"Nightlight" (2015)

There was once an episode of SyFy's hit series, "Destination Truth" (which, for those unfamiliar with it, is a kind of hybrid of paranormal TV shows and travel documentaries) where the series' star, Josh Gates, and his team of investigators traveled to Japan to explore the "Suicide Forest" at the base of Mt. Fuji, known as "Aokigahara".  That area is renowned for what some estimates say are an average of 100 suicides committed there every year.  Now, while I take any reality TV shows as being anything but "reality", this episode really stood out to me as one of the creepiest TV shows I had ever watched.  The whole thing felt very much like "The Blair Witch Project" (1999), with the cast hiking through this thick forest at night, hearing strange noises and even finding buried belongings that were left behind by suicide victims.  At the time I was watching it, I thought to myself how this episode could be the basis for a truly great "found footage" film.  The very idea of a haunted forest filled with the souls of those who had willingly took their lives seemed rife with possibilities to me.

Enter "Nightlight" (2015).  A "found footage" film that opens with a young teen boy named Ethan (played by Kyle Fain) who is leaving his suicide note, if you will, on his computer via his webcam.  Ethan announces his plan to kill himself in the Covington forest (which, much like Aokigahara, is known as a suicide spot for those in despair), all due to being snubbed by a girl named Robin (played by Shelby Young from "American Horror Story").

The film then cuts to Robin driving out to the Covington forest at night to meet up with four snobby teens, Ben (Mitch Hewer), Nia (Chloe Bridges), Chris (Carter Jenkins) & Amelia (Taylor Murphy) in an effort to both become a part of their clique, but also to get closer to Ben, whom she's secretly crushing on.  Turns out they're there to play some kind of hide & seek game called "nightlight" (it's not just a clever title), where one person is blindfolded and has to count to 100, while the others hide.  Then, if that person can't find anyone, they're supposed to yell, "Nightlight!", and the others all shine their lights to reveal their locations (I should note that these flashlights all apparently have Go Pro cams mounted to them, because the entire film is supposedly shot from the end of each characters' flashlight for us to see through their vantage point).  Why college bound teens would want to play such a childish and dangerous game (one character even notices a bear trap in the foliage but never thinks to call off the game?) is beyond me?  And why would Robin herself want to play around in the very spot her friend Ethan killed himself at when she is supposedly feeling so much guilt over his death?

Regardless, it doesn't take too long though before they start hearing strange noises and become aware of some kind of presence in the woods. The problem is what it is that's stalking them is never clearly defined.  Is it a demon trying to take possession of their bodies or could it be the spirit of Ethan taking revenge?  Here again, much like "Devil's Backbone Texas", we have another example of a "found footage" film that wants to be vague about what is truly going on, but rather than heighten any sense of mystery, it only serves to create confusion.

And speaking of confusion, I found myself having a hard time making out just what was going on around each character at any given time, as the flashlights (ie: the cameras) keep flickering in an out, in what feels like an attempt to create tension, but instead proves to be quite irritating.  That and the non-stop of footage of people running with cameras in the woods which we've seen done a million times over by now.  With the way it kept inter-cutting between character's points of view, half the time I wasn't even sure which character's camera/flashlight I was seeing through?

I think though the biggest problem for me with this entire film was just how on the nose the screenplay was.  I've found that "first person" films work best for me when much of the dialog is allowed to be improvised by the actors to some degree, creating more of a sense of realism.  In this film, it's overly scripted and because we can't see the faces of the characters who are filming, we're often treated to goofy dialog that goes to great lengths to explain what the character is thinking (something like, "Oh, why did I come out here in the woods at night just to impress a boy?").  Because of it I was taken out of the film right out of the gates and never could buy anything that anyone was saying, as it all felt so manufactured.

Overall, I found myself not only bored through much of this film, but greatly disappointed with how it took what could've been an interesting premise and ostensibly put very little effort into developing it beyond your usual "found footage" fare.  If you want my advice, seek out the Aokigahara episode of "Destination Truth" instead, as you'll get a lot more of the willies watching that than you ever will with this movie!  I say "Lights out!"
on "Nightlight".

4 out of 10 for me.