Midnight Desires

Midnight Desires, the 1976 erotic thriller directed by Shaun Costello, is a curious blend of steamy erotica and psychoanalytic mind games. With a unique structure and a willingness to venture beyond the norms of adult cinema, this film is an intriguing, if imperfect, experience.

The film follows two couples as they engage in a night of unconventional entertainment. The premise sets the stage for an exploration of human desires and the complexities that arise when they are unleashed.

Costello's direction showcases a clear attempt to elevate the film beyond its explicit content. The cinematography is surprisingly decent, with well-composed shots and sharp editing that enhance the film's tense and sensual atmosphere.

Where the film truly shines is in its deviation from typical adult film tropes. The vignettes, tied together by a central theme, create a non-linear structure that adds an intellectual layer to the film. This format allows for a deeper exploration of the characters' motivations and the impact of their desires.

However, the film's ambitions sometimes exceed its grasp. The psychoanalytic elements, though intriguing, can feel underdeveloped and clumsy at times. The dialogue, in particular, often veers into overly expository territory, detracting from the film's overall impact.

In one memorable scene, the characters engage in a heated discussion about the nature of desire and the role of fantasy. It's a standout moment that showcases the film's potential for intelligent and thought-provoking erotica.

Overall, Midnight Desires is an interesting experiment in adult cinema. While it doesn't always succeed, it offers a unique viewing experience that blends titillation with a cerebral edge.

My name is Shaun Costello and I wrote and directed this movie back in 1975. This was the first film I shot in 35MM film. All my previous efforts had been shot in 16MM. I saw this film recently, along with 18 or 19 other pictures that I made in the Seventies, as part of the process of revisiting the work I did back then. Some of the films I watched were dreadful. Some were acceptable on some level, especially considering their budgets, and some were quite watchable. Midnight Desires was by far the best of this group. Because of budgetary constraints I liked working with scripts that contained vignettes tied together by a central core. Shooting to this structure was much more cost effective than a linear story line where you moved from a to b to c to d, all the way to z, each scene depending on it's preceding and following scenes in order to make sense. In Midnight Desires four well dressed adults gather around the fire place in a Long Island mansion and each one reveals a long hidden, and as yet untold sexual fantasy. Each vignette takes us to a remote location where that fantasy is dramatized. At the end of each fantasy episode we return to the mansion where the complexities of the fantasy are discussed by the participants. Four stories. Four totally different sexual fantasies. Four explanations. At dawn a limo picks up one of the couples for the drive back to Manhattan and the film comes to its end. This picture was nicely shot by Bill Markle in his first 35MM effort. The locations are tangy. The dialogue is crisp and intelligent. The actors provide acceptable performances. The music, all stolen of course, is delicious. This is a clean, nimble, tidy, watchable movie. Very good of its kind.