STARLIGHT, NOT SO BRIGHT // A FILM REVIEW OF "STAR LIGHT"

BY MATEO MORENO

There has been a wide variety of horror films featuring a group of teens who get mixed up into dangerous situations. It's so common that it's actually part of the genre. The set up to the new film STAR LIGHT is similar to many that have come before it: Loner kid, doesn't get alone with his parent, meets up with friends and then things get very weird. Well, in this case they get kind of weird. And confusing. And more confusing. Although the filmmakers set out to make a fresh and fun horror film for a younger generation, what they end up making sadly is one of the worst horror films to come out in some time. And that's putting it mildly.

Let's start with the plot, or at least what I can gather was the plot. Dylan (Cameron Johnson) is a teenager who spends his time either skateboarding around town, falling asleep in odd places (the tree outside his house, the parking lot outside of a laundry mat) and watching music videos on his phone of his favorite pop star Bebe A. Love (Scout Taylor-Compton). His mother thinks he's drunk all the time (he doesn't drink) and we see immediately that they don't get along. So one night he is skateboarding and literally runs into Bebe. She's knocked unconscious and cut up badly. So he picks her up and brings her to his friend's house (because calling 9-1-1 is apparently not the thing to do in this situation). Little does he know that she's being tracked and hell is literally about to show up at their doorstep.

Before we truly delve into the car crash that is STAR LIGHT, let's point out the good: Lead actor Cameron Johnson is consistently very good throughout the film. In fact, until the very last scene you stay in his corner and he showcases talent that yearns for a much better film. Liana Ramirez has a few solid moments, and for classic horror fans, the brief cameo of Tiffany Shepis (a classic "Scream Queen") might be just exciting enough for you to pony up some bucks and rent it.

Now, the bad: I'm sad to report that nearly everyone else in this under 90-minute "fright fest" borders between cringingly bad and laughably bad. The acting throughout is amateur at best, and it's not helped at all by a scattershot script that has cringe inducing dialogue and a plot that doesn't ever fully make sense (She's a...demon, I think? Maybe the daughter of the Devil? Maybe Jem and all of the Holograms? She can definitely change the color of her eyes and shoot out light beams, making people fall down. That's about it).

Bret Roberts plays Anton, the star handler/demon/over actor coming to get Bebe and bring her home. His performance is so big that it borders on parody. In fact, much of the film is THIS CLOSE to being a spiritual sequel to SCARY MOVIE, even if they're not aware of it. What's also truly offensive is that Scout Taylor-Compton's demon-in-distress never holds her own. Her entire story arc is crying and asking people for help. Not great. A lot of killings happen, one teen is possessed and then killed, the most over dramatic dinner scene since AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY happens only to explain plot points the movie doesn't have time to bother much with and then... spoiler alert: Bebe just goes back with him. Though there's not much to spoil, because the film makes little sense and it's not quite clear if the film intentially ends or they ran out of film stock. The final two scenes of the film bring back the overtly hostile boyfriend of Dylan's mother for no reason and then... maybe he gets killed? And then Bebe just goes back on tour. Because... why not? In these Quarantine days, there are a lot of excellent and creative horror films out there. STAR LIGHT is on the opposite side of those. But for unintentional comedy, perhaps this is a pick worth checking out.

GRADE: F

WRITTEN BY Mitchell Altieri, Jamal A. Jennings, Adam Weis. DIRECTED BY Mitchell Altieri, Lee Cummings. STARRING Cameron Johnson, Scout Taylor-Compton, Bret Roberts, Rahart Adams, Liana Ramirez, Garrett Westton, Chandler Rachelle, Hagen Mills, Tiffany Shepis. Now available to stream on Virtual Cinemas everywhere.