MIDNIGHT
(1981)
Directed by John Russo
Vidmark VHS
THE FILM
What’s that noise? The beeping
is driving me crazy. Sounds like
it’s getting closer...closer...oh,
now I see it. That’s the sound
of a dumptruck. Backing up. Welcome
to the land of missed opportunities.
Listen, I know that the credits
of this film are filled with familiar
names, most of which could play
a successful hand of Six Degrees
of Separation with Night Of
The Living Dead. The thing
is, I don’t really care. No
matter who was involved with the
production of Midnight,
it’s impossible to get past
the hampering missteps that line
the film like crazy glue. Would
you choose to score your (intended)
disturbing backwoods horror cavort
with feel good, 70s sunshine funk?
I really hope not. Are minutes upon
minutes of driving padding vital
to enhancing the atmosphere? Please
say “no.” Part after
school special + part grisly horror
= make up your mind.
After an unhinging pre-credit sequence,
which introduces characters that
disappear for the rest of the film,
we meet the dyke-ish Nancy. Nancy
is a 17 year old, god-fearing Catholic
that got it on with her ex-boyfriend.
Sinner! After successfully thwarting
off an attempted rape from her barbaric
stepfather, Nancy decides to hitchhike
away from home, all the way from
Pittsburgh to the California sun.
She’s picked up by a couple
of rude dawg college students and
the three of them visit a small
town filled with racists and satan
worshippers. To make a very long
story short, the devil’s children
need three young girls for Lucifer’s
sacrifice. At midnight. Nancy is
one of them. Inbetween, we’re
treated to a few needless killings
and loads of frustrating padding
(walking in the woods, driving around,
shopping at the grocery store...the
list goes on). Ramble on, “Midnight,”
ramble on.
At it’s core, Midnight
has nothing but good intentions.
Several unpleasant set-pieces will
wake you up (women kept in tiny
dog cages, the occasional cheap
gore shot) and it’s clear
that director John Russo was pining
for the down-n-dirty late 70s horror
crown with this picture. Knowing
that the building blocks are there,
it’s unfortunate that the
whole shebang is so poorly executed.
Most of the actors project their
lines with all the force of a sixth
grade book report, completely awkward
and staged. The unrealistic and
dated dialogue doesn’t help.
The main slasher/killer, an overweight
bumpkin with overalls and a flannel,
induces guffaws more than scares;
his constant giggling would feel
right at home on a sitcom laugh
track. Normally, all of this stuff
would add up to hilarious bad film
blemish, but that’s clearly
not where the intended tone lies.
Being hampered by a low budget can
oftentimes yield fascinating trash.
No dice here.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Given the nastiness of this tape’s
exterior (total pizza stains), the
picture was surprisingly crisp and
free of blemishes. The color palette
was completely washed out, dark,
and borderline monochrome, which
would probably add a lot to the
mood if the film was more successful.
The mono sounds were terrific.
EXTRAS
My, my, my. Not only does Vidmark
provide us with a nasty trailer
for that piece of garbage New
York Ripper, but we also get
two identical logo spots. One before
the trailer and one after. That’s
what I like to call double trouble;
the good kind of course.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Midnight seems to hold
some value amongst genre enthusiasts,
but I was disappointed. Could have
been a gritty classic, but as is,
it just barely stands out.
— Joseph A. Ziemba, 01.01.05 |
Let's go to the mall
Nice knife in the cemetery
No fun
The once over
|
