Minutes to Midnight

I'd avoid this movie like the plague. There are a few things that are good but mostly this film is horrible, no pun intended. This movie lacks in plot all that's there is people go diappearing and it feels like the town is covering up and then we are introduced to a group of adults who are going to this town but not staying in the town but staying in a cabin in the middle of the woods. I will now go over what this film succeeds at and fails at. This movie succeeds in some gore effects thats it. The film fails at a multitude of things. The cinematography truly sucks and is a huge drawback. The charactars are weak and no strong acting is provided by the actors. This film also falls into a multitude of horror tropes that are way too overdone in this film and others. The film also fails in it's plot, the atmosphere is surprisingly weak and the tone is lackluster. This film isn't so bad it's good its just bad. I found myself not caring most of the picture and almost falling asleep. If the pacing was good I might have been more interested but the pacing also sucks. There's a reason this film is straight to DVD. Oh god save me from the hour and a half i lost of my life. Please don't watch this i have a written a multitiude of reviews of other films that are better than this that you should watch instead.

This movie could had been a very good slasher. First there is known name in there like Christopher Judge (Stargate), William Baldwin, John Hennigan (Johny Mundo/Impact/Nitro from Wrestling) and a few others. I personally like Heather Paige Cohn that i seen before in those cheap (but fun for me) trashy comedies about fraternities and such. I think i seen her naked in all the movies i saw with her and this one is no exeption. She has a great body and its a slasher, so its fitting.

But alrght lets get down to the movie yes? So beside nudity what was good? The main killer design is pretty cool looking, he has that Jason vibe. The killer chick is alright altough very underused. There some cool shots in the woods and a few bloody kills.

The bad tough outweight the good and thats the issue. The pacing is not good, take way too much time to get going, when the killing start its fast and lack suspense and build. Its like all this time spent with the characters before was just to put a trope personality on them and thats it. Like i said above some kills are bloody and alright, but a lot are pretty basic and uninspired. The plot seem to be a bit too convulated and all over the place for what ultimately is a slasher movie. For instance there is a storm that is supose to come and thats why they are partying there but ultimately beside lightning shots you never see anything else to fit a "storm premise" wich i think the movie could have benefit from having. There is a few over the top foggy scenes (over the top as i never seen fog act this way in real life) for atmosphere but it does not convince much.

That said its alright for 1 watch on a late night, i saw it on Tubi so i didn't paid anything either (just had to watch a few ads) and it spent the time for that evening.

Not a must watch for any slasher fan, but not a terrible movie. The production quality is actually decent, i couldn't find the budget for it, but it does not look super cheaply made like some of those. I just think the director and writer were inexperienced and just pitched their idea on paper/camera thinking all a slasher need is a cool looking killer, nudity and bloody kills to be good.

It's unfathomable that, in this day and age, tripe like "Minutes to Midnight" would get the greenlight from any studio. The film is rife with nothing but cliches. To wit:

Law enforcement officers who don't wear uniforms but, instead, pull their guns on innocent people in the street.

A deep, rarely discovered forest that lies within walking distance of a small town full of millenial yuppies.

Speaking of millenials, they're all typically clueless, but goodlooking, in this movie.

Don't waste your time with this. Watch this only to see what garbage is being thrown direct to DVD these days.

A group of friends gather for a new years eve celebration and are attacked by a mask clad psycho with insidious intentions. This surprisingly polished production, I'm sure was taken quite seriously when it was made. Especially by a plastered out Richard Grieco who plays the town sheriff. There's no real original thought here it's pretty basic and by the numbers. But the addition of unnecessary subplots and a lack of suspense or effective kills make things even worse. Despite some cool cover art and a screenplay that would have been better off it had stuck to the basics this film is a complete waste of energy.

*.5/5

Cheese filled masterpiece directed by the son of straight to video legend Fred Olen Ray.This is much better than some other ray Jr films such as Almighty Thor and Two headed shark attack.Has some fine nudity and gore.Also loved the fight scenes,reminded me of the 80s action/ horror crossover films