I don't think Lightning Strikes is as bad as some of the other reviewers say, but I do think it is a movie with a lot of problems. Having seen almost all so far of SyFy's work over the past two years or so Lightning Strikes is nowhere near their worst nor is it an irredeemable movie. If anything, despite being very problematic, it is actually one of their more watchable efforts. There are good things at least. The music is decent, not mind-blowingly good but at least it fits the atmosphere of the movie. The finale is exciting and by far the highlight of the film, there is at least some suspense and the pace really picks up here. The creature does look good, much more serviceable than the ridiculous-looking ones that SyFy usually churn out. The human characters, with one exception, are clichéd and not developed so well, but at least have some likability, have an awareness of their predicament and show some decent chemistry. And the acting especially from Kevin Sorbo and David Schofield(who has the best line of Lightning Strikes, see in my review title) is above average. I was mixed on the technical side, the editing was at least comprehensible and the lighting had some atmosphere but the settings, reminiscent of someone's basement shows a serious hindrance in budget and apart from the finale the special effects are not great(though not as bad as those of most other SyFys). On the other hand, there are a number of bad things. First and foremost, the character of the mayor, he is incredibly irritating by how much of a stupid sissy he is and he is very overacted by Todd Jenson as well. I wish we learnt more about the creature as well, there was a really intriguing idea but the movie just doesn't do very much with it. Apart from one good line, I generally did the dialogue much too talky and very clunky in tone, while the story generally is slow and predictable with too much of an emphasis on the disaster movie genre rather than doing anything to develop the creature. The killings were rather weak too, lacking in any surprises or shock value and some of them are too brief as well. So all in all, a mediocre movie that still is above most of SyFy's movies. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Another sci-fi cheapie from SyFy. This one was shot in Bulgaria in the dark like so many and stars Kevin Sorbo in the cliched small town sheriff hero role. The story borrows from the storm chasing genre with a twist in that a sentient and malevolent alien being lives inside lightning storms, directing them to attack and kill unsuspecting folk. David Schofield is the notable guest actor who's a lot better than the material, while the rest is strictly by rote: cheap and cliched, with poor FX and derivative situations (including yet another JAWS-inspired mayor who puts profit ahead of safety).

LIGHTNING STRIKES is one Sci-Fi channel movie to avoid.

KEVIN SORBO stars as the sheriff of a small town--supposedly in the mid-west of America--whose mayor is upset that the storm chasers are predicting a "big one" will wipe out the town. These "chasers" are on a mobile unit full of electronic equipment as they make their diagnosis of when and where the storm will strike.

It's foolish nonsense, not helped by the bad script, the fake looking settings filmed mostly in a studio set in Bulgaria, and the false special effects that reduce the whole chill factor to zero. Must have been a tough location. You can see how frosty the air was when the actors open their mouths to speak--even in indoor scenes!

Hard to see why anyone bothered to produce this witless wonder. Whatever real menace they could have used by making the storms more realistic (such as the moment where we can see a figure in the lightning) is practically non-existent.