Mark Justice | Through the Shattered Lens

In Murder at the Lighthouse, Jessica Vickers (Skye Coyne) is trying to escape her abusive husband, Colton (Mark Justice). She meets up with Rory (Brandon Brooks), an old friend from college who now runs a charter boat service with his brother Anthony (Tyler Noble). It’s implied that Rory has always had romantic feelings for Jessica and, when she asks him to help her escape from Colton, he agrees to use his boat to take her to Canada.

The only problem is that they sail straight into a storm. While Colton is murdering Anthony on the mainland, a tidal wave is capsizing the boat. Rory drowns. Jessica washes up on a nearby beach where, the next morning, she is found by Adeline (Shelli Manzoline). Adeline takes Jessica back to the lighthouse that she calls home. When Jessica wakes up, Adeline explains that the lighthouse is pretty much isolated from the rest of civilization. The nearest town is a few miles away. There’s no landline. There’s no cell reception or WiFi. There’s just Adeline, the lighthouse, and a goldfish.

At first, Jessica keeps her past a secret from Adeline. But, when Colton shows up at the lighthouse and asks Adeline if she’s seen Jessica or Rory, Jessica finally breaks down and tells Adeline everything. Adeline reveals that she is also a victim of abuse and she promises to protect Jessica from Colton.

At first, I was like, “Yay!” Women have to stand up for other women and I was very much looking forward to Adeline protecting Jessica from Colton in much the same way that Lillian Gish protected the children from Robert Mitchum in Night of the Hunter. However, as the film progressed, I noticed that there seemed to be something a bit off about Adeline. I was so happy that she was going to stand up to the vile Colton that it took both me and Jessica a while to notice that she had a possessive streak of her own. It turns out that Adeline has some secrets as well.

Murder at the Lighthouse is a superior Lifetime film, one that plays with the genre’s conventions and successfully lulls the audience into a false sense of security before tossing a few new twists at them. Skye Coyne, Mark Justice, and Shelli Manzoline all give strong performances. Mark Justice is especially intimidating at Colton, a husband who is not just an abuser but also a corrupt cop as well.

What really makes Murder at the Lighthouse stand out, though, is its ominous atmosphere. From the opening shots with the wind howling in the background to the final confrontation at the lighthouse, Murder at the Lighthouse makes a wonderful use of its isolated and stormy setting. The lighthouse is a wonderful location and the movie does a good job of keeping Jessica and the audience disorientated. About halfway through the movie, I was truly asking myself, “How is she ever going to find her way out of there?”

Murder at the Lighthouse is a bit of somber film, especially by Lifetime standards. That said, it keeps you guessing and it ultimately embraces the melodrama in that way that we all love.

The 2022 film, Bleach, tells the story of Jonah Paxton (Mark Justice).

Born in Nevada, Jonah never knew his mother. He was raised in a trailer by his abusive father (Lorenzo Lamas), a degenerate gambler who molested Jonah and forced him to wear dresses in an attempt to shame him into “being a man.” When the mob threatened to come after Jonah because of his debts, he sold Jonah to his uncle, a drug dealer named Matthew (Eric Roberts).

In the mid-80s, grown-up Jonah has some issues. That’s not surprising. He’s haunted by his past and has hallucinations in which the devil is raping him from behind. (Yikes!) He also has visions of selling his soul to a mysterious woman (Mindy Robinson) who throws money at him. In what might be the real world, Jonah is hired by El Jefe (Robert LaSardo), who explains that he loves horror films but that the whole trope of the final girl upsets him. He gives Jonah a million dollars to film an actual snuff film. He tells Jonah that he wants high production values. He wants to watch Jonah become a monster. Jonah takes the money and films himself murdering two women who picked up at a bar and one woman who unfortunately entered the room at the wrong time.

While El Jefe waits for Jonah to bring him the tape, Jonah finds himself having even more violent hallucinations. He sees demons. He sees the devil. After he crashes his car in the desert, he has a vision of a woman (Tara Reid) who claims to be his mother and who encourages Jonah to commit suicide. While the police investigate Jonah’s crimes, Jonah is haunted by the ghosts of his victims and his already tenuous grip on reality continues to loosen. Soon, Jonah is drinking bleach and trying to purify himself with fire….

Bleach is a mess of a film, one that is occasionally surreal but which is more often just boring. The film’s tone is all over the place and certain scenes are so drawn out that they go from being disturbing to being dull. The moments of dark comedy fail to land but the glimpses inside Jonah’s mind are appropriately twisted and bizarre. By the end of the movie, Jonah’s scarred and blistered body is an undeniably shocking sight. Physically, he’s come to reflect the monster that he truly is. But, in the end, the film is too unevenly paced to be really effective and it ends with a shoot-out that is so clumsily choreographed that it’ll probably lead to more laughs than pathos.

Eric Roberts is memorably sleazy as the faux friendly Matthew. One gets the feeling that both and Lorenzo Lamas were only on set for a day or two but both of them make the most of their screen time. Both of them offer a glimpse into how to make a monster.

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed: