Minutes Past Midnight

Minutes Past Midnight: Horror Anthology film, nine segments of varying quality. Roid Rage is OTT, disgusting but perhaps funny in a sort of sick way, Awake is the business though, parents of a young boy worry as the kid can't get to sleep, his behaviour becoming odder and more violent, Onvincing performances by cast. Directed by Francisco Sonic Kim, written by Collin George. Ghost Train is set in Ireland, a man returns to his hometown, meeting up with an old friend who looks ravaged by booze. There are flashbacks to an incident during their childhood when they went to a derelict ghost Train with a third boy, Real Horror if not terror here with great acting by both the child and adult actors. Written and directed by Lee Cronin. Never Tear Us Apart is also about a homecoming but murderous cannibals are encountered. Sort of slapstick. The Mill At Calders End is an interesting mixture of puppetry, live action (I think) and stop motion about an old curse. Much of the rest depends on hit and miss humour and gore. Overall worth watching for the stand out short films. Saw it on AMC Channel which is now on Virgin Media Cable.. 7/10,

Three word reviews. Scores to cap.

Never Fear Us Apart: Fun. Silly. Gory. (6)

Awake: Bizarre. Perplexing. Interesting. (7)

Crazy For You: Funny. Clever(ish). Twisted. (6)

The Mill at Calder's End: Gothic. Stylish. Haunting. (8)

Roid Rage: Crude. Gross. OTT. (3)

Feeder: Classy. Professional. Sinister. (8)

Timothy: Quirky. Creepy. Bloody. (7)

Ghost Train: Rich. Textured. Horrifying. (8.5)

Horrific: Cheap. Dumb. Goofy. (4)

a 9-short comedy horror anthology. my favourites are James Moran's romantic comedy spoof Crazy for you and The Mill at Calder's End by Kevin McTurk, which features some brilliant picture composition and stop motion, near-photorealistic banruku rod puppet animation unlike anything i've seen before. also worthy of note is Ryan Lightbourn's genre-spanning Roid Rage and accompanying soundtrack. the dialogue is clever and delivered in deadpan fashion that practically had me in stitches

the only short i didn't like was the final segment, Horrific, by Robert Boocheck. the story is clichéd, the monster design appeared lacking in inspiration, and the positioning of the short in the anthology was simply poor judgement on the part of the editor/s. then again, i like the film better on the whole if i think of number nine as an unnecessary 'bonus' track, to be discarded upon future viewing. all in all an entertaining film; pairs well with New Belgium Voodoo Ranger IPA

I've always had a rule of thumb when it come to horror films. The cheesier, the better. This one takes it to a new level! This collection of completely disjointed shorts is entertaining from start to finish. It's gory, silly, head-scratching fun. If you're expecting Oscar-worthy writing, directing and acting, you'll be really disappointed. If your bar for quality entertainment is as low as mine though, you'll love it!

A gathering of horror shorts. If you are faint of heart it might not be your cup of tea. But, if you look past the blood and gore, you will see some strong talent and admirable creativity. I particularly enjoyed the Ghost Train story, an outstanding concept, well written and directed. All the stories kept me entertained. I do not think I could watch the Roid Rage story again. Although it is another highly creative concept, it is one of the most disturbing pieces of film I have ever seen. Wow. Overall, a great effort by a variety of writers/directors and the acting was much better than I would have expected for a film of this type. Kudos to all the actors.