Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

edeighton Midnight was in some respects a much easier film to watch than Darkness. While Darkness utilized professional actors and better cameramen and directors, Midnight had a more coherent plot. Few could watch Darkness and then describe to somebody what happened in that movie and why it happened. Whereas, because John Russo adopted the screen play for Midnight from his own already published novel and then directed the movie himself, John Russo's story was successfully conveyed to the audience. Russo's novel, "Midnight" told a bigger story about a national syndicate of Satanists that controlled all the political offices of the small Pennsylvania town which was the setting for the novel. Russo's novel also had a much more grim ending as nobody came to save poor Nancy. In the book, Nancy's policeman-step-father drove home after hearing that the satanists would kill Nancy on Easter night. The step father character in the novel left Nancy to die in an effort to conceal his attempted rape of her. While Midnight the movie tells a slightly smaller story than "Midnight" the novel, Russo manages to force feed some pretty heavy themes to his audience: (1)Racial tension- Russo really places a lot of emphasis on the issue of racial disharmony. (2)The archaic and useless nature of religion- Russo devotes more time to this theme in his novel, but its hard not to notice Russo's opinion that Catholic dogma is just as archaic and useless as the satanic rituals being performed by his villains. The Catholic Priest taking Nancy's confession is portrayed as vindictive and unnecessarily ritualistic. Late in the film, the camera pans back and forth between Nancy praying for salvation while locked in a dog cage and at the same time the satanists chant their prayers hoping to resurrect their mummified mother. Russo seems to suggest that both prayers are equally outdated, ineffective and useless. (3) Men as predators- Russo does not think very highly of the fellow members of his gender. Literally every man that Russo's main character, underage Nancy, meets wants to have sex with her. Her stepfather drunkenly tries to rape her, The first driver that attempts to pick her up hitchhiking specifically states that she has to have sex with him for every 300 miles that he drives her. The two college aged boys discuss that she is jail bait and then still pick her up hitchhiking because the one boy thinks she is likely to sleep with him. The satanist brothers try and strip her naked and rape her until their satanist sister reminds them that they need a virgin sacrifice. (4) The danger of rural areas- Many of the victims of the satanist killers were either killed or kidnapped right from their own homes and backyards. This was only possible because of the rural area that these people lived in. The "dangerous" woods reached right up into the victims back door. The satanists needed only step out of the dangerous woods attack their victims and then disappear back into the woods. Russo's story was interesting but his themes were misguided and heavy handed

Leofwine_draca John Russo is nowadays largely derided for his efforts to 'repackage' NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD – a film on which he served as editor – for a 30th anniversary audience. This involved shooting ridiculous new footage and generally attempting to change the film for the better, but what happened? He created a travesty instead. Anyway, the wannabe-director was also involved in some rural Pennysylvanian horror flicks back in the 1980s, producing the ultra-cheesy slasher THE MAJORETTES and directing this, a bleak black magic thriller that surprisingly manages to recreate some of the sleazy atmosphere of those '70s grindhouse flicks where bad things happen to young people.Of course, MIDNIGHT is put together on a shoe-string budget, so technically it's not very accomplished. The storyline is meandering and slow in places, and there are some stupid or unbelievable moments. Still, it managed to hold my interest for the entire run time. Where the film is effective, however, is in the landscape: there's an isolated backwoods setting for this film, a setting of desolate fields, abandoned farmhouses, and small towns where the locals are either racists or out-and-out psycho killers. Imagine the same kind of creepiness you saw in the likes of DELIVERANCE and SOUTHERN COMFORT and you'll have a general idea of the 'feel' of this film.Russo's budget meant that he could only afford one 'Hollywood' actor, legendary tough guy Lawrence Tierney. This actor plays the role of a perverted policeman with designs on his own step daughter! I admit, I've only seen Tierney in the likes of RESERVOIR DOGS, where he didn't get the chance to do much, but he shines here – a real class act. The rest of the cast are amateurish, but the central trio of Verlin, Hall, and Jackson aren't bad at all, and I actually found myself warming to these youths as they ride around in their van. Watch out for a minor appearance from John Amplas, who essayed the titular role of George Romero's MARTIN.When the horror eventually kicks in, we're left with a film detailing yet another family of hillbilly psychos, with an added black magic element. Yes, it's been done to death countless times before, and there's even a rip-off plot strand straight out of PSYCHO – and about a dozen other similarly-themed movies made in the 1970s. The good news is that Tom Savini's on hand to supply the gore effects, although they're limited and strained here and someone expecting the inventive nastiness of MANIAC or DAWN OF THE DEAD will be disappointed. Again, lack of money is a problem. Still, MIDNIGHT held my attention, and I was left feeling quite warm towards it once it was over. It's no masterpiece, and it's far from original, but even Russo's technical shortcomings can't disguise the heavy, oppressive atmosphere running throughout this minor effort.

skullislandsurferdotcom A teenage girl runs away from home, and with good reason. Her overweight, alcoholic policeman step dad tried to rape her, and he's played by Noir legend Lawrence Tierney, ten years shy from his revamp in Quentin Tarantino's RESERVOIR DOGS.She hitches a ride with two dudes in a van that eventually veers off on a back road – and like any low-budget horror film, this is a very bad mistake for the characters, but heaven to the viewer.Eventually our heroine faces a psychotic hillbilly clan ala Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE. Plenty of violent, gory murders served up by makeup guru Tom Savini creates an eerily hellish daytime nightmare – ultimately peaking with a satanic ritual at, you got it, midnight.Despite the anemic budget; and with the exception of Tierney and horror icon John Amplas (along with his psycho siblings), there are a few meager performances, but no matter: Here's an exploitation that entertains from the bloody beginning to the bloody end.For More Reviews: http://cultfilmfreakreviews.blogspot.com/

Tikkin Midnight is a true lost horror gem. Why this isn't more talked about I will never know. Perhaps it's the title, after all when you type in Midnight on IMDb it's not the first film in the list.It's hard to describe just how creepy and disturbing Midnight is - think of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, with elements of Deranged, The Last House On The Left, The Hills Have Eyes and Night Of The Living Dead all thrown in. The camera-work is fantastic, and of course, very similar to Night Of The Living Dead. It's so atmospheric. The grainy quality only adds to the creepiness and makes it feel like a 70's film. The music isn't always spot on - some of the synth is cool, but the cheesy song that plays over the end credits does the film no favours. There are many creepy and disturbing scenes, the most notable being the scene with the police officers, and my other favourite is when the killer jumps out from behind a gravestone. Other highlights include a girl being beaten to death with a stick and girls held captive in dog cages. There isn't a whole lot of gore, but Midnight is still quite violent. It kept me entertained throughout and there was so much to take in that I'll need to watch it again at some point. My only complaint is that the running time was a little too long, which took away some of the impact. Overall, if you're the sort of horror fan that enjoyed such films as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, this is definitely for you. It seems to be a hard title to find, but you can get the lions gate entertainment DVD from Amazon. This is a lost horror classic and one that all true horror fans should see at least once.