Midnight Movie

Plot synopsis:
Forty years after directing and starring in a slasher movie, entitled The Dark Beneath, centred on a group of friends being killed by a masked killer, Ted Radford (Arthur Roberts) suffers a mental breakdown and is admitted to a psychiatric ward. In an attempt to cure Radford, his doctor (Richard Magarey) shows him the movie, despite the warnings of Dr. Wayne (Michael Swan). When Dr. Wayne arrives at the ward the following morning, he discovers evidence of a mass slaughter, however no bodies are to be found.
Five years later, a local theater is showing The Dark Beneath for the first time since the murders. The theater's staff, Bridget (Rebekah Brandes), Rachael (Brea Grant), and Kenny (Shaun Ausmus) welcome a small group of customers, including a biker couple, Harley (Stan Ellsworth) and Babe (Melissa Steach), Dr. Wayne and Detective Barrons (Jon Briddell), who both believe Radford will appear, and Bridget's boyfriend Josh (Daniel Bonjour), who is accompanied by his friend Mario (Greg Cirulnick), Mario's girlfriend Samantha (Mandell Maughan) and their awkward friend Sully (Michael Schwartz). Bridget's younger brother Timmy (Justin Baric) also arrives, but is sent home due to his age. As the movie is about to begin, Josh convinces Bridget to allow Kenny to be in charge so she can watch the movie with him.
However, after a while Bridget becomes unsettled by the movie and enters the lobby, where it is revealed she was abused by her father as a child. At this time, Kenny enters the basement to retrieve stock, but is attacked by the same killer from the movie, and is ultimately stabbed to death with a large corkscrew. His death is shown to the watchers in the theater, however they continue to believe it is part of the movie. Meanwhile, Josh convinces Bridget to enter the theater once again, while Sully goes to use the restroom. However, while returning he is too attacked and has his heart gored out. Bridget, Josh, Mario and Samantha think of it as an elaborate prank by Sully, but Rachael too is stabbed to death for all to see, prompting everyone to investigate. The Detective reveals himself to the rest of the group, who realise the deaths are real. The group try to get help, but find their phones do not have a signal and the theater's phone is dead. They also discover Timmy, who snuck back in to watch the movie. Suddenly, Radford appears and slashes Dr. Wayne's throat. The Detective shoots Radford, but there is little effect as Dr. Wayne is soon seen being dragged into a basement on the screen.
Timmy tells the group he snuck in through the upstairs window, and so the group decide to try and escape. However, while doing so the window slams shut on Samantha's fingers, trapping her and forcing the others to flee. The Detective attempts to save Samantha, however Radford stabs both to death. Regrouping downstairs, the survivours find a police officer outside the front entrance, however Radford makes the group unable to be seen, and the police officer soon leaves. Desperate, the group resort to trying to break the projector, and thus stop the movie. However, the door is locked, and so Timmy enters the ventilation system. He makes it to the room and lets the others in, where Harley breaks the projector just in time to save Josh who is attacked by Radford. The projector quickly repairs itself, and Radford re-appears and chases the group. Harley, Babe and Timmy hide in a closet but the killer breaks through the door and stabs Harley in the stomach with the corkscrew, while the others get away.
Bridget, Josh and Mario make their way back to the theater where they witness Babe being stabbed to death on the screen. Mario ditches his friends, but is eventually electrocuted to death by Radford. Josh also falls victim to Radford, while Bridget finds Timmy. Together, the pair are sucked into the movie world where Bridget finds herself in a basement. Radford tortures her, until she is able to escape and free Timmy. They are quickly ambushed by the killer in the movies mother, but Timmy stabs him in the back with a sickle and once again they continue their escape, with Radford chasing them. Bridget realises the movie is coming to an end, and so sacrifices herself to remain trapped in the movie world to save Timmy, who enters the real world. The police arrive at the theater to find Timmy the only survivour.

Tags: cult, murder, violence

Review:
Since Scream made the "post-modern" attitude of the horror cinema popular (particulary the slasher sub-genus),many movies have tried to copy that style,some ones with more success than other ones.And although it's been 13 years from that excellent movie,that tendency is still active,something which does not surprise me in sight of the rebirth of the slasher sub-genus inside the huge amount of low-budget films which take advantage of the modern technology for having specialized and segmented spectators as a target.Midnight Movie is one of that movies,and although it is not great at all,it obtained certain success with its aim thanks to its ingenious premise and its competent screenplay.The mixing of supernatural elements with the classic masked killer does not always work and although Midnight Movie manages that combination with certain skill,I found some inconsistencies and logic fails which take out some points to the generally solid screenplay.The performances were not completely good,because they lack of realism and dramatic weight.It is true that most of the characters are cannon fodder...in other words,just future victims chosen for their physical attractive and not for their histrionic talent.But,we have seen in movies like Fritt Vilt and Wrong Turn 2 : Dead End (just to mention two examples) that the narrative becomes richer because of the presence of realistic characters performed by credible actors.But,let's go to the positive elements now.I previously mentioned the screenplay and I insist that is the best element from this movie,in spite of having some fails.It is obvious screenwriters Mark Garbett and Jack Messitt (the last one is also the director) are fans of the horror cinema and that they perfectly know the clichés from the slasher flicks and from the horror cinema in general.So,Garbett and Messitt use them with ingenuity.For example,I will mention this scene from the movie : the spectators watch a murder in the screen from the cinema they assisted and one of them comments : "There is not too much blood".That is exactly what I had previously thought before that character mentioned it.And after that commentary,it comes the answer from another character : "It is just the second murder...there will be more blood near the ending".And that is completely true.Midnight Movie is not a great horror film but at least,it is a competent one which kept me entertained.I think that with more polished performances and some adjusts to the screenplay,this film could have been memorable.But,although it was not like that,I can recommend this movie because I had a good time watching it..
Director: Jack Messitt Stars: Rebekah Brandes, Daniel Bonjour, Brea Grant, Greg Cirulnick, Mandell Maughan, Stan Ellsworth, Melissa Steach, Jon Briddell, Michael Swan, Michael Schwartz, Justin BaricSynopsis: An obscure 70's slasher flick is being screened as the midnight movie of a theater.
Little do the patrons know but the celluloid baddie is stalking the hallowed halls of the popcorn palace picking them off one by one.Thoughts: "Midnight Movie" is a decent enough slasher.
As the small crowd in the theater and the few workers start showing up in the scenes and being brutally murdered, the crowd quickly finds out that this is no ordinary movie.There are, as with most current low budget slashers, several problems within this film.
The director shows he has definitely done his horror homework and provides his audience with "Scream" like clichés to keep the flow consistent and of course, all of us viewers consistently entertained.If you a true fan of the horror genre and are not particularly bothered by the downfalls of a current low budget slasher film then I say give this a try.
Only a handful of people show up for the showing, including the boyfriend and a couple friends of the high-school aged theater manager, a redneck, motorcycle riding couple, and a couple of cops who think the film's director may show up to cause some trouble.
Somehow, though, the killer is able to transfer himself out of the screen and begins stalking and killing the movie-goers.The Good: The film looks great.
Some parts were indeed cheesy, particularly the opening scene with the film's director in a mental institution.Overall, this is a decent horror film and certainly one of the better DTV slashers I have seen in awhile.
Making A Teen Slasher Scary Is Hard, But Midnight Movie Pulls It Off Like No Other.
That's why I was delighted to discover Midnight Movie.The film takes it's time establishing characters and showing off it's creepy story.
I like the modern twist on the 'slasher' film - the film-within-a-film thing...works really well.The effects are all really well done and the performances are very strong, especially from the lead girl and her little brother.Check it out guys...you won't regret it!.
It's 'count the cliché' time with Midnight Movie, a derivative supernatural slasher which looks and feels just like any one of a hundred other films you might find clogging up the horror section in your local rental outlet.Undemanding teen audiences may possibly enjoy this film's easy-on-the-eye cast, MTV-style editing and some unexceptional gore, but seasoned horror fans will no doubt find themselves rolling their eyes and groaning in disbelief at what amounts to nothing more than yet another admittedly-slick-but-totally-logic-free piece of popcorn horror packed with cookie-cutter characters, cheap scares, unanswered questions and glaring plot-holes.The story, for what it's worth, goes something like this: five years after horror director Ted Radford disappears from a lunatic asylum, leaving 70 dead in his wake, a cinema decides to present a midnight screening of his cult movie The Dark Beneath.
Yawn!Glossing over such trivial details as exactly how the director achieves his magical return to life and why he is so obsessed with scaring people in the first place, the weak script concentrates instead on presenting a myriad of predictable scenes in which the scared occupants of the cinema at first attempt to escape, but then begin to fight back.Midnight Movie hits a 'cliché all-time-high' when it is revealed that the killera bargain-basement Leatherface wannabe armed with a custom-built corkscrewcan only hurt those who are afraid of him (gack!).
At this point, the script becomes completely nonsensical, with final survivor Bridget (Rebekah Brandes) drawing on past painful experiences to help her overcome her fear, and trying to save her brother from within the movie.Go see this if your idea of a good horror film is a Saw sequel or a remake of something 'old'.
This is a pleasant surprise (especially amongst free horror movies on Hulu, where expectations are usually best kept verrrrrry low), and that rare film that actually not only doesn't overstay its welcome, but should have been a bit longer.
They could have easily thrown in an additional twist or false ending or two in order to nudge the running time past a very slim 75 minutes that feel like they wrap up a little prematurely.That said, the performances are decent (aside from the wooden little boy), the characters predictably two-dimensional but enjoyable enough (at least they're not the usual slasher movie examples of "Look ma, I'm a total idiot!
Summary: I think a lot of people would like this movie it is not perfect but a good movie for a late night slasher.
Ostensibly, it looks like a really bad horror movie made with no money, having little acting talent, and story lines that would make even the most imaginative cringe with disbelief.
The opening credits then come on with some really inappropriate music and then we see an old, somewhat dilapidated movie theater(old style with balcony and all) five years later about to show a midnight showing of his old film The Dark Beneath.
The Dark Beneath showing on the big screen is effectively shot in old seventies style with a grainy feel, actors and actresses looking like those films had back then, and perverse plot lines that really swelled during that era.
The killer attacks his victims in a movie theater (great scene setting) and senses them through the fear they expose when he is around.
Different plot line from other horror/slasher movies and this one kept me entertained the whole time.
Totally recommend to anyone looking to watch a horror/cult film/slasher/wet my pants movie.
Honestly, I am so glad I got to see an early screening of Midnight Movie: The Killer Cut. I had already seen the original version of Midnight Movie( which is one of my favorite horror films) and the new version has included some sweet new shots and better visual effects that make the film even gorier than first cut.
Before watching the movie, I thought it'd be like any other horror movie, but to my surprise it involved a lot of interesting characters who really challenge your initial impression.(my favorite being the tough biker dude) Most notably was the end, which is unusual for horror movies and absolutely made this one stand out.
My dad introduced me to Halloween and the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I used to catch unfortunately-edited TV marathons of the Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street films all the time, and when I turned 10, a little movie called Scream was released.
Good Retro Horror Fun. I caught a screener of Midnight Movie: the Killer Cut. I loved the retro horror style...really took me back to some old favorites.
Any old school horror fans out there would probably enjoy this movie, a good old fashioned setup of a group of people getting knocked off in a secluded location, but with some new interesting concepts..
The murderer from this film within a film comes out of the screen and begins killing the audience members, sort of like the much superior 1985 film Demons.I worked in a movie theater.
Midnight movie, the killer cut, was really a lot better than I expected.
all in all, if your in the mood for a slasher film with a new take on the genera Midnight Movie Killer cut is great for you..
I just saw a screening of Midnight Movie, the new Killer Cut, and loved it.
Also, if you've already seen the original version of Midnight Movie, the Killer Cut is brand new with extra scenes, some scenes redone, and the quality of the special effects is awesome.
movie.A number of people go to watch a old movie in the cinema, meanwhile two police investigator come investigator something about this movie, the last time this movie was played some people were killed.They get ready to watch movie and this movie as some humour added in that will make you laugh(if you like fart jokes).Then people start to get killed in the cinema and they are seen on the big screen by the viewers and at first they think its a part of movie but it's not long before they discover that people they saw die on big screen in movie was real and that they know killer is real too.I think movie may have be inspired by Coming soon (2008) but that movie is more of a ghost story, however to me this movie felt more like a upgrade to popcorn (1991) but this movie is much better, it not as cheesy as that movie.This movie as some gory moment, all the deaths scenes were the same which was little disappointing and I also did not the like ending to movie..
He takes the premise - a serial killer who made a horror movie in the 70s, The Dark Beneath, comes back to kill the hapless kids and biker and cops in a low-rent movie theater at a midnight screening - and doesn't give it much surprise or invention or characters to really care about.There is, I should say, one semi-creative kill involving the killer driving his drill through one body straight through into another body without having to move much.
The movie begins and the killer has the ability to jump from the film to the theatre and starts killing people...and they're all trapped inside and can't get out.The plot doesn't make a whole lot of sense but the movie does deliver (somewhat).
When the hero girl is attacked she ends up in limbo where all the other victims are--dead yet alive.Midnight movie has a lame setting, a dull cast, an unconvincing killer with a weapon that couldn't possibly do what it shows to do.
A midnight showing of an early 1970s horror movie turns to chaos when the Killer from the movie comes out of the film to attack those in the theater.The 70s film sure does not look like a film from the 70s -- way too clean, for example.
While watching an old horror flick the killer appearing in the movie comes out of the screen and kills in real life.
When a violent '70s horror film is screened at a midnight showing in a small-town movie theatre, a group of friends decide to give the classic cult film a shot.
Unfortunately for them, something sinister is afoot when it seems the movie's killer escapes from the celluloid and into their world, looking to make them the stars of the very film they were just watching!While the plot may have been pulled directly out of the Are You Afraid of the Dark?
The early ones, where it shows the killer stalking the people in the theater as the film the patrons are watching, are absolutely fantastic with almost nothing wrong with them, aside from the black-&-white hampering the view, but even still, these are great fun.
I absolutely LOVED the idea of a supernatural killer that brings the audience and the movie theater into the movie, and everyone and everything involved become bound by the rules of a horror/slasher film...no one escapes, nothing works, and nobody can help you.
One is a 1985 film called Demons, where two girls attend a special screening of a horror movie in an isolated theater.
The cop (Jon Briddell) and the doctor (Michael Swan) knew it was real as they were after Ted Radford, the director of the movie on the screen.The double kill was brilliant.Josh (Daniel Bonjour) figured it out, but the killer (Lee Main) outsmarted him.Blood, gore, neat special effects and a lot of suspense.
Crazed film director escapes from the asylum as he's watching his long lost horror film leaving a trail of 70 bodies behind him.About the same time a screening of the film is scheduled for a midnight showing and strange things begin to happen, the killer seems to be walking loose in the theater and the killings are being shown as part of the film.
I don't know how I didn't catch wind of this movie ten years ago when it was initially released, since I am a fan of low-budget horror films.The plot of 'Midnight Movie' centers around a slasher film in the vein of 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' titled "The Dark Beneath".
And in very gruesome fashion.After the main protagonist, Bridget (Rebekah Brandes) and her younger brother Timmy (Justin Baric) end up the only survivors of the serial killers rampage, they find themselves dragged into the movie world of "The Dark Beneath" where they are forced to escape his clutches while trying to find their way back to the real world.Overall, I thought 'Midnight Movie' was serviceable, since not too many films of this caliber get us invested in the main characters.
I'd recommend 'Midnight Movie' to people who have nothing else to do and are looking to kill a little time..
The film itself appears to be a low-budget film in the theme of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.The plot logic is the killer can pop in and out of the movie while it is playing and pick people off if they are afraid.
Unfortunately I think they took a cut to a lot of what they would have wanted to do and just left it as is making Midnight Movie just average and really only entertaining to the hard core horror fans and even then its mostly a write off.
Slasher flicks survive on a really solid killer with a great story, and also a variety of really cool death scenes from the gory, to the insane, to the completely outrageous and ultimately Midnight Movie's killer is a one trick pony who in the middle of the film mixes it up with a rather cool electricity kill.
It has a really cool looking killer, and a perfect slasher film!
A random group of people come to see a midnight screening of a classic horror film written, directed and starring the killer named Ted Radford.
Pretty teenager & cinema manager Bridget (Rebekah Brandes), her boyfriend Josh (Daniel Bonjour) & several other teens decide to watch the film along with a few other people including surviving psych ward doctor & investigating cop who still puzzle over the unsolved massacre at New Haven & feel the answer lies with the film & when the audience starts getting killed one by one it seems they may be right...Co-written & directed by Jack Messitt one has to say that I thought Midnight Movie was a pretty terrible teen slasher with unexplained & rather baffling supernatural elements that make little sense.
The basic script has various people watching a teen slasher obviously ripped-off from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) & them being killed off by the killer from the film who just sort of randomly pops up every so often with a silly looking weapon that resembles either a corkscrew or a piece of abstract modern art.
The acting isn't that good with even the main lead leading female not that much to look at.Midnight Movie is a forgettable title for a forgettable slasher that has no explanation behind it's seemingly random plot & a killer who is a blatant Leatherface rip-off, not even a short 80 minute duration & some minor gore can save this one..
Midnight Movie belongs to a relatively small sub-genre of films in which the production or screening of a slasher flick causes a celluloid killer to break through into the real world.