I met Simon Hunter at Raindance when I was learning film making and we talked a bit about this film.
The money shots were expensive and took up a lot of the budget, this should have been a cheaper film.
Simon has a friend called Jake West, who made the cult classic Razor blade smile on a budget of £20K, incidentally using the same actor as the baddie, If you are interesting in the art of film making then check it out.
True lighthouse does have higher production values, but is not as much fun. I liked Simon, he is a competent film-maker, but I think that given his budget he could have done better.
The story about a crashed prison ship on a remote lighthouse Island could have been a good thriller, but as a premise for a slasher movie its a bit of a waste.
Think Key Largo as a great example of that genre.
A story of a prison van breaking down in remote Scotland with the action set in and around the odd bothy would have have been cheaper, more convenient and could have allowed for a more relaxed shooting schedule, higher shooting ratio, and a better edited end film.
As it is it is neither a good thriller or slasher movie.
Pity.
Review of Lighthouse
