Ten Thousand Points of Light counts as another Dust-To-Digital diamond in their prestigious library. George King’s documentary Ten Thousand Points of Light proves interesting, especially during this holiday season.
Linda Dubler wrote this in 1991 describing Ten Thousand Points of Light: “Kitsch alert! Worshippers at the shrine of Elvis and followers of pop culture take note–there’s still time to catch a screening of George King’s mind-bending new video Ten Thousand Points of Light. It’s a wry, understated and terrifically funny look at the Townsends, a suburban Atlanta family who, every holiday season for more than twenty years, transformed their Stone Mountain area brick-ranch into a meteoric blaze of Christmas lights. Known as both ‘the Christmas House’ and the ‘Elvis House,’ the Townsend’s’ home was visited yearly by vast numbers of people, many of whom viewed a trip to the land of a thousand tchotchkes as an annual pilgrimage.”
King allows each member of the Townsend family to tell their story. “It seems Elvis and Christmas go together,” says Grandma Townsend. Grandma loves the Shopping Channel. The family allowed people to tour their home since 1973. It took 12 weeks to put the lights up, and the tour begins the day after Thanksgiving. The rules are simple: no drinking, no touching, no rudeness. Mr. Townsend revealed his security system at his home is a pistol under his jacket. The film is worth the price just to see the ‘Fantasy Room’ scene.
This documentary marks the last year Raymond & Margaret Townsend gave a ‘tour’. Six months later the family moved to North Carolina. Ten Thousand Points of Light ranks up there with The Dancing Outlaw and Vernon, Florida. Enjoy the eggnog…