Midnight Son

First part of the movie is slow. I was watching it thinking is it actually going to be any good or maybe it's another cheap try on very popular recently subject. It looks cheap but not ridiculous thanks to a very decent acting (especially from Jo D. Jonz). The movie eventually is gripping you and the second part is very good and some shots are just brilliant. There are few details/mistakes that slipped or points that could have been resolved in a more logical way but they don't spoil the movie. I was expecting certain mood and atmosphere in this film and watching it in a cinema really helped. It seems to be inspired by "Addiction" by Abel Ferrara. The director shows lots of potential and I can't wait for another one to see if he can prove it.

This played at the 2011 Minneapolis/St. Paul Film Festival as one of the "Late Night" offerings, and its labeling as a "vampire" movie probably discouraged some potential viewers. Let's face it, vampire movies have been done to death with all the creative juices long since having been drained out of them -- right? Writer-director Scott Leberecht, however, has somehow found a way to approach this material in such a way that, almost without your realizing it, and without resorting to any of the usual gimmicks, he's created a small, quiet movie that slowly gets under your skin and haunts the corners of your mind. The final image, resembling a Mayan frieze, will burn into your memory. Praise goes to lead actors Zak Kilberg and Maya Parish with a special nod to Jo D. Jonz as the worker in a hospital blood lab. While not as good as last year's "The Revenant," this can at least be mentioned in the same breath and that's high praise indeed.

I went to a screening of this not expecting much. It's got its rough spots, but on a whole I liked it. The idea is fresh (for a vampire flick) and the performances are fairly good. Maya Parish acts outside the box and Jo D. Jonz makes some interesting choices. It's got the look of film shot on the cheap, probably flying under the radar a few times sans permits, but for the most part that serves the overall grittiness of the thing. This is actually one I'd like to see revisited à la EVIL DEAD. I'd be curious to see what could come of it with more cash, a little script polish, etc. Hope to see this create some more opportunities for these film makers. Curious to see what's next. Totally worth checking this one out.

Jacob works a night shift as a security guard in a building in Los Angeles. He has a rare skin condition, preventing him from being able to be out in the daylight. He develops a need for blood, which he satisfies at first, by getting it from a butcher. His body soon rejects the animal source and he finds a way to buy the human variety from a street hustler. He meets Mary, a strange girl selling candy and cigarettes outside a club. They begin an offbeat romance of sorts, and the first time they try to have sex, Jake's eyes turn cat like, and Mary leaves. When she returns and sees paintings of sunsets, she asks to take one home. An art gallery is shown the work, and Mary convinces him to let her try to sell them at a show. In the meantime, the vampire artist/security guard, struggles to obtain fresh blood. The romance is on again, off again, as the odd couple dance around the truth. The story is a standard one with two very good performances by Zak Kilberg and Maya Parish. They have chemistry, and made me want to see them make it and survive their troubles. It is certainly a step above the Twilight series of Stephenie Meyer.

MIDNIGHT SON is an ultra low budget obscurity about a mild-mannered young man, hanging out on the streets of Los Angeles at night, who comes to discover that his rare skin condition (he burns in sunlight) is actually vampirism. The film follows two separate paths, following the guy's coming to terms with his real nature alongside his developing romance with an equally damaged drug addict.

For a really low budget film set within an overworked sub-genre, MIDNIGHT SON is a surprisingly decent little movie. It helps that the script is smart and literate, but it's the likable actors who really make you pay attention to this one. Zak Kilberg is fine and sympathetic as the newly fledged vampire while Maya Parish is heartbreaking as the object of his affections.

Although romance plays a big part in MIDNIGHT SON, the story is so dark and brooding that I didn't mind. This is much, much better than the big budget nonsense of TWILIGHT, filled as it was with silly scenes and bad acting; MIDNIGHT SON is much more realistic and downbeat. I particularly liked the evocative soundtrack, full of held notes and distorted sounds which add to the sense of growing unease.