Lightning Strikes (2009)

Director:

Gary Jones

Stars:

Kevin Sorbo, David Schofield, Annabel Wright

Cast

Credited cast:
Kevin Sorbo	...	Sheriff Bradley
David Schofield	...	Donovan
Annabel Wright	...	Nancy
Robyn Addison	...	Angel
Tom Harper	...	Jerry
Kolin Smialek	...	Billy
John Laskowski	...	Doc Evans
Todd Jensen	...	Mayor Fordice
Jarrett Crippen	...	Deputy Johnson
Erbi Ago	...	John Fields
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Itai Diakov	...	Donovan's Son
Jeff Harding	...	Conners
VJ Kewl	...	Vicky
Valeria Stefanova	...	The Nurse

Storyline

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Genres:

Action | Horror

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Details

Country:

Bulgaria

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 September 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Paranormal Phenomena

Filming Locations:

Sofia, Bulgaria

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

WST Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

References Pimp My Ride (2004)

User Reviews

"The only way to save Billy is to send me straight to Hell!"

I don't think Lightning Strikes is as bad as some of the other reviewers say, but I do think it is a movie with a lot of problems. Having seen almost all so far of SyFy's work over the past two years or so Lightning Strikes is nowhere near their worst nor is it an irredeemable movie. If anything, despite being very problematic, it is actually one of their more watchable efforts. There are good things at least. The music is decent, not mind-blowingly good but at least it fits the atmosphere of the movie. The finale is exciting and by far the highlight of the film, there is at least some suspense and the pace really picks up here. The creature does look good, much more serviceable than the ridiculous-looking ones that SyFy usually churn out. The human characters, with one exception, are clichéd and not developed so well, but at least have some likability, have an awareness of their predicament and show some decent chemistry. And the acting especially from Kevin Sorbo and David Schofield(who has the best line of Lightning Strikes, see in my review title) is above average. I was mixed on the technical side, the editing was at least comprehensible and the lighting had some atmosphere but the settings, reminiscent of someone's basement shows a serious hindrance in budget and apart from the finale the special effects are not great(though not as bad as those of most other SyFys). On the other hand, there are a number of bad things. First and foremost, the character of the mayor, he is incredibly irritating by how much of a stupid sissy he is and he is very overacted by Todd Jenson as well. I wish we learnt more about the creature as well, there was a really intriguing idea but the movie just doesn't do very much with it. Apart from one good line, I generally did the dialogue much too talky and very clunky in tone, while the story generally is slow and predictable with too much of an emphasis on the disaster movie genre rather than doing anything to develop the creature. The killings were rather weak too, lacking in any surprises or shock value and some of them are too brief as well. So all in all, a mediocre movie that still is above most of SyFy's movies. 5/10 Bethany Cox