LIGHTS CAMERA DEAD

Year Released: 2007
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 78 minutes
Click to Expand Credits:

For a film that bills itself as a “dark comedy” there’s little in the way of darkness or comedy. More Bowfinger than almost any other horror film you can think of, this Tim Reaper production has its heart in the right place and nothing else. I should have known by the title and the film’s self-imposed “comedy” label that this would not be an easy movie to sit through.

Ryan Black (Wes Reid) is director working on his “masterpiece,” a horror film with the unlikely title of The Music Box. He’s hard on his cast and crew, and as a result there is a revolt. When Black and his screenwriter attack their editor and kill him, an idea is born and soon the cast and crew is reunited for the film’s “premiere.” Instead of watching the low budget flick, however, they find themselves unwillingly starring in it all over again, only this time the kills are real.

As you can imagine, this could have gone either way. It avoids being spectacular, though, and sticks with all the standard conventions we’ve come to expect from low budget horror films made by people with more ideas than they have skills. You watch this wishing it would get better (and there was a moment where it could’ve redeemed itself but missed the opportunity), and then you just watch for the credits.

Lights Camera Dead lives up to its title in a way the filmmakers probably didn’t think of. Too bad, too, because if the film had really become as dark as it could have been, they would have had a winner.

Lights Camera Dead Trailer

Lights Camera Dead | Myspace Video

Posted on June 28, 2011 in Reviews by Doug Brunell