Midnight Movie: The Killer Cut (2008)
Review by Jude Felton
Midnight Movie was originally released in 2008, although I didn’t manage to catch it until maybe a year later. I enjoyed it, but it didn’t knock me off my feet. Upon hearing that there would be a new Director’s cut, or Killer Cut if you will, I was determined to give this version the once over for a couple of reasons; to see whether I would I enjoy it more this time around and what is different about it.
The plot of Midnight Movie isn’t million miles away from such flicks as Demons or Anguish, with a group of kids, a couple of bikers and a cop all at the theater to catch an old cheesy horror flick. Little do they know, well the cop does kind of, that the actor/writer/director of the movie they are watching, entitled The Dark Beneath, was actually locked up in a psychiatric hospital and disappeared five years prior. Now the killer in the movie is starting to kill off the folk in the theater.
This all adds up to some fun plays on horror stereotypes, some cool death sequences and to be honest one of the coolest onscreen killers in a few years. The entire movie has a definite old school feel to it, from a time where horror flicks were about having a good time with and not to be taken too seriously.
The cast is definitely a cast that fit the traditional horror stereotypes well, and all perform their roles with aplomb. You get the tough guy, the even tougher biker, the geek, the young kid, I think you get the picture. There is also an earlier performance from Rebekah Brandes, as Bridget, who can be seen in the terrific Bellflower.
As for the movie itself I have to say that whatever director Jack Messitt did to it definitely worked. I didn’t watch this version and the original flick back to back so you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t single out every single difference. I will say though that it felt like a much more focused film and it most definitely looked and sounded better. This Killer Cut was crisp in all departments, except for the blood and guts which were suitably moist.
Midnight Movie: The Killer Cut is in my opinion one of the better recent Slasher flicks out there. Hatchet, and its lackluster sequel, claimed to be a return to Old School American horror, but I personally found this to be more fitting of that phrase. Slapping a slogan on a movie does not necessarily make it so, and where Midnight Movie succeeds so well is that it has the right feel and look, albeit with a few added bells and whistles thrown in for good measure.
If you haven’t seen Midnight Movie in either of its incarnations I would say without a doubt to check out this version. If you have seen the 2008 version then go out and grab a copy of this cut. If you liked it before you will definitely like this version, and if like me you weren’t completely sold the first time around chances are you will be converted.
I’ll give this B movie a resounding B+. Good times for sure.
Midnight Movie: The Killer Cut is available now on DVD
1 comment:
Another movie I haven't seen that I want to now.
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