Burning Bright

Tiger, Tiger burning bright,
in the forests of the night;
what immortal hand or eye
could frame of thy fearful symmetry?

William Blake, The Tiger

Set in an unnamed location somewhere along the Gulf Coast, this horror film begins in an unlikely location in which a circus owner, played by an uncredited Meat Loaf, stops at the age of a deserted road and meets with a man who's desperate to buy a tiger. When the man, Johnny Gavineau, tries to barter and knock $5000 off the price, he's told that tiger is being sold because it ran amok in the circus, scaring the audience half to death and mauling a prize horse. The creature, he finishes, is not just dangerous -- it's evil. Johnny is so desperate to acquire the animals that he agrees to buy it anyway for the asking price and with a little extra for the circus owner's expenses.

Johnny wants to set himself up as the owner of a safari park with this tiger as its first investment. The thing is that he is (as he sees it) lumbered with two-step kids, one of whom, Tom, has severe autism and is looked after by his older sister, Kelly, who has a scholarship to a prestigious college and will want to leave home sometime soon before the scholarship is passed on to someone else. Still traumatised by their mother's recent suicide, things get worse when hurricane season approaches and Johnny boards up the house before going to a local tavern. Unbeknownst to Kelly and Tom, Johnny has boarded the front door closed after releasing the tiger into the house.


Waking up in the middle of the night, Kelly wanders out of her bedroom to check on her younger brother and get a drink. Finding a Post-It on the fridge from her stepfather saying he is at the local tavern, she angrily screws it up and throws it in the bin and, before she can enjoy her refreshing beverage, notices the 500 pound feline prowling around and quickly heads upstairs. Trying to coax her autistic brother out of his bedroom and into a closet, she tries to find somewhere safe but, with the animal capable of turning a door into matchsticks in a couple of minutes, there aren't a great deal of places to hide. Of course, the situation would be a whole lot easier if she had access to her mobile but it went down the laundry chute with her jeans the night before.

Bravely venturing into the kitchen to retrieve the phone, she succeeds in dialling 911 but, as there is a hurricane blowing, they are swamped with calls so ask her to enter her number so they can call her back. Before this callback service can be of any use, the tiger sniffs her out and Kelly seeks refuge by climbing up the metal pipe to her bedroom. From here on, it's a matter of being quiet, staying out of sight and perhaps distracting the tiger with mince that she has spiked with some medication that was lying around.


Although you pretty much guess that the dénouement will involve Kelly and Tom survive and Johnny getting his comeuppance, it is the journey that is more important than the outcome as this follows in the footsteps of other monster movies in which you know that the 'good guys' will survive at the expense of the 'baddies'. What Burning Bright does offer is a real Bengal tiger and there was no CGI or other trickery involved -- the actors were on set with a real tiger. Although you can see where a couple of scenes where digitally 'tweaked', something they did in Gladiator, there are a few moments when your heart does jump into your mouth plus a couple of good scares for good measure.

The small cast -- predominantly three people -- is extremely good with Garrett Dillahunt continuing to impress as a film actor and is suitably slimy as the unscrupulous would be safari park owner who will put his stepchildren's lives before his own happiness and relative newcomer Briana Evigan (who I last saw in Sorority Row) as Kelly and Charlie Tahan as the autistic Tom both utterly convincing, especially Tahan whose depiction of autism is extremely realistic. You really empathise with their plight and there is one moment where Kelly must decide between safely going to freedom and leaving her brother alone in the house with the tiger or going back for him and, as she chooses the latter, she doesn't lose your empathy.

The film is extremely tautly directed and extremely well edited so the tension is easily built and maintained through the angles, framing and tempo.

The Disc

Extra Features
The disc isn't exactly bursting at the seams with supplementary material so all you get is a trailer.

The Picture
The anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen transfer is extremely good with surprisingly deep contrast levels in the darker scenes so you don't miss out much in the many occasions when someone is hiding in the dark, moving in the shadows or action is generally taking place in lowlight situations. The film takes place at night and, although the house as electricity, the lights aren't always on everywhere so there are a great deal of scenes that take place in semi to complete darkness.

Burning Bright isn't a film that relies on fancy effects or CGI as they operated with a real tiger and just had to exist it's extremely well so that it appears that the animal and actors are in close proximity when they aren't -- something that is done extremely well and to great effect.


The Sound
The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack does a tremendous job with the tension and really escalating the terror when needs be which is, to be honest, most of the time. The surrounds are employed more or less throughout the film at differing levels from just the general sound of the wind and rain outside to a snarling beast leaping across the room. Sometimes everything goes quiet apart from the weather outside and you almost want to be able to hear the animals so you know where it is -- it's a little like that line in Open Water about sharks in which the female lead sets which is not sure what's worse, seeing them or not seeing them

There are optional English HoH subtitles available should you require them.


Final Thoughts
Burning Bright has an intriguing concept that is extremely well carried through by Carlos Brooks who really knows how to build up and maintain tension whilst introducing sequences that just escalate the terror. Although pretty much know from the outset how the film is going to end, it doesn't really matter' as you can't just enjoy the journey on the way there. Briana Evigan proves to be extremely competent actress who can carry a film by herself and it is unusual in a horror film to see the female star -- a young and attractive one -- put on more clothes as the story progresses rather than lose them! Saying that, she does start off wearing only a vest top and knickers so there was really only one direction in which she could go.

This is an extremely watchable thriller with some genuinely tense moments and it's just a shame that the disc doesn't come with more extra features than the paltry trailer as I would have liked to hear from Carlos Brooks, at least one of the writers and/or Briana Evigan. Even without these the disc is still worth at least a rental to enjoy as the nights begin to close in.