This is a movie that starts off with a pedestrian vs auto accident that starts a downward spiral. It is all about bad decisions and who you can trust. The story was really thin without a lot of depth or character development. It wasn't horrible but it wasn't impressive either.
... View MoreA gloomy setting that projects light fog and early morning dew. A hooey story that unfolds like a blandly horrific stage play. A torture scene where some guy's fingers are driven through a chair with hammer and nails. Another torture scene where a girl's face is struck three times and all she does is put a tiny bandage on her forehead (huh?). It's all here in 2017's Midnighters (my latest write-up).Taking place on New Year's Eve, reckoning itself as poor man's Kubrickian, and distributed by Eagle Films, Midnighters chronicles a couple whose marriage may be on the downslope. Half-drunk and possibly upset with each other, they accidentally drive over a man as he's walking down a desolate road. Being that they're in the middle of nowhere, the husband and wife take the dead body and then later on, try to cover everything up. Unknowns Ward Horton, Dylan McTee, and Alex Essoe round out the cast. Their acting is anywhere between overreaching to just plain middling.Midnighters has its director (Julius Ramsay) clearly being inspired by 1998's A Simple Plan. "Plan" is a mean and lean drama that leaves you shaken and disturbed. Its varied twists and turns are effective and well, "simple". Midnighters on the other hand, over-complicates itself. It may have "Plan's" similar musical score but it surprisingly harbors a lack of suspense. With its weird plot contrivances and its push for trying to be too clever, Midnighters goes AWOL as thriller-based cinema. It never quite distresses you like it should.Julius Ramsay's direction is palatable so the biggest culprit for Midnighters has to be its shambolic screenplay (written by Ramsay's brother, Alston Ramsay). Alston creates a film experience where you don't have a clear idea of who the protagonists or the antagonists are. Obviously inexperienced at his craft, Alston seems to literally be making up stuff as he goes along. Oh and he insults the audience by thinking it's a victory for the heroine to escape with $50,000 (that's a nothing amount in today's world). In conclusion, I've reviewed two films recently with the words "midnight" in their titles. Guess what, Midnight Special and now Midnighters are both pretty lame. Thankfully we have 1978's Midnight Express to fall back on (ha-ha). Rating: 2 stars.
... View MoreIts actually pretty amazing, that this crew made a movie with this kind of cinematic quality, when they didnt give two sharts about the story or character development. Its a clusterfuck of medium-filmmaking, and poor writing - trying to corrolate the few good ideas they have. It could have been made in a day, and then edited into something else.99% dark mushy out-of-focus scenes, "stolen" shots from other horror movie and classic, and the most unrealistic farfetched, stupid plot for a horror movie in a genre, that HAS to be realistic, to be scary.English is not my first language, i dont care about grammar much. The only thing that mattered was counterattacking the stupid review from the crew. 9/10, my ass. NOTHING in this movie is remotely interesting and none of the character are believable in any way. Every situation leads to a slap in your own face, and you wonder if you should give up, or what the last 50 minutes.DONT WAIT FOR THE GOOD ENDING, that saves most shitty horrors/thrillers. It is not there.
... View MoreGreat story, suspenseful ambience, creepy piano score - it's got it all! But seriously, a gripping, edge-of-your seat flick with solid performances particularly from late entrant Ward Horton.
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