Director – Gary Lee Vincent (Ted Bundy Had a Son, Strange Friends)
Starring – Brennan Bobish, Michelle Bowser (21st Century Demon Hunter, My Uncle John is a Zombie!), and Michael Ochotorena (Toilet Zombie Baby Strikes Back, Cool as Hell 2)
Release Date – 2020
Rating – 2/5
A month or so ago I was browsing makeflix.com when I saw that they had had just posted the movie Midnight on blu. I collect all their releases so I immediately clicked it to order it when I noticed that it was actually a remake of John Russo’s Midnight from West Virginia actor and director Gary Lee Vincent. I had no idea that a remake was in the works let alone by several names associated with the indie horror scene in my state. I quickly snagged a copy and added it to my upcoming Midnight and Midnight 2 watch party.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows Nancy (Bobish) who flees from her home when her drunk step-dad, who is an officer, tries to sexually assault her. She starts hitchhiking and is picked up by a young couple who have plans of camping in Virginia. When they arrive they soon find themselves face to face with the backwoods Barnes family who are a group of murderous Satan worshipping psychos. **Spoiler Alert**
I’m not one that bashes remakes. Hell, I’m always open to remakes, sequels, and prequels. However, Midnight just didn’t hit like the original film. The original had some cliched and slightly goofy moments but this one dialed up the awkward and camp to 11. The movie has potential to be fun if it would have embraced it’s goofy side and tried to deliver a story that wasn’t a direct remake of Midnight.
The acting in this one is solid but a good portion of the cast has little to no experience so it does get a bit awkward at times. The cast is fully dedicated to their roles but the characters they portray and the story itself does not match well at all. I loved the intensity that Michael Ochotorena brought to the film and if this was a horror comedy I would be all about his performance but here it feels out of place. The same can be said about several other characters/performances but his is the one that stands out to me.
The story for this one is a pretty close to the original but it lacks the tone and atmosphere that the original delivered. I love a horror movie centered around backwoods Satanists and Russo’s original had a lot of aspects that I thoroughly enjoyed. However, this remake doesn’t feel like a serious horror film. It’s got a lot of unintentional humor that could have worked if the film would have embraced the comical side. Instead, the attempt at seriousness and the unintentional humor clash making for an uneven film. Honestly, I think this one would have been a lot more entertaining if it was a horror comedy.
Finally, the film has some bloody moments with some light gore. The effects are not the best but I appreciate any indie horror film that tries to tackle practical effects. What I didn’t care for was the visual effects. The green screen basement and other visuals were horrible. I can’t understand why anyone thought they looked good enough to pass in the final film. Overall, Midnight tried to tackle the story made popular in what I would consider one of the most underrated early 80s horror films ever. Sadly, it was unable to pull it all together like Russo did and created an extremely difficult film to finish.
