Burning Bright (2010)

Directed by Carlos Brooks. Starring Briana Evigan, Charlie Tahan, Garret Dillahunt. [PG-13]

Would-be college student Evigan is upset she can’t enroll her autistic little brother (Tahan) in a special institution while she’s away because her stepfather emptied the bank account in order to, let’s see now…buy a crazed tiger for a “safari show”. When a hurricane hits, Evigan and Tahan are all alone and trapped in the house with, yep, that very same starving tiger. “Tiger! Tiger! Burning bright, in the forests of the night,” quoth Calvin (quoting Blake), but this big cat won’t get distracted by cans of tuna like Hobbes, and once the strained premise is established, there’s not much else to do but wait it out. Viewers may get frustrated by the low body count and lack of scary set pieces—modest and infrequent tension is about all this one generates—and pretty much the only thing separating it from any other cramped-quarters thriller with a ravenous beast/monster/psycho-killer on the loose is the kid, who just can’t help but put them in danger time and time again. You can try to find a metaphor in shortsighted greed and recklessness literally threatening to destroy your family, but the stepdad’s characterization is so illogical and one-note, you get more out of the tiger. Note: using what appears to be a real animal (three different tigers named Schicka, Katie and Kismet) almost every time it’s on camera is a lot easier on the eyes than a phony CGI creation, but it limits the shot selections and shock moments the filmmakers can use and produce—despite the best efforts by editor Miklos Wright, it’s hard to overlook the fact that they’re never in the same shots as the actors. Meat Loaf makes an uncredited cameo appearance in the prologue.

43/100