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Rebekah Brandes, Daniel Bonjour, Greg Cirulnick, Mandell Maughan, Stan Ellsworth

A midnight screening of a 1970s cult horror film becomes a wholesale bloodbath after the members of the audience see one of their friends butchered on the big screen, and quickly surmise that there's ... read more read more...a madman in the theater who seeks to slaughter them all. It was just another rundown movie house in a small suburban town -- what better place for a screening of a true cult classic? But this isn't your typical horror film, because years ago, the director had been locked away in a psychiatric hospital after having a complete mental breakdown. The teens at the screening have no idea that he escaped from the hospital nearly five years ago, and that chances are good he's still out there somewhere. When the film starts to roll and the heckling begins, the atmosphere in the theater is loose and fun. Giddiness gives way to deep-rooted dread, however, when the horrified audience is forced to watch as one of their good friends is viciously murdered right before their very eyes. This is no movie, and when the audience tries to flee they realize that the same psycho they just saw on the silver screen has now trapped them all in the theater. With no hope of escape and their numbers thinning fast, the survivors must now figure out a way to turn the tables on the very same killer that they once rooted for in their favorite slasher flick. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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29% liked it

7,423 ratings

R, 1 hr. 20 min.

Directed by: Jack Messitt

Release Date: September 27, 2008

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DVD Release Date: January 9, 2009

Stats: 275 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (275)

  • TheDudeLebowski65
    March 24, 2011
    TheDudeLebowski65
    Midnight Movie is a refreshing return to the good old fashioned slashers of old. Putting into context that horror nowadays is bland, this is an interesting film both in concept and story. The idea for the film is good and the story is pretty interesting. I'm sure if this film co... read moreuld have been given a bigger budget, and backed up by a major studio, it could've easily turned into a franchise. I have only one complaint, the cast were not that great, but considering that this is an independent film, it's understandable that its exactly not a top notch set of actors. But the characters weren't very likeable either. However the actors did a fairly decent job despite them not being that great. It now seems that Hollywood is all but interested in remaking classic Horror titles. Only a handful of directors are willing to take the risk and direct something new and fresh. This is the case with Midnight Movie, directorJack Messitt first directorial debut. This film is definitely a breath of fresh air. It looks cheap, the actors are unknowns and the film just has a gritty, raw feel that echoes classic Horror films. Midnight Movie is a fun ride. What I really love about this film is that it really delivers the goods on awesome Horror, it doesn't try to strain too far by being just another Halloween or Friday the 13th clone.
    The cast is comprised of unknowns, like I said previously in this review. Which, in my opinion, gives this film an even greater sense of accomplishment. What I mean by that, is that Messitt uses new talent to his own advantage,and manages to get genuine scares and shocks out of these actors unlike shitty remakes. Messitt succeeds on every level. This is an awesome film worth checking out
  • Deano78
    August 15, 2010
    Deano78
    A solid little slasher effort. Not heard of it before, the production values are pretty good for the budget. It has a fair amount of gore, cool mask for the killer, it has some neat touches as well, some of the camera angles used etc. The best point though is the idea of a killer... read more who can come out of the film and take his victims back inside the film with him. Maybe it could have been even better, great opportunity for more in-jokes etc. Overall for a low budget slasher it has some refreshing ideas. One for the fans for sure.
  • ScoopOnline
    December 12, 2009
    ScoopOnline
    This is what I call Horror!
  • thefog1331
    March 5, 2009
    thefog1331
    I really wanted to like this movie but it dug it's own grave with shoddy camerawork, unsurprising deaths and boring characters. If I had to say something positive...um...well...the mask was pretty cool.
  • ryguy4738
    July 13, 2011
    ryguy4738
    3.8/10

    Before I begin this review, I must confess; I have never seen a Midnight Movie. I was born in an age where such a thing that was once popular has since become something less. This saddens me. Perhaps one day, Midnight Movies will be revived. But f... read moreor now, most of the popular "Midnight Releases" are out on home video; so we can enjoy them in the comfort of our homes. This is how I watched this film, "Midnight Movie", which should feel like the kind of flick that its story is mostly about. Sadly, it's nothing more than a potboiler for its genre, and it's worth missing unless you're the most devoted horror fan. And even then, you still might not like it. Effort was put into it by its filmmaker, the for-now-independent Jack Messitt, but apparently, he didn't care much for his screenplay, and instead focused on the meat and the clichés.

    "Midnight Movie" takes place mostly in a movie theater, although it begins in a mental hospital. There, a barking-mad patient, Ted Radford, is locked up; although the doctors decide to view a film he made with him. They leave him alone in the room before beginning, and when one of them leaves, he is gone, and so is everyone else; blood everywhere.

    Then, we get to the theater. People start coming in late at night for a showing of a film called "The Dark Beneath", which is (surprise, surprise) directed by Ted Radford. Some interesting faces (laughs) amongst the audience members include the tough guy (a biker, and his tough-girl wife) a geek (who constantly jumps whenever a generic "jump-scene" ensues) and a douche (a...presumably Mexican guy...with a scar). Then, there are the nicer people; who, if you're wondering, die all-the same; whether they're particularly nasty or not. None of the characters are likable, so when Ted Radford starts to kill them off one-by-one though a curse, which allows him to come straight out of the film and get some striking new gory material, we don't really give a damn.

    Yes, as I mentioned, this is an independently made horror film. There are a lot of those; and some of them are very good. There will always be those out there who believe that they can serve up some tasty morsels with their very own horror flick; but can they truly bring up anything new? "Midnight Movie" offers up little surprises, and frankly, it's rather boring. It sacrifices narrative and a sense of humor for overtones of seriousness, which is kind of funny, because it was only at the half-way point that I realized I was supposed to be taking this thing seriously instead of laughing at it, but I continued to do so anyways. The thing was that lame.

    There's plenty of blood and gore for the gorehounds, I'll say that much. Messitt does a pretty good job there, but not much in other places. The jokes he writes in his screenplay aren't funny; and his directing is overall stronger than anything he wrote for this thing. He might make a fine career and learn from his mistakes, or he can go on and become another lost talent; who can't quite make up his mind, just as he can't quite make a movie work.

    I suppose this could have been fun, but it's not. "Midnight Movie" is not as fun as going to a good midnight movie, and not as scary as better, more ambitious horror films either. I like atmospheric horror films over ones that present us with loads of gore, and it's more of the same here; the violence is not saying anything, and there's not enough skill or style to make it entertaining. It's watchable and decently acted, but come on. Freakin' "Birdemic" was more fun than this.
  • fb100002023516744
    June 8, 2011
    fb100002023516744
    A classic. This is an excellent idea for a horror story.
  • moviefan1725
    May 10, 2009
    moviefan1725
    In the 80's, the slasher movie was king. The horror movie landscape has changed quite a bit since then. This is a throwback to the old days. It's as formulatic as can be. Get a group of people into an isolated area, and dispatch them one at a time. A run down movie theater hosts ... read morea midnight screening to an old and infamous 70's horror movie that only a handful of people attend. But they get more than they bargain for when the killer has the ability to step out of the film, commit murder, and drag his victims back into the movie. It's a nice blurring of the line between film and reality, and provides a nice twist on the standard slasher genre. The characters are stereotypical, but the performances, for the most part, are solid enough. The scares are pretty standard, but there's a couple of good jumps, and ample amounts of gore. It makes a solid attempt to create a franchise killer in the vein of Freddy Krueger, able to slip between different worlds. The film has solid production values and better cinematography than you'd expect in a direct-to-video slasher movie. So gather some friends, break out the pizza and beer, turn off your brain, and have a midnight movie of your own.
  • silentbob66
    February 22, 2009
    silentbob66
    One night at a run down theater in a small suburban town a group of friends decide to attention the midnight screening of a cheap 70's slasher flick little do they know that before the nights over they will become the stars of the movie. As the movie begins they start to laugh an... read mored heckle the screen but when they are shocked to see when of there friends murdered on screen when they realize its not a prank all hell breaks loose as it seems the killer from the movie has come off the screen and there is no way out!!!. What i found to be a pretty good horror movie actually seems to have been made before as the 80's slasher movie Popcorn and that is also alittle better but this one still should be watched for horror fans as it wasnt that bad of a movie
  • patrickdol
    February 3, 2009
    patrickdol
    It's half good.
    I love the setting (a movie theatre). Parts are fun and thrilling. The grue and gore are not CGed, or at least don't look so. And the movie within a movie if pretty fun too. Plus it goes in directions you wouldn't expect.
    But
    There are parts and characters that fe... read moreel as is they were written by the same guy as a third-rate OC knock-off. The killer isn't really cool looking, and his weapon is silly, although it's put to good use. And scoffable moments are peppered throughout.
    Being that it's in a movie theater and it shows a horror film, there is plenty of opportunity for clever genre comments or self-reflexivity, a la Scream, but it ends up just with a couple of (enjoyable) nods, borrows, and amalgamations of/to other proto and regular slashers.
    It's like a mix tape of horror flicks, a random selection, the good and the bad.
  • shanehaley41
    January 26, 2009
    shanehaley41
    Pretty cool idea for a horror movie, guy writes and directs and stars in a horror movie that is rumored they actually killed the people in the making. The guy gets locked up in a mental hospital and later escapes when a doctor shows him his movie in an attempt to cure him. Ya he ... read morekills everyone in the hospital and escapes. Some time later a movie theater shows the movie and the killer shows up but he's not entirely there, I won't spoil anymore.

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Critic Reviews

Lucius Gore
January 3, 2009
Lucius Gore, ESplatter

... all in all, horror fans will find that the film delivers the goods. Just don't set your expectations too high. Full Review

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