw in Sweet Tooth) overplayed the drunk, he hammed it up unnecessarily but it didn't take me out of what I was watching. And I absolutely loved the locations they filmed in. Why have I not been to Marfa? The last ten or so minutes were really strong although (once again) the camera lingered on and followed characters that weren't speaking, completely ignoring where the tension and conflict in the scene really were. Not sure what they were going for. But I especially liked the use of split screens that brought the two storylines together in the final scenes.
Ninety minutes well spent.
I definitely recommend this film.
Mostly good
george-coufos115 November 2023
I had to watch this if only for the fact that I was intrigued by the extreme variance in peoples' reactions; it's all or nothing, a "1" or "10". After watching I'm satisfied that I get why that is. It all comes down to what a person is looking for in a movie. If you're looking for slick production, solid acting and conventional plot you're not going to like it. But people who prefer something that presents ideas that stretch the imagination and delves into the supernatural it works! To say much more would mean spoilers, which I'd rather not include here. I'll just say that I do value ALL factors at each end of the spectrum and gave it a 6, because while I appreciated the story, I found some of the quirky production and mediocre acting distracting.
Con
ChrisCottell13 August 2021
Boooring
artur-niedzielski4 August 2021
Just terrible in any aspect you would imagine
mightyarash2 September 2021
Save your money. And your time. And your sanity.
zigmasand17 November 2021
Just don't do it. Take a look at the IMDb synopsis, apparently written by the writer of the movie, and you will get a wonderful idea at just how poorly written this mess of a movie is.
Good for Tony Todd. Literally everything else is an embarrassment. Let's pray this "director" never steps behind a camera again.
Good for Tony Todd. Literally everything else is an embarrassment. Let's pray this "director" never steps behind a camera again.
Can always tell
Lozza-G10 October 2021
Another one
osmiobr16 November 2021
Twilight Zone Feels
Squikpeep4 August 2021
Even though you kinda sorta knew what was coming, it all worked really well. Strong storytelling. Loved the music, loved the hitchhiker and the mayor. Wish it could have been a little longer and also felt that the ending left the possibility for a sequel. But maybe I'm reading into things too much. I'd watch it.
Decent low budget fare
sgmi-535799 June 2022
Well made, well photographed, and well scored, this film appears to offer much promise. Four friends find themselves in Marfa, Texas; where nothing appears quite right. Unfortunately all of it feels a little ham fisted, and the central thesis never really takes flight, nor surprises. So while it's an interesting idea, it doesn't make for a particularly interesting film. There's talent here; maybe it will find it's way into another project.
Loved it very much
SandySaysSo4 August 2021
I'm ready for a road trip to the lights
makinghighwaves5 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This film was a trip on many levels. My sister recommended it and it did not disappoint. Those Marfa lights are trippy. One of the more unique films I've experienced in a while. Ok the ending isn't exactly happy or what I expected. But that's why I liked it. Got me thinking. Really loved the part about his wife. Didn't see that coming either. The music was across the board money. Hope there's a soundtrack.
WOW 😳
mycal-280325 August 2021
This is an amazing film. I will definitely watch again. To those who rated it low I guess they weren't watching the same movie as I was or they weren't paying attention. Absolutely not getting paid for the 10 Stars it's just that good of a movie. The ending will blow your mind. The writer of this film as well as the actors, in my opinion did great. I am hoping that the writer, Andy Stapp, is already working on a second movie. Doesn't have to be about Marfa I will be watching anything he puts out!
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