THE STORY:
Alex (Gabrielle Haugh) and Miles (Grayson Gabriel) perform an ancient Pagan ritual, bringing forth The Midnight Man, who tortures the game’s players with their worst fears if they don’t follow the rules.
Like most half-decent horror movies The Midnight Man gives us an intriguing blood-soaked introduction. It’s those first promising minutes of limbo before the warning signs start to show that we have wasted the better part of a tenner, yet…again…
With the tone set by the opening, the film needs at least four players of The Midnight Game – and its needlessly long list of rules – to make its hour and a half of running time worth the ride. 25 minutes have elapsed and we only have a head count of 2. Worry starts to set in.
Yes, there is an old woman, played by Lin Shaye – who is always welcome – but her character is a nuisance and the villain doesn’t seem bothered by her. A third player appears out of nowhere just after the halfway point, but it’s much too little too late. She’s not interesting. We have no time to know her character. Why should we care?
Robert Englund we know, so he’s cool. His reintroduction to the storyline along with all the extra backstory that comes with him feels sort of tacked on. All these things, plus the inclusion of player no.3 make you feel like you can sense the writers were thinking: Where the hell do we go from here?
We are treated to some very gruesome imagery, which is cool but I felt we lose the connection to what the villain is actually trying to achieve, particularly in regards to Miles. I’m all for a horror show, but there’s got to be a point.
LAST WORDS:
Can’t say I was expecting much from the guy who directed what might possibly be the most pointless remake in horror history. Obviously, this movie was a better effort. Trouble is that stories like The Midnight Man are only scary to children.
Alex (Gabrielle Haugh) and Miles (Grayson Gabriel) perform an ancient Pagan ritual, bringing forth The Midnight Man, who tortures the game’s players with their worst fears if they don’t follow the rules.
Like most half-decent horror movies The Midnight Man gives us an intriguing blood-soaked introduction. It’s those first promising minutes of limbo before the warning signs start to show that we have wasted the better part of a tenner, yet…again…
With the tone set by the opening, the film needs at least four players of The Midnight Game – and its needlessly long list of rules – to make its hour and a half of running time worth the ride. 25 minutes have elapsed and we only have a head count of 2. Worry starts to set in.
Yes, there is an old woman, played by Lin Shaye – who is always welcome – but her character is a nuisance and the villain doesn’t seem bothered by her. A third player appears out of nowhere just after the halfway point, but it’s much too little too late. She’s not interesting. We have no time to know her character. Why should we care?
Robert Englund we know, so he’s cool. His reintroduction to the storyline along with all the extra backstory that comes with him feels sort of tacked on. All these things, plus the inclusion of player no.3 make you feel like you can sense the writers were thinking: Where the hell do we go from here?
We are treated to some very gruesome imagery, which is cool but I felt we lose the connection to what the villain is actually trying to achieve, particularly in regards to Miles. I’m all for a horror show, but there’s got to be a point.
LAST WORDS:
Can’t say I was expecting much from the guy who directed what might possibly be the most pointless remake in horror history. Obviously, this movie was a better effort. Trouble is that stories like The Midnight Man are only scary to children.
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