Burning Bright (2010) Movie Review
Written by: ML
Edited by: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Carlos Brooks
Producers: Wayne Morris, Cami Winikoff
Writers: David Higgins, Christine Coyle Johnson, Julie Prendiville Roux
Date Released: August 17, 2010
Cast:
Briana Evigan – Kelly
Charlie Tahan – Tom
Garret Dillahunt – Johnny
Katie, Schicka and Kismet – the tiger
Rating = 2/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
Burning Bright (2010) is about a young woman who was left to take care of her autistic younger brother after their mother died. Their stepfather used up all of their money to buy a tiger for a safari ranch he was building. When a hurricane occurred, the stepfather locked them up inside the house with the starving tiger. As a result, the siblings must try to survive the night and later discover that it was the stepfather’s plan all along in order to get the money from the insurance. The next morning, the house was unlocked. The stepfather was shocked to see that the kids have survived. The tiger came for him and ate him as the siblings got out of the house.
Gore Factor
The sad thing about this movie is that they failed to maximize the predatory instinct of the tiger. In the entire duration of the movie, there were only three instances when blood was seen: some man’s bitten finger, Kelly’s bitten leg, and the stepfather’s chomped up tummy. The rest were just pure suspense. There were very few jump scares and the notable one was when Kelly was going up the laundry chute. The tiger suddenly pops its head and tries to pull her down.
The Grave Review
We have seen horror films that involve seeing reptiles eat humans, however, in this movie, a tiger is the villain. To add to matters, the tiger has not eaten for two weeks which means the tigers desperation for food makes the animal a serious threat.
In the beginning, the purpose of the tiger was for a safari ranch. The backstory, as told by the seller, was very interesting. Audiences were surely expecting a killing spree involving tourists but the film took a different direction. It was an unforeseen turn of events when the tiger was released inside the house which was something new and strange. This cinematic direction created an interesting indoor wild chase between the protagonists and the tiger.
In terms of performance, the boy’s autistic acting was descent but later became a little much. At a certain point, you wanted to root for the tiger because the acting was so annoying. In addition, Kelly’s composure throughout the stressful hide and seek with the tiger was commendable. However, in one scene, she had an opportunity of using a gun but never got a good shot on the tiger which was nothing more than frustrating to watch. What a waste of bullets.
There were also some unrealistic scenes that made it seem like the tiger was tamed. There was no running and chasing. Just walking around, trying to hide. Tigers can run and jump. With a house that small, it’s very easy to roam around and catch kids, especially that Tom was more vulnerable and a likely victim. Another questionable scene was the use of pills and meatballs. Surely it was supposed to do something to the tiger but nothing happened.
In any case, the ending is good in the sense that the evil stepfather died from his evil scheme and the bond between the siblings improved. The remaining question is what happened to the tiger?
Overall, this movie is a nice addition to your scary animal movie collection but is one which there is no harm in passing on.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives Burning Bright (2010) two graves out of five graves.
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