The Midnight Club

The Midnight Club is not really horror. It has horror elements but it's mostly teen drama. If you're expecting a series along the lines of Mike Flanagan's previous Netflix horror series', you may be disappointed. But if you go into it knowing that it's based on young-adult rather than classic literature, perhaps you can appreciate it for what it is. The Midnight Club is based on material by highly successful YA author Christopher Pike, not on classic ghost stories by writers like Shirley Jackson or Henry James.

Since I knew going in what the source material is, I was expecting a teen drama with some horror elements, and that's exactly what this is. It started pretty strong, lots of mystery, and the characters drew me in. Most of the cast are very good, and the series is beautifully shot. There's no mistaking that this is 100% Mike Flanagan. And like everything Flanagan does, it's heavy with emotion (at times too heavy).

Unfortunately, it does get slow about halfway through the season, it's a bit hard to follow at times, and it just doesn't have the same magic that Hill House, Bly or Midnight Mass do. I still found it moving and entertaining, but I didn't love it. There are too many unanswered questions and disconnected ideas. Rather than moving slowly and leaving all those unanswered questions for a probable season 2, I would have preferred Flanagan had stuck to his formula of one-season stories that move quickly and wrap up nicely in the end.

I have great respect for Mike Flanagan and his vision and ability to tell a story with both horror and heart. Though by no means terrible, The Midnight Club is not his best. I still have high hopes for The Fall of the House of Usher. Flanagan has proven what he can do with classic horror. I can't wait to see what he does with the works of Poe.

**Unlike some others, this review was written after watching the whole season.

Not a bad series, some creepy "ghost" moments, but don't buy its boast of "most jump scares in a single episode" (that being the first episode, where I actually found myself saying, "oh, enough already"... my first legitimate jump wasn't until episode 3 or 4, and even that was mild.) Some of the stories the characters tell at their club meetings are good enough. And while their personal stories and issues lend themselves to some touching moments, the series is held back by its highly implausible premise and plot holes (terminally ill kids spending their last months living in a dorm where parents only show up once-a-whatever on Family Day, a grand total of two adults in the entire hospice, neither of whom apparently supervising or checking in on these medically fragile teens at night. A hospice where a teen is left to die in a deserted ward completely alone. And where on Earth are these kids getting bottles of wine every night?) Who knows, maybe too much eye-rolling made me miss all those jump-scares, but after five episodes, I'm passing on the rest.

I loved those three (Hill house, Bly manor and Midnight mass) and have watched each at least 2 - 3 times. This one was boring IMO. I am in episode 6 and already getting annoyed by Ilonka. As others have said, prob will fast forward and skip to the end. Some scary scenes are good, but it is not as gripping as the other previous creations from the writers. It was good to see actors in cameos from their previous work though.

I really hope it gets better from episode 6 and something actually happens!!

PS. Why does IMDB want a 600 word review now? Everyone doesn't need to write an essay, some movies/ series just deserve a few lines!

I have enjoyed most of Flannagan's work with the Midnight Mass likely being his best offering to date. After watching this show, my opinion hasn't changed. While far from perfect, Flannagan's work genreally posses a fair bit of creativity when it comes to defining ghosts and horrors. His biggest weakness seems to be able to definitely conclude the stories that often borders onto theatrical levels of expositions. Still, in most cases the main story is concluded to a satisfying degree regardless of the expositions. Things have gotten better overtime and I was interested to see if he finally figured out how to make a final conclusion to a tale without the theatrics.

Unfortunately, The Midnnight Club is likely the weakest offering and lest conclusive the shows to date. With an interesting premise dealing with terminally ill patients dealing with death, this show works somewhat like an Anthology with short stories building up to a greater encapsulating mystery. Unfortunately, in this case, the show rarely rises to any sort of occasion and we are instead left with mind-numbingly amateurish short stories for ten episodes with just bookending of a greater horror that never convalescences into anything meaningful. I suppose it makes sense in context that the stories are told by normal teenagers and not established authors and I guess the dissatisfaction emulates the disappointment of a life barely lived.

Subverting expectations can be tricky and the replacement has to even more interesting or about the same. Failing that you are bound to alienate your staple fans and possible newcomers. This is a gross misstep in an otherwise a pretty positive track for Flannagan. I suppose the warning signs were there when Netflix suddenly put more focus on the advertising and the first story is a riff on jump scares. I suppose Anya claiming herself to be a tougher audience was just bravado and nothing more.

I will wait and see what the reviews are for the house of the Usher as I am not interested in wasting my time on halfbaked originals.

Started off really intriguing and wanted to watch more but as I got past episode 5 I found it rather dull & boring and quite predictable.

Some of the stories were boring too and spent the last few eps on my phone.

I'm glad I watched it but it's not something I'd watch again. Not anywhere as near as good as Midnight Mass but still looking forward to Mikes new show The Fall of the House of Usher.

Shame really as it started off better than it ended but it was great to see Heather L from Nightmare on Elm Street but made me feel a little old!

I'd recommend watching it if you want something to casually view and not get engrossed in.