Review of Midnight (1982) by Dougal S — 08 Sep 2011

An Underated Exploitation Gem.

HALLOWEEN, FRIDAY THE 13TH and APRIL FOOL'S DAY; three great horror films all set on some of the scariest times of the year. Well, make way for MIDNIGHT - the scariest time of the day! But does the film live up to it's spooky title? Well, that depends on what you're looking for.

Directed by the writer of the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD film, MIDNIGHT tells the story of a runaway named Nancy who ends up captured by a murderous Satanist cult, as you do. Imagine THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE with Satanists instead of cannibals and you're in the right ball park. From the start, the film's low budget is pretty obvious - and this isn't helped by the picture quality of this release - but in a way, that adds to this film's dirty, beaten charm. With gore effects from the one and only Tom Savini there's a few scenes that gore hounds may be interested in.

Overall, this exploitation film has seemed to have slipped under the radar somewhat (which is surprising considering it's involvement in the notorious video nasty controversy of the '80s and it's cast and crew - Tom Savini, John Russo and John Amplas from Romero's DAY OF THE DEAD, MARTIN and CREEPSHOW). If you fancy some good ol' low budget, backwoods horror, then this film is for you.

The Arrow DVD comes with a very informative booklet, reversible artwork and a few nice extras including commentary and interviews.