Lightning Bug (film)

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Lightning Bug

Directed by	Robert Hall
Produced by	Lisa Waugh
Written by	Robert Hall
Starring	Bret Harrison Laura Prepon Kevin Gage Ashley Laurence
Music by	Jason Hall
Cinematography	Brandon Trost
Editing by	Joshua Charson
Distributed by	Anchor Bay Entertainment
Release date(s)	April 9, 2004
Running time	97 mins
Country	United States
Language	English
Official website
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Lightning Bug is a 2004 horror film. It is the debut film by writer/director Robert Hall, a SFX makeup artist known primarily for his work on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

It is a fictionalized account of how Hall's own childhood and entry into special effects makeup for film and television. It was executive produced by Laura Prepon as a way to expand her image as an actress beyond her role on That '70s Show.

It was filmed on location Alabama.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Single mother Jenny Graves (Ashley Laurence) decides to restart her deadend life by moving out of Detroit and taking her two sons Green (Bret Harrison) and Jay (Lucas Till) to small rural town in Alabama. Green is fan of horror films, more specifically the makeup effects used to bring them to life. He meets a pair of affable locals, Tony Bennet and Billy Martin (Jonathan Spencer and George Faughnan).

However, his mother's penchant for getting involved with the wrong type of men brings a very human monster into his life, Earl Knight (Kevin Gage).

Taking some horror films back to the video store, he meets Angevin Duvet (Prepon) who shares both his interest in the horror genre and fish-out-of-water status in the small town. Smart, funny and a sexy Goth girl he is instantly smitten. However, there are hints that there are some troubling aspects to her past.

Green approaches the local business man, Tightwiler (Bob Penny), who runs a yearly haunted house and by startling him with one of his creations nabs the job of creating this year's haunted house. With his share of the ticket sales, he and Angevin can move to Hollywood to pursue their dreams. However, this puts him on a direct collision course with Angenvin's mother, a deeply religious woman involved with local Holy Calling of the Southern Saints church.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Trivia

Ashley Laurence is best known playing Kirsty Cotton in the Hellraiser movie series. As a not-so-subtle wink to this, there is a scene with Jenny picking up a copy of Fangoria magazine with the Pinhead character on the cover.