Teenager Green Graves (Bret Harrison) is a tried and true horror geek living in a small Alabama town. He pours over issues of Fangoria and creates elaborate special effects make-up and props. His life in a trailer park with his mother Jenny (“Hellraier’s” Ashley Lawrence) and younger brother Jay (Lucas Till) is a mundane but seemingly content one. When he isn’t outside catching lightning bugs with his friends in the woods he’s renting gory horror videos at the local video store. His ambition to manage the local Halloween haunted house is finally realized when he manages to persuade the owner Mr. Tightwiler (Bob Penny) into giving him the job. During this time, Green’s home life is disrupted when his mother meets local bad boy Earl (Kevin Gage), an abusive hick with a drinking problem. The teen finds solace with video store clerk Angevin (Laura Prepon) who shares his affinity for horror films and has troubled home life of her own. While the two begin a romance, Green’s mother marries Earl, bringing a flesh and blood monster into their lives. As he prepares for the opening of the haunted house, Green is met with opposition from his violent stepfather and the local church (which includes Angevin’s disturbed mother). The teen is not discouraged; proceeding with his plans while fighting the all-too-real horror of the small-minded town folk.

“Lightning Bug” is one of those “almost” movies that has several wonderful, inspired moments that never add up to a cohesive whole. The first half hour is very strong; a visually arresting tone poem that hits the right balance of melancholy and youthful optimism. The basic premise is intriguing and will certainly strike a nerve with any viewer who grew up feeling lost in a small town environment. There is also a well-defined sense of place, which gives a certain credibility to the drama. The main problem with “Lightning Bug” is the screenplay, which is structured poorly and feels very much like a first draft. All of the ingredients are there for an involving odyssey of a young man’s transformation into adulthood and yet the simple story is filled with convoluted dramatic elements that are either unresolved or hastily pushed aside.

Green’s basic motivation for much of the film is his desire to create the town’s haunted house. He’s a skilled model maker and expresses a desire to work in Hollywood, but his goal to leave town is secondary (plot wise) to his managing this one big event. After getting permission to run the popular Halloween attraction, his obstacles are many. His abusive stepfather Earl refuses to pay for Green’s supplies and even declines an important package needed for props. Earl is also disparaging of his stepson’s work and threatens to kick him out of the home if he doesn’t find a “real job.” The family violence escalates and Green finds himself defending his mother, ending up seriously hurt. This plot point is quickly forgotten (as are several others throughout the film). The local church crowd and their unstable mouthpiece Ms. Duvet are upset about the spook house and plan to demonstrate the night of the event. In addition, Green is framed for vandalizing the church and is jailed the day before the house is set to open. As if the cards aren’t already stacked against him, while behind bars Ms. Duvet takes a sledge hammer to the interior of the spook house; destroying his work. Since the entire film has been primarily focused on the success of this event, there is a modicum of suspense generated by these obstacles - however extreme. Will Green be able to get out of jail and restore the house to an acceptable working order? Well…

Green does get out of jail in time for the big night and with just hours to spare. Since he’s been locked up for a while, one would assume that preparing the house would be foremost on his mind. Free from jail he… decides to collect lightning bugs instead. At this point the viewer might also feel obliged to go outside and do the same. Green arrives at the spook house just before it’s due to open while a considerable crowd of customers and protesters mill about outside. He’s evidently planned so well for the event that all he has to do is open the doors and let the masses wander through. Fortunately, before he blindly opens the doors, he decides to check out the interior and finds that his work has been ruined. The visual evidence amounts to a semi-vacant room with little evidence of any horror ephemera. Does he close the house? Attempt a quick-fix restoration? The big moment the film has been building to could politely be called a MacGuffin as it’s success or failure is never explained. The remainder of the film is a series of contrived situations that belie the subtlety and authenticity of the promising beginning.

The film was written and directed by special effects artist Robert Hall and is evidently a semi-autobiographical piece about his youth. This would explain the strong attention to detail and the convincing sense of place. It also might explain his proclivity to overburden the narrative with complications. There are far too many obstacles in Green’s way and none of them are sufficiently dealt with. Hall also has a problem with tone; situations and characters run the gamut from subtle drama to high camp. At the same time, there are too many intriguing aspects to “Lightning Bug” to dismiss the film entirely. Green’s life and the characters that surround him are so distinctly drawn that one wishes the screenplay 101 contrivances had been jettisoned in favor of a leaner, meaner monster. Editing just part of a subplot does make a film shorter, but can also render aspects incoherent.

The performances are all strong, if not entirely suited for the same film. Kevin Gage as the abusive stepfather and Ashley Laurence as the misguided mother are especially good. Both parts are underwritten and border on caricature, but the two actors make the most of what they are given. Bret Harrison as Green does a nice slow burn, but seems a bit in over his head during the more dramatic moments. Laura Prepon (who also executive produced the film) is a woefully underrated actress. She does what she can with the troubled Angevin, who is rendered almost inconsequential in the third act through poor editing decisions. Shannon Eubanks, who plays Angevin’s mother, gives the most distracting performance. Her character and entire subplot seem more like something from a John Waters’ film and dilutes any real drama from the narrative. Hall might simply be too close to the material to really get a true perspective on the big picture. It’s a wildly uneven production, but shows such promise in the details that all eyes are sure to be on whatever he comes up with next.

The DVD package from Anchor Bay is an outstanding production. The film is presented on 1.77:1 widescreen and is often striking for such a low budget production. DP Brandon Trost’s compelling composition and use of light is well represented here. The 5.1 Dolby Digital mix is also quite impressive and effectively showcases the subtle score by Jason Hall. There are two audio commentaries, one solely with the director and one with Hall, producer Lisa Waugh and actors Laurence and Prepon. Extra features include the featurette “Luciferin: The Making of Lightning Bug,” deleted scenes with commentary, trailer, music video, outtakes and a still gallery.

Part of the schizophrenic nature of this review is the fact that director Hall has made a film that speaks directly to the horror movie geek club (of which this monster is a card carrying member). Though this film is not particularly horror, fans of the genre who grew up reading Fangoria will no doubt like some, if not all, of the curious cocktail Hall has created. The critic part of this monster was more disappointed in the film that could have been, while the monster part simply enjoyed the honest attempt.