Minutes Past Midnight (2016)

Good concept, poorly executed.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I must admit that I initially stopped playing this movie after the first short story, but I continued watching it again after reading a few reviews on this site; and I'm really glad that I did. This film consists of nine short stories and while the first one wasn't necessarily my cup of tea and almost caused me to skip the rest of the stories, there are some pretty entertaining features that I would have missed had I not been more patient. The Mill at Caulders was a spooky animation, and the short film Feeders was down right creepy and entertaining. I also found Ghost Train and and Roid Rage creepy and kooky respectively.All in all this was definitely not a waste of time.

a 9-short comedy horror anthology. my favourites are James Moran's romantic comedy spoof Crazy for you and The Mill at Calder's End by Kevin McTurk, which features some brilliant picture composition and stop motion, near-photorealistic banruku rod puppet animation unlike anything i've seen before. also worthy of note is Ryan Lightbourn's genre-spanning Roid Rage and accompanying soundtrack. the dialogue is clever and delivered in deadpan fashion that practically had me in stitches the only short i didn't like was the final segment, Horrific, by Robert Boocheck. the story is clichéd, the monster design appeared lacking in inspiration, and the positioning of the short in the anthology was simply poor judgement on the part of the editor/s. then again, i like the film better on the whole if i think of number nine as an unnecessary 'bonus' track, to be discarded upon future viewing. all in all an entertaining film; pairs well with New Belgium Voodoo Ranger IPA

The intro sequence was rather nicely made, as it set up the mood for the anthology quite well, plus it had some interesting CGI and very moody music.Let's just say that the anthology starts out pretty intense. Which was good, because you don't have to sit around for a long time while the story is being established and set up during a long introduction.There are some surprisingly good special effects in the anthology, and that came as a pleasant surprise, which only added so incredibly much in terms of enjoyment value for fans of horror and the macabre.Segment 1, titled "Never Tear Us Apart" brings a family close together, if you can keep your head on, that is. This particular segment really kicked off the anthology in a fast pace."Awake" is the name of the second segment. This story was a little bit weak, because it is not fully clear what is going on. Is the child possessed? Was he sick? And what kind of parent would his their child with a frying pan if the child bit them on the arm?The third segment, titled "Crazy For You" starts out with a rather idyllic setting, which quickly take a turn for the brutal. I guess even serial killers have a blooming love-lives. This was definitely an interesting story, though I can't claim that I cared for the ending.Breaking the style of the anthology is "The Mill at Calder's End", the fourth segment. This is a animated segment. The props and the puppets really looked good and had nice textures, but the animation was incredibly wooden, rigid and stunted. Luckily, the story and the mood of this segment was enough to make you look past the wooden animation.The title of the fifth segment, "Roid Rage", definitely was an outstanding and instantly catchy title. This was definitely one of the more weird of tales, but also one that brought laughs with it because it was so odd. And it was unnecessarily made gross with the hairs at the lubrication. And the doctor was just wonderfully bizarre and hilarious."Roid Rage" gives way to "Feeder", which is the sixth segment in the anthology, which incidentally turned out to be one of my favorite segments. It was about some unknown entity or force at an apartment complex that demanded a bigger and bigger sacrifice of flesh. The story here was nicely constructed and it was the one that appealed to me the most in terms of being interesting and entertaining. Writer Guy McDouall and director Christian Rivers had really constructed something unique here.Next up was "Timothy" which was a truly wicked segment. I mean that because it was a twisted take on a children's imagination brought to life with a horrible outcome. This segment also stands out because it is in Spanish, though with English subtitles. This seventh segment was a short one, but one that had a big impact.The concept of the eight segment, titled "Ghost Train", was a rather interesting one. I found that to be rather entertaining, and it was nicely brought to life on the screen. This was definitely among the more memorable of segments that appeared in "Minutes Past Midnight".And the ninth and final segment, titled "Horrific", had a great amount of comedy in it, and was a wonderful mixture between horror and straight up comedy. I was laughing a lot when it turned into a "whack-a-mole" situation, that was just hilarious.The acting in the various segments was generally adequate, though there were of course some performances that far outshone others, and some that were just downright bad.As for the effects in the different segments, well it was adequate for most parts. Again, some segments had better effects than others. Which made for a very diverse experience.Each segment is definitely different in style, approach and delivery, which really makes for a very diverse experience. So there is something for everyone here.I was genuinely entertained throughout all nine segments, and must admit that it was actually a much nicer anthology than I had expected it to be. This can warmly be recommended to fans of the horror genre. And my rating of "Minutes Past Midnight" lands of a 6 out of 10 stars.

A gathering of horror shorts. If you are faint of heart it might not be your cup of tea. But, if you look past the blood and gore, you will see some strong talent and admirable creativity. I particularly enjoyed the Ghost Train story, an outstanding concept, well written and directed. All the stories kept me entertained. I do not think I could watch the Roid Rage story again. Although it is another highly creative concept, it is one of the most disturbing pieces of film I have ever seen. Wow. Overall, a great effort by a variety of writers/directors and the acting was much better than I would have expected for a film of this type. Kudos to all the actors.