Midnight (1982)

That was an excellent one.

Best movie ever!

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

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.

Extremely low budget, which shows and can be off putting but this film moves with confidence. Scenes may be a little dark or slower than we would like and the dialogue somewhat less than snappy but we have a terrible feeling the tale that is told may not be too far off the mark. Filmed in the backwoods northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this is bleak looking country and pretty bleak people seem to lurk. There is gleeful and brutal killing for the sake of it and then as we proceed more serious devil worship based cult killing involving the kidnap of girls and their being held in cages awaiting their sacrifice. These later scenes are particularly well done and the lighting, dialogue and performances all seem to be upped a gear as we head to the ending with Lawrence Tierney lumbering across the screen to attempt an heroic rescue after all his own misdeeds.

Backwoods hillbilly Satanists murder locals and capture a runaway after dispatching of the two "grocery thieves" she was hitching a ride with. The reason our heroine run away in the first place was because of her alcoholic policeman step-father's trying to molest her. The hillbillies include this portly cackling menace who murders a black priest with a knife and, shortly after, strangles and drowns the man's daughter in her own bathtub. Romero vet, John Amplas(the "vampire" star of Martin)has a creepy role as one of the Satanists who shoots two men in cold blood..one black man point-blank in the forehead. The runaway is Nancy(Melanie Verlin)and her step-father, Bert Johnson, is played by the great Lawrence Tierney. An odd occurrence takes place in this film..Bert, the man who is quite a liar(he tells his wife, in a subtle way of course, that Nancy was trying to seduce him, for petesake), becomes the hero of this flick! He, through fine police work, will find Nancy's recent whereabouts and face-off with the Satanists in a bloody finale.This is a film from author of "Night of the Living Dead" John Russo, who I guess wanted to make his way into the horror genre. I've read that many feel Russo, at the very least, captures the aesthetic of Romero's "Night of the Living Dead." As I watched it again for the second time, it feels more akin to Wes Craven's "Last House on the Left." That feeling of hopelessness for several female sacrifices to Satan and how the villains have no regard for the human lives they destroy(in the backwoods where even the local police are afraid to enter)certainly reminded me of Craven's film. "Midnight" also felt as raw, sick, and exploitive(except for the lack of rape and nudity)as "Last House on the Left." And, also, the acting is about as lacking as Craven's film. In my mind, "Midnight" is about as backwoods and independent a horror picture as can be made. When someone mentions "Backwoods slasher", "Midnight" will probably stem to my mind for now on. One thing I can say positive about this is Russo's choice of location as the setting..the cold dead woods lend to the feeling of dread and there's a garbage-beauty this film has I came away with liking. It's the acting that causes me to ache. That and the CORNY theme song..the type you would find on a record titled, "AM GOLD". Damn thing is that title tune gets stuck in your head..to the point you'll just be chiming away realizing in horror what you humming to.I'm guessing that the reason the acting is less than stellar is because Russo uses local talent, shoots his film in local areas, and shoots as low-income as possible. I guess it could be viewed as a grindhouse flick. It looked like one to me. Most of the violence is blood splatter as large blades slash across throats.

Contains a smattering of blood. A young girl on the run from her pervert father meets up with two traveling losers. They make the mistake of trying to shoplift and end up stumbling into a cult of freaks that captures and kills girls. - - - John Russo must've had a lucky fluke when he contributed to "Night of the Living Dead" because he has since proved that he's not exactly a movie genius. Still, he crafted a film that, while not enjoyable, is certainly an amusing expose of bad taste. There are a ton of taboo subjects floating around and almost achieves a "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" quality with grainy footage, off performances, and extreme low budget. Of course, none of this saves the movie from being muddled and featuring a plot that is too fractured for its own good. It has some value for cult fans, but anyone with a taste for the highbrow or tactful should just stay away.* * out of 4

A teenage girl runs away from home after her drunken cop step dad tries to take advantage of her. She hooks up with two average Joes who are on their way to Florida in a van. They pass through a backwards hick community, rob a grocery store, hide out along a two-track, and find themselves up against a family of Satan worshippers, who have been killing off some of the townspeople. A pretty good horror film, brimming with creepy atmosphere and some unexpected shocks. The acting is sometimes a little over-done, but it doesn't ruin anything. The tight pace keeps things moving along fine and a few unexpected twists keeps things interesting. The setting gives the film a dreary, doomed feeling, which goes fine with the storyline. The last 20 minutes are pretty grisly. This is another film House Of 1000 Corpses obviously pays homage to, with that Easter-loving, devil-worshipping, trap them and kill them theme. Over-looked and forgotten, but definitely worth a look if you love the drive-in horrors of yesteryear. Three Stars.