Midnight

I first saw this in the early 90s on a vhs.

Revisited it recently.

The movie has lots of stupidity but it is creepy n atmospheric at times.

One of the best part is that most of the movie is shot in broad daylight n the night scenes r well shot.

The director of this movie John Russo is the writer of NOTLD (1968), n he incorporated the cemetary scene in this one too with almost the same atmosphere.

Some really wtf moments - A stupid girl hides in the shower n can't even out run a fat slob killer.

Check out the scene at 1:30:52.

The guy who is shot is standing as if he is like a mannequin.

Luke the big, bald guy conveniently stands on the place where kerosene has been sprinkled by the final girl.

A young girl who has just ran away from her stepfather after he attempts to force himself onto her runs into a family of backwoods crazies after she hitches a ride from two guys. Better acted then you would expect, with some good scare scenes and some exciting moments, still it suffers from an extremely low budget and starts to run out of steam in the second half. By the time it has reached the finale, it feels cold and by the numbers.

Rated R; Nudity, Graphic Violence, and Profanity.

A teenage runaway and two men she's hitchhiking with stop in a strange town and find themselves stalked by the crazed locals.

Midnight is an interesting mix of Texas Chainsaw Massacre style lunatics running rampant in the country with a dash of religious/cult stuff thrown in to make everything even stranger. Not everything gels, but the moments that do stand out pack a punch.

My review was written in January 1983 after a screening at Liberty theater on Manhattan's 42nd St.

"Midnight" is a 1980 Pittsburgh-made horror thriller which, while lacking the scares of its many competitors, at least varies from the rigid format of recent shockers. Horror novelist John Russo, who scripted the Pittsburgh classic "Night of the Living Dead", develops enough twist on traditional Satanism and road movie formulae to keep the fans interested.

Heroine Nancy Johnson (Melanie Verliin) runs away from home when her cop stepdad (Lawrence Tierney) tries to rape her. Diverted from her goal of joining a sister in California by two young men who pick her up hitchhiking, she becomes a captive of a local family of devil worshipers who slate her for human sacrifice on midnight, Easter Sunday.

Familiar elements herfe include the devil cultist retaining their clan matriarch in mummified form (a la "Psycho") and the usual gimmick of a backwoods family preying on unsuspecting travelers. One switch is the emphasis upon the story's racial angles, with several black victims and local prejudice surfacing against the racially mixed trio on the road.

Special makeup effects by a top artist in the field Tom Savini are effective (particularly a realistic decapitation simulation), but the picture's low budget shows in unatmospheric, routine visuals, amateurish performance in small roles and a 1960s-style music track. Though the premise has heroine and her road buddies headed south, autumn locations (belying Easter Sunday premise) all look similar, evidently filmed within shouting distance of the Pittsburgh home base.

Forties star Lawrence Tierney has fun as the heroine's stepdad, veering from initial comical villainy to a stalwart protector in the final reel. Other leads, many of whom are familiar faces from George A. Romero films, perform functionally.

While watching Midnight it is pretty clear to me where the majority of the talent lies in the Romero/Russo relationship. Now, I'm not saying John Russo is a bad screenwriter or novelist, but he's no director. Midnight, based on his own novel, claims to be a cross between On The Road and Rosemary's Baby. That is not accurate at all. It's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre...CLEARLY. It's about a crazy family who kidnaps and sacrifices young people to appease their dead mother (who they keep in the attic). It's pretty straightforward and boring. Mostly it's just bad; on both sides of the camera. Even the special effects aren't anything to write home about...and it's Tom Savini! Along with Savini, John Amplas (Martin) has also come from the Romero camp to help out, but he doesn't add anything significant. Lawrence Tierney is the only name actor in Midnight, but he doesn't have a big part. He's not the villain of the piece, but he is the only truly creepy character here. Just watch Chainsaw again and thank me later.