Firestarter

The second screen adaptation of Stephen King's novel (after the 1984 version starring Drew Barrymore) sees Ryan Kiera Armstrong playing Charlie, an 11-year-old girl with telekinetic powers she inherited from her parents (Zac Efron and Sydney Lemmon). The family are on the run from shadowy government scientists seeking to harness their gifts, but their cover could be blown at any moment thanks to Charlie's nasty habit of setting fire to anybody who makes her feel threatened. Director Keith Thomas uses ominous music and moody lighting in an attempt to crank up the tension, but that fails entirely in the face of uniformly wooden performances, unconvincing special effects and a plot that fails to engage. It often feels as if isolated chapters from the original book have been adapted at random, and the result is a film that's unlikely to set horror fans' hearts alight.