Violences dans la nuit

First of all, this is NOT a "horror" movie. It's a pretty straightforward drama about a killer and the various suspects.

It's a very watchable movie, especially since there is an odd abundance of nudity without this being one of those 60's nudity cuties movies.

It also has some soon to be more famous people. Dick Van Patten, James Farentino, and a young Sylvia Miles who went on to make some mainstream flicks and later, an Andy Warhol movie. I saw her on the street of Manhattan years ago and struck up a conversation. She was real kookie.

So the flick is very watchable, if shmaltzy. It's a better than average low budget movie in this type of genre.

For those of you unfamiliar with the term "Giallo", it refers to a genre of movies that are usually Italian and that focus on an unknown killer who brutally murders young women (and the occasional man if he gets in the way) before being unmasked and then dying in some singularly unpleasant fashion. Originally it referred to the cover of cheap Italian paperback pulp fiction that had yellow covers (giallo is yellow in Italian).

The first true giallo was Mario Bava's BLOOD & BLACK LACE in 1964 but this little known 1963 American black & white offering from producer Del Tenney could be considered a forerunner. VIOLENT MIDNIGHT aka PSYCHOMANIA (to cash in on Hitchcock's PSYCHO) takes place in a girl's college and features a trench coat wearing, booted killer who uses an Army combat knife to murder women who get too close to a Korean War veteran known for violent episodes but who now paints for a living. The movie opens with a shocking murder from the past that inspires the killer in the present.

Shot on location in and around Stamford, Connecticut, VIOLENT MIDNIGHT is definitely a low budget affair (it cost $42,000) that has a surprisingly strong cast including Sylvia Miles, James Farentino, and Dick Van Patten who were just starting out in their careers. It also has some moody cinematography, a touch of exploitation, and a surprise ending that really comes out of left field. Meant to be shown in drive-ins, it was successful enough to allow producer Tenney to turn director and create the infamous double bill (THE HORROR OF PARTY BEACH and CURSE OF THE LIVING CORPSE) which was released the following year.

Dark Sky Films has released this title as a single or, if you think you can stand it, all 3 Del Tenney classics are available on a specially priced 3 DVD set. 255 minutes of your life that you will never get back but if you're into sleaze and cheese than it's worth it. All 3 movies look great and sound as good as movies with their budgetary limitations can (which is pretty good). Of the 3, VIOLENT MIDNIGHT is easily the most creative and interesting so it's the one to go for especially at its current single digit price...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

Right from the opening sequences already, depicting a hunting "accident" where a guy gets shots in the face, you can tell that this movie played with ideas that were far ahead of their time. Not only the plot is ambitious and progressive, but you can also clearly tell that the makers wanted to show more bloodshed and nudity, but couldn't because the year was … well … 1963! Elliot Freeman is a wealthy but slightly eccentric painter in a small countryside town. His father got killed in a hunting accident and he has the notorious reputation of losing his mind from time to time. It's a little side-effect from fighting in the Korean War. Elliot's half-sister is visiting, but she stays in the nearby girl academy where all the girls have a thing for Elliot. There's also a vicious knife murderer on the loose in town and the body of Elliot's last nude model is found dead. Obviously all suspicion is drawn to him, and even he himself wonders if he's guilty or not, but there are multiple other potential culprits as well, like the sleazy ex-boyfriend, the slightly perverted biology teacher, Elliot's slick attorney and his creepy mute chauffeur. "Violent Midnight" is a strange movie with a bizarrely evolving plot, incoherent plot twists and peculiar characters. The killer always appears to show up at the utmost convenient times to make a new victim, like when all the suspects are nearby and without alibis. It's not exactly plausible, of course, but effective enough to keep the film suspenseful and compelling. None of the murders are committed around midnight, however, and the denouement is quite senseless, but you have to appreciate a low-budgeted production for trying to cash-in on "Psycho" with a much more brutal approach.

While I wouldn't call "Violent Midnight" a porno film, I was VERY surprised when I tried to watch this with my family. After all, the DVD was unrated and from the early 1960s. But my wife and daughters were a bit surprised as was I when ample nudity appeared on the screen. Again and again, ladies appeared in their underwear or naked for little apparent reason. So, because of this you might want to think twice about seeing this one. It's not a bad film--but an early merging of murder and naked women--a rather disturbing combination if you think about it.

If you do see this film, you'll see James Farentino before he was a star and Dick Van Patten in his first film. It also stars Lee Philips--an actor you may recognize but definitely an actor who is relatively unknown today.

"Violent Midnight" follows a troubled veteran-turned-artist who lives off his family's large inheritance in a small Connecticut town. After one of his portrait models is viciously stabbed to death, he, along with her abusive boyfriend, become the prime suspects.

This effort from producer Del Tenney plays out very much like the dimestore suspense novels of the 1960s, chock full of sensuality, illicit romances, and vicious killings plaguing a small town. It also shares similarities with the giallos of this era, particularly with the first-person POV cinematography of the killer, as well as the shots of the assailant's gloved hands and knife. While it has been likened to "Psycho," it is not quite as egregious a facsimile as something like, say, William Castle's "Homicidal," and is much more concerned with the romantic relationships between the characters which amp up the steam factor. There is quite a bit of nudity in the film, which is surprising for the era, and gives it an extra edge of salaciousness.

One of the film's strong suits is its stark cinematography, which reaches a zenith in the final scene, which takes place in a dark mansion during a violent thunderstorm. The black-and-white photography makes use of shadows skillfully, and the murder sequences (one in a bedroom, the other at a lake) are atmospheric and frightening. The performances here are decent for the type of film this is; James Farentino in particular gives a fun performance as a greaser who can't keep it in his pants. Sylvia Miles makes an appearance as one of Farentino's abused girlfriends.

All in all, this is a relatively amusing period picture that very much embodies the era in which it was made. It plays out like a cheap dimestore thriller paperback, but there is a nasty edge to it that rears its head during the murder sequences which makes it stand out from many of its peers. The atmospheric locations and cinematography also add a sense of foreboding to the proceedings, and the finale, as odd as it is, manages to give the audience a few small surprises. Not high art, but art nonetheless. 7/10.