Night of the Missing

Typically my reviews' main criticism is a)the acting b) the cinematography. This movie actually did really well in those two categories. Where it fell super short was category c) the sense. This movie is well acted, professional looking, and even slightly humorous at times (the "ron Jeremy" "cameo" had me do a double take! LOL!!). But none of the stories connected with the others,and either ended abruptly or confusingly. And that was a major disappointment,because this movie could have been a hidden gem with better cohesiveness. What happened to the man with the cookies?? (Intentionally being vague to avoid spoilers). Could have been really good if the stories were actually finished and linked. But a decent watch.

"Night of the Missing" is a fairly typical anthology film -- it's a collection of random short films grouped together with a loose attempt at a common theme.

The movie begins with the discovery of a weird woman in a police station. The sheriff comes in and starts yelling at the woman (identified only as "The Woman"). The Woman says she wants to report a missing person, but instead of doing so, she instead looks at "Missing" photos hanging on the wall and tells the story of four of them, which lead to the short films.

The first one is a super-short film from 2020 called "We All Scream." It's about a boy who wants some ice cream. Short but pretty creepy.

The second film is a short from 2022 called "Nite Flirt" starring the beautiful Gigi Gustin (who gets a "Story" credit on it). This one is a little unusual -- Tammy (Gustin) goes about her business while weird, supernatural things happen. Then she is suddenly doing some sort of sex-talk phone service. Then that's dropped and we're back to supernatural stuff to finish off the short. Confusing as all heck, but Gustin is very appealing in her role (and definitely a force to be reckoned with in future films), and the short is satisfyingly weird and creepy.

Confusing is also a good word for the third short, 2020's "Miniature." "Miniature" stars Jenna Kanell (of "Terrifier" fame) along with Gustin again. They are really tiny and in a "Model Town" (think the model town in the attic of "Beetlejuice"). An intriguing little short, although no real connection to the overall theme of "Missing people."

The "Missing Person" theme is completely abandoned in "You Promised," the final (and weakest, not counting the wrap-around) of the stories. This drug-deal-gone-wrong story that morphs into the supernatural doesn't seem to fit in at all with the others.

We end up completing the Sherriff/Woman story, although to be honest, I really had no idea what was going on with those two. The whole wraparound story definitely left something to be desired and is the least effective part of the film.

I like short horror films, so I did sort of enjoy "Night of the Missing." Three of the shorts were good, and that's a pretty strong success rate in these type of movies. Check it out if you're a fan of these type of films.

Acting was good, cinematography is well done and professional. But the way things were acted made everything feel like it was mocking itself and a comedy that wasn't funny, but just lame. The writing seemed to be an outline then improvised. Felt like this film was trying to me mic too many other films all at once. Less about missing people as it portrays in the title and the beginning and more about random idiots killing it the most awkward and meaningless ways possible.

I have witnessed scarier things and more amusing things on the daily commute home from work.

Like I said, the camera work and acting was well done, unfortunately the writers (if any actually) and directing phones it in.

Night Of The Missing is a cleverly constructed horror anthology.

A mysterious woman shows up at a police station on a dark and stormy Christmas Eve, wanting to report a missing person.

However, she instead recounts the torrid tales of people listed as missing on the flyers that line the police station walls.

Which we are subsequently shown in a series of short flashbacks.

How she is privy to such knowledge isn't exactly clear.

But one factor seems to connect them all...there's something paranormal about their disappearances.

Originally, you get hooked by the air of mystery in the overarching storyline...but the stories, themselves, are what win you over in the end.

Not to mention the final twist.

Because the whole thing is actually quite vicious, in a subtle sort of way.

Meanwhile, they have you laughing at points...and even get you with a couple jump scares.

All around, it's actually quite good.

Plus, it's relatively short (at around 70 minutes), so it's not too much of a chore to watch.

So if you are looking for a not-too-well known Christmas horror this holiday season...definitely give this one a shot.

You won't be disappointed you did.

5 out of 10.

I watched this without knowing it's an anthology, so I dived right in.

The first story, also the shortest, was quite well done honestly, had a lot of effect. After that one I realized there are more than one movies here, but I kept going and going. Even tho I am not a fan of these kind of mini series, I had fun with Night of the Missing.

It's a production that looks quite good, nice vibe to it, interestingly enough, original stories here, everyone involved did a really good job. Thus I shall recommend it because you too might get a kick out of it.

But it is important to be a fan of anthology movies otherwise this might be a swing and a miss.

Cheers!