Midnight Devils

On the run after pulling off a heist, a pair of women seeking shelter from the group they stole from hide out at a remote cabin one of them used to live in as a kid, but when they realize there's a dangerous creature living in the area hunting her and everyone in the area have to get away.

Overall, there's a lot to like with this one. Among the better aspects here is the strong setup that provides a launching point for the rest of the storyline to come. Getting the early work here of the proper sentimental value of the house and what being in there means not just for the memories living with her grandfather but also the Indian tribe they encounter along the way who claim the area is home to a sacred creature in their mythology, this setup with the house's history and significance comes off rather well. As well, the secondary storylines involving the mobsters on their trail looking for the stolen money and the obsession with the comet supposedly set to arrive in the night sky that day all come together into a highly effective and enjoyable setup for this one. That gives the film quite a lot to like in regards to its action scenes. From the scenes of the demon hunting the girl when she was a kid that gives us a hint of the creatures' strange and unearthly appearance, the first attack on the group where it crashes the walls supernaturally before taking out the first victims, and the series of discussions in the bedroom about what the creature is and how to stop it before the series of ambushes that occur, the action here is generally fun and cares a nice air to it. The later scenes involving the creature appearing in the woods to attack the random in the area or the attack on the police officers creates some fun here involving the possessed victims coming back to the house for the final battle gives this a nice finale, and along with the rather impressive make-up effects on the main creature all have a lot to like here. There are some drawbacks to be had here. For all the good this does in terms of establishing a fun storyline, some of it is either unnecessary or just highly convenient to make the setup work. The cutaways to the gang operations that are being taken while searching for the missing money, either at the strip club they operate out of, the series of cutaways depicting the gang members abusing captives by forcing them to dig their own graves or accidentally killing them during an interrogation or the lesbians hanging out partying in the woods are highly unnecessary to this one offering nothing more than unfunny interludes or useless sequences to stretch the running time out. Several of these encounters and characters could've been eliminated entirely without really affecting the film that much, just like the other factor here with the confusing storylines. Since there are so many different factors chasing after the girls here, from the thugs to the secondary henchmen attempting to get the money and finally the police officers investigating the initial crash, bringing all these factors together makes for a confusing time as to how they all managed to find out where the girls were hiding in the first place, much like the means of stopping the creature once inside the house. This comes up quite frequently here and manages to hold this one back somewhat.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Nudity, and drug use.

I can say with a fair amount of confidence that this is in the top ten worst movies I have ever seen in my life. I've seen a few others with the name ITN in front of it and they tend to fall in the middle but this is a disgrace to movies everywhere.

Bad acting. Bad writing if they even had a script. Bad effects. Bad music. It looks bad. Anything else I forgot to mention? If I did then just trust me. It's bad.

HEY EVERYBODY ITS ME, (4) and today we review ..... midnight lesbians meets demon guy ... the movie !!!!

Okay i have a lot to say about this one .. #1 i love mr. Berryman that guys great ..... this film seems to have rented him for a day and ran with it ........

#2 ...the demon/"wendigo" in this is actually REALLY good looking ...call me impressed ....

okay now that the good stuffs out of the way LOL

the editing is SO ...rough .... the film is VERY disjointed .... at times your not sure what is happening ... at a point a cop get "killed" and what it seems to be dragged into the forest , then it cuts to some lesbians in the forest .....then a bit later the cops running in the forest stops and THEN gets killed even though pretty sure we already saw that ???? But the way the editing runs its harder to keep up with than my viagra - its VERY hard to keep up with half the scenes as its plays more like an attempt to be edited like "action" is going on the whole way though , and that leaves you in this almost .... wha? State trying to keep track ....jump cut to jump cut ... CALM DOWN !!!!!!!!! Let the scenes breath ....let us watching it breath .....

the acting is as expected ...

the story ? .....well .. im not entirely SURE WHAT I JUST WATCHED !!!!!!!!!! I mean ..... at times im like .... its a gangster getting their money back story ... then its a serial killer kind thing maybe ...nope ... some hiding out lesbians ... wait ... more gangsters .... but now a gun fight ... AND demon .... and zombies ? .... WITH LESBIANS ?!??!!? Add a twist of lime and you got a solid saturday night at the bar ....... again with the editing being that of a drunk child not taking their adhd meds ... its kind of hard to REALLY say for sure ... but the basics are there ... just not alot of anything inside of the shell ... and the shell is kind of looks like a project the same drunk kid might have made it in his special class .....then sat on the project coming home ... a for effort ? I guess ?

Sound wise ..... ITS CALLED SOUND CONTROL !!!!!!!.... leveling ... mastering ... making voices level with the OVERLY LOUD MUSIC !!!!!!!! Sorry .. see in indie film world ... this is what makes or breaks .... you can forgive bad acting ...or bad looking quality .. but sound .... no one wants to have to sit and wait and guess when they have to turn down the volume like they are 13 years old again trying to not get caught on that "special" channel late at night ....

at 14 minutes = should have been the trailer, and nothing else would have ever been needed .....

AND the lesbians in the closet ...i mean sound stage .. I MEAN "woods" .... seems to be there only for fan service ..... good job .... lol BUT too bad for us ...as usual ...its cut for youtube rules etc .... ugh ....

finally .... the one liner out of no where??? ... "say cheese mother ******" .... i mean ... the whole time it hasnt been one of those kinds of movies ...then suddenly ...a one liner ? ... why ? ... because shes now a hero type or something ? ... that doesnt require one liners to be the hero ...and the odd stalling right before it ... sheesh ...that pause too so long i had time to go watch another movie and review it THEN come back just in time for them to continue ...and about pauses .......... the ending ....

honestly over all it wasnt too terrible ......but that editing !!!!!!!!! If i had the time i would probably reedit this just for fun and to see .... but NOPE .... lol....

4/10.

Clearly a passion project made by folks who love the genre. The love and craftsmanship shows, despite some of the equipment and/or sound limitations ... but in terms of the production value and - holy hell - the makeup and costuming, this is actually good stuff. Looking forward to what else this crew puts together. Midnight Devils should of had more confidence in its story instead of relying on a few visuals that quickly became overused (i.e. The Wendigo). I did find the storage unit strip club to be an incredibly interesting location visually / conceptually.

The real problem with MD was its audio issues, they simply make the film impossible to become immersed in. The best example of this comes from the accidental death of a hostage. Our large enforcer accidentally switches on a leaf trimmer (off camera), which is fine, except an audio que would have saved the audience from asking, "What the hell just happened". Although that confusion was probably intended, just not thought through.

There is a differance between amateur and independent. This is the former.

Let's begin with the fact that Michael Berryman is only in the movie for 2 minutes. For that reason, I feel lied to and cheated. But let's move on. Other than Berrymore, the only decent acting is done by a 7-year-old girl; eveyone else is horrible.

The writers/directors of this film should not be allowed to own a camera, as by the sound quality they are not alloed to own a mic. I honestly believe with all of my being, that said writers/directors want to be stars and the only way they can accomplish this with their poor(being kind) acting skills is if they make their own movie. And so they did. Sorta. Can this legally be called a movie?

The other "actors" are nearly as bad and here is why. This was one of those indie movies where you can pay a certain amount and get a role. My guess is that everyone paid to be in the movie as there is no acting skills whatsoever. Really, I could pick up a homeless man and a crackhead and have better actors.

The writing was credited to Abel Berry and Jennifer Stone. In actuality, Stone and Berry got high and left the script open on their laptop; their cat crawled across the keyboard. Berry and Stone awoke the next morning, read what was written, and thought, "Damn, we need to get high and write more often. This is bank."

I'll leave with this; at 31 minutes in, the "gangsters" attack a house. They attack at night, no arguing that. Inside, as can clearly be seen by the bright sunlight through the window, it is day. Amateur, not independent.