Burning Bright

"Burning Bright" is a straight-forward, simply told, thriller. With a hurricane approaching, a house gets boarded up for the night. Problem is, it's also the site of a future safari park, complete with a tiger, which gets locked in the house with a young woman and her autistic brother.

The title must surely come from the William Blake poem "Tyger". "Tyger Tyger. burning bright, In the forests of the night." In which, one of the significant themes is the question of how can God create such beautiful things and destructive things at the same time? If that theme is explored in this movie, only in the most simplistic way. Blake also touches on evil and its many forms. Here, we definitely see evil, and I found it interesting how they combined all its different configurations. The film presented us with nature's evil, man-kind's evil and evil from the animal kingdom. However, that is the extent of anything beyond a simplistic thriller.

"Burning Bright" gives us a damsel in distress and a young boy living in his own world. The tiger is hunting them down and our heroine experiences her fair share of close calls, ingenuity, and love for her younger brother. Briana Evigan plays the damsel, and exactly as you would expect her to - with sexy clothes, lots of sweat, fear in her eyes, and she becomes her own hero. She may now be relegated to the horror/thriller genre. Her autistic younger brother is played by Charlie Tahan, you will recognize him as the younger brother in "Charlie St. Cloud". The film does a good job of characterization to open the movie, and then we actually spend the majority of the movie with a real, live tiger - "burning bright, in the forests of the night."

Why are you reading a review of this movie? You should have read the synopsis and thought "Hell yeah I need to see that".

Two people (a girl and her younger autistic brother)are trapped in a house with a tiger, Awesome. The tiger is there because their stepfather wants to start a safari park so he bought a tiger. Guess who he bought it from, Meatloaf, Awesome.

The Tiger is real for the vast majority of the time, Awesome. The movie is very well filmed and acted. The plot though ridiculous is still believable (sort of), Awesome. If your a Briana Evigan fan you'll love it. She spends nearly the entire movie in her underwear and at one point is soaking wet. Awesome. The effects look good. Barring one point where they look decidedly dodgy. But not to the point where your saying "oh my that looked dreadful". No you'll be saying "haha did you see that. That was brilliant". Awesome. The only way you wont enjoy this film is if you're some kind of movie snob, or a robot. I'm sure even snobs and robots need to switch their brains of and just enjoy some mindless entertainment every now and then. So do just that and you'll enjoy yourself. 8 out of 10. Awesome.

I rarely get scared anymore when watching what others would call an on the edge of your seat thriller; not so with Burning Bright. One scene in particular was very intense. If you've seen the movie then you no-doubt know the scene I'm referring to. If you haven't, then give the movie a chance. The acting was good, especially by Tahan. I say "especially" because he was just a kid and did very well. Overall the movie caries itself and once the plot unfolds it really holds your attention. I feel it deserves more than the three stars it was given. The only problem I have with the movie, unless I missed something, is the title makes no sense. Other than that, enjoy!

Trapped in a hurricane-proof shelter house with a starving tiger ... one really can not expect much from a simple plot like that, with relatively unknown actors and (most likely) very modest budget.

Surprisingly, I smoothly give it 7 out of 10 on my scale, and not only because of gorgeous sweaty Briana Evigan (interesting, I didn't even notice her in Sorrority Row) in a wet white undershirt through most of the movie ... but yes, sure that helped a bit in boosting my rating.

I don't know how the tiger scenes were done, but they are more than satisfying, in few scenes even buzzed me out of my bed. Only thing I can complain about is lack of body count and blood, since there are only two persons in the house.

If you liked The Collector (2009) go for this one too, and vice versa.

Burning Bright is a horrific gem. One of those films where you ask yourself, "why wasn't this released in theaters?" That is exactly what I was wondering while watching. I felt my heart beating throughout the 50 minute action sequence. The premise will immediately catch your attention, a young women and her autistic brother are trapped in a house with a hungry tiger during a hurricane. The house is barricaded.

~How did the tiger get into the house? Will they survive?~

It's surprising the amount of things occurring throughout and it's a nice change from almost every one-dimensional horror films nowadays. It is also extremely believable; this can happen to anyone of us. If you thought Freddy Kruger was scary, try taking on this tiger. It's unfortunate that it was never credited because the tiger is the star of the film. Briana Evigan also gives a terrific performance as the hot women in trouble and fits this film perfectly.

There are no real flaws in Burning Bright. It is quiet perfect of how to make a suspenseful thriller. It's a thriller that actually thrills. It goes the extra mile making sure your heart is pounding out of you chest at every moment. A couple of scenes are simply unforgettable.

Burning Bright is a bright light for every inspiring filmmaker out there. It doesn't matter if your film gets the attention it deserves, someone will notice and appreciate the work that was done. The filmmakers know how to make a great film. They didn't just think of the good plot, they also spent time perfecting it and it's noticeable.

Burning Bright was never released in theaters, and frankly it should have been. It's one of the most thrilling films I have seen in years. The suspense will eat you alive.