An author who spends a weekend locked in a haunted lighthouse as a publicity stunt for his next book becomes a target for powerful supernatural forces.
“Widow’s Point” begins with an overhead shot of the Atlantic Ocean with some cheesy Acapella singing, no doubt an attempt to sound haunting. Craig Sheffer stars as Thomas Livingston, a has-been author who’s spending the weekend at an alleged haunted lighthouse to boost his upcoming book. Sheffer was an up-and-coming actor in the ’80s and ’90s. I was surprised after starring in “A River Runs Through It” that he never took off like his co-star Brad Pitt. Today he resembles Mickey Rourke with his rugged boxer-like face and goofy ponytail, all he’s missing is a chihuahua.
Full of exposition and tired tropes, the script wastes no time explaining everything. Like the not at all predictable “stay out of that one tower” scenario that you know the character will most certainly enter. Livingston begins to research the lighthouse’s cursed past and the first story he narrates is about a film production that ended in tragedy. After some supernatural occurrences, the film’s lead actress seems to be possessed and attacks a poor production assistant who runs to the director. Hilariously, the director is dressed like Crocket in Miami Vice with an all-white suit and T-shirt and he just replies, “actors, they’re all crazy.” Before the cast and crew have a chance to wrap, the lead actress sticks her head in a noose and jumps to her death, shocking everyone.
Livingston reads another dull story, this one is set in 1833, with a group of “Irishmen” playing cards. I put Irish in quotes because these might be the worst Irish impressions I’ve ever heard. One of the lads, O’Leary, goes to the restroom with a flashlight (should’ve been a candle) and during his bathroom break, a woman appears clad in a long white veil. She begins to chant “kill them, kill them all” and O’Leary runs back to the poker table to call it a night. In the next scene, under a similar spell from the previously mentioned actress, he bludgeons his card-playing pals with a hammer. Livingston wakes up from a vivid dream where he’s one of the victims and decides he must enter the tower where everything happened. Will he solve the mystery?
The filmmakers try their darndest to create tension but the setting isn’t creepy and the lighting is way too bright. I found the camerawork and editing to be so stale like shot A then shot B and then back to shot A without any semblance of fluidity. I was laughing out loud at the score whenever any note was being played. For example, when one character is on a rampage, every movement is punctuated by the composer banging on the piano to increase the intensity. It’s seriously so funny that someone thought that was scary, but art is subjective, so maybe it worked for them. Unless you want to watch how not to make a horror film, I suggest staying away from “Widow’s Point.” For a superior genre experience, I recommend “The Lighthouse” starring Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe.
Available On-Demand and DVD September 1st
