Josh Keown | Night Terror Novels 🧛🏻♂️’s review published on Letterboxd:
“We called Ptolemy insane, we spat in the face of Galileo, we burned Giordano Bruno... What did we need? What do we need in order to learn? What makes us be what we are? What finally makes us come to accept? What makes us believe?”
-Simon Silver (Robert De Niro)
I can’t really understand all the hate that faced this film upon its release earlier in the year, seeing it now. Although I’m certainly not going to declare Rodrigo Cortés’ (known for the tense Buried) latest mystery-cum-thriller a masterpiece, it really isn’t as bad as some have been making out. I mean come on, if you’re stating this is one of the worst ‘horror/thriller’ films ever made, then please do go and check out Weasels Rip My Flesh or Monsturd. Okay, so those are pretty extreme examples, but in terms of quality this doesn’t even come within a hundred miles of being that bad.
A major draw for anyone would be the collection of talented actors and actresses on board. The cast, comprising of a shocking amount of big name actors, obviously do not disappoint, despite the fact that De Niro takes a one way train into hammy-performance town. Sigourney and Cillian tackle their roles with ease and work fantastically off one another. Elizabeth Olsen is fast becoming one of my favourite up and coming actresses around today. Given her phenomenal debut performance (or not, can never get it in solid fact as to whether Silent House was her first role) in Martha Marcy May Marlene (which, coincidentally, I rewatched earlier today) and her future role in the Oldboy remake (which I’m hoping against hope they don’t fuck up), it’s fair to say I’ve developed a mild infatuation with her.
Then of course, there is old Robert himself, once one of Hollywood’s greatest screen names, nowadays reduced to the dregs of cinema. Though this isn’t his worst role, and he really goes to town in a role that I believe only he could fit in hindsight. The writing isn’t bad at all, and the story compelling and engaging for the first three quarters. It loses its way a little through the last act.
…and then we come to the ending. Oh dear. Few twists are quite so contrived. I’m not going to spoil anything, but it completely derails all that has come prior to it. If it had just ended five minutes sooner, it would have been a more than competent thriller. But it happens. It doesn’t ruin the film, but my God does it hinder an otherwise respectable outing. It could have worked, but goes against the entire ethos of this film. IT MAKES NO SENSE. And it was all going so well…well, well enough anyway.
VERDICT; Red Lights has been a bit too harshly judged in my opinion. Sure it’s dialogue-heavy and a teeny bit over-the-top, but it’s not all that bad. It was entertaining enough, providing one doesn’t attempt to think about it logically. Oh, and you’re probably best to turn it off ten minutes before it ends. Trust me, it will be more enjoyable/be more logical.
3/5 or 6/10