Mr. Midnight: Beware the Monsters

It's family horror series that's reminiscent of Goosebumps, except the monsters are drawn from the folklore/horror traditions of southeast Asia. Unlike some comparable family/YA Nextflix series like The Irregulars or Dead Boy Detectives, which are tonally and thematically all over the place, this show is reasonably wholesome and it's charming in its consistent simplicity. The mysteries, monsters and intrigue are on the level of Scooby Doo and production values aren't much better. But the young main cast and a few supporting adults are affable and the show's brisk pace helps to keep the proceedings engaging.

Definitely one for young teens and those young at heart! My 12 yr old and I thought we'd give it a go and ended up bingeing it over 3 days. We had no previous knowledge of the book series it's adapted from, and were able to go into it with no expectations and open to anything.

We loved the way each Mr Midnight episode had a short story, while there was an overarching storyline across the whole season. The effects were well done, definitely a little cheesy at times (spaghetti anyone?!), but everything about it left us wanting more.

Mr Midnight is well written, with humour dotted throughout, relatable characters, and the Singaporean location and cultural aspects were really interesting.

I would highly recommend Mr Midnight - a lighthearted, supernatural, fun series!

It is CRINGEWORTHY.. also so much confusion because it said it;s in Singapore but most of the area doesn't feels like Singapore at all, and that's kinda off putting it you are locals.

But on the other hand, it s telling stories about lots of Asian urban legend, and that's so Much fun personally for me. If you are south Asian and or growing up in south Asian country you will be familiar of all this urban legend, ghost and ghoul portrayed in this series, that's why I give 8 for the nostalgic moment this series bring up to me. (It's because I can't give 7.5)

it is tho after-all Teenagers comedy horror movie, so don't take it seriously and just enjoy the story... and there you go, you have fun watching it, this some sort of nostalgic for me because this all ghost and ghouls I know since I was young ages, and all the urban legend that are familiars.. even they do the Asian Vampire (who jumped around) and unlike western vampires who basically Dracula. So yeah, for me its so much fun to watch... for the nostalgic part.

The acting could be better imo, but it's not really off putting, and there is some awkward moment when they speak Bahasa (as I am Indonesian) so it doesn't sound right and messed up in anyway if you imagine this is Singaporean movie, than the Bahasa language and the location just doesn't add up... but anyway, I enjoy watching this.

I live in peranakan culture and i know that the Nusantara archipelago has a lot of culture including the assimilation of a lot of culture.

One thing that baffles me is the mismatch reality of how crowded singapore is and how it's potrayed in the series, which almost empty. The problem is that most horror movie does not really goes along with modern technology, its just makes all the mystery illogical.

Second, there's too many ghost that's not even in south east asia. For example Jikiniki is japanese. The chinese hopping vampires are not South east asian culture, and the lore itself does not match it. If you're bitten by a vampire, then you're become a vampire and you are mortally damaged by sunlight. In this case, the vampire immune to sunlight.

The dialogue is attrocious especially when they try to use Bahasa (indonesia/melayu) in the series. They speak even more rigid than a formal news anchor. And i "love" how they have no accent at all, makes it very "believable".

For example, Thai movies are making horror comedy, but they are still scary but funny as well. I don't know what genre is this series. It's not horror and it's definitely not comedy. More like, "look at me! I'm a diverse movie!"

And lastly!! I love it when they somehow can read ancient java/sunda script out of the blue.

I'm not too familiar with Singapore as I've only visited briefly on a layover but the whole corruption and poor infrastructure portrayed in the streets doesn't seem to ring true in not only one of the smallest countries in the world, but one that is also the most developed country in south-east Asia that have rigid rules and laws on social and environmental development.

I think the cheesy dialogue makes sense because from what I understand it's based on a popular children's book series so it definitely fit the intended audience, kids and young teenagers. However, the acting is terrible, especially from Caleb Monk. All he does is suppressing his own laughter, he smiles at the most random moments and it really makes him come off as a major creep from episode 1. The main character (Idan Aedan) is also pretty terrible but definitely not even close as bad.

The props and special effects makeup is really enjoyable and one of the best parts of the show. Love that they are using more traditional means to bring the spirits and monsters to life. Really enjoy that the monsters from many different traditions and cultures are portrayed but it'd be great if they addressed more where they originate from. I also think the story is overall great but I think the poor choice of actors and that sometimes the context gets lost in the rest of plot it takes away so much from the storyline.