The Midnight Horror Show

Working together at a traveling carnival, a murderous family tries to get by in life by doing whatever devious activity will allow them to remain together, and when this alerts a dangerous hunter to their whereabouts seeks revenge on the family and must rely on those tactics to stay together.

This was enjoyable enough for what it was. One of the better aspects of this one is the somewhat cliched setup that manages to still provide enough to know about the group going on. The first half spends quite a lot of time going through the various members of the group and their different relationships, with the controlling father trying to keep his family together, the ventriloquist son stuck in his head about the supposedly-alive puppet insulting him, the clown son dealing with the trauma of his condition, the youngest son being a constant screw-up that needs reprimanding all the time, and the daughter living the golden life as the perfect child. Knowing who they are and what they're about lets this part come together so that their murderous antics come off with the sense of disgust due to the humanizing efforts done to get them there beforehand. Those scenes involving their murderous antics come off incredibly well here which has some solid aspects at play. Knowing the daily are insane psychopaths who will resort to murder the first chance they get whenever someone wrongs them which they get away with due to the roving nature of the carnival, this sets up their freewheeling ability to strike out against the ruthless talent agent, the disgraceful boyfriend, and the woman he was dating that feature some better-than-expected moments as it ties into established storylines quite well. The second half, turning into a solid enough version of a retribution feature that allows for the hunter to come upon the family leading to some brutal moments offering some additional gore and brutality in what's going on as everything leads to some likable features here. There isn't much to hold it down but there are some slight factors present. The main drawback featured here is the sluggish and slow-going pace that takes things way too slow for this kind of feature. The whole family-based setup that takes an in-depth look at how the group operates is filled with cliches about the nature of what's going on between everyone which makes it all feel quite repetitive from every psychotic carnival family in the genre so even if this section has a lot to like with setting up their behavior there's not a lot here that provides much in the way of interest. The sluggish quality of what's going on here takes a while to sort out and get something happening to bump up the excitement, which might not be a factor for all out there who want a faster-moving genre effort. As well, the low budget being on display does serve as a factor to get over which is quite prominent and could be a factor here which are all enough to bring it down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

In my opinion the best thing about this movie was the creepy puppet. Especially because he talked by himself. Lee bane did good as always and his performance was alright. Not sure who voiced the puppet but he was good. The rest of the characters were interesting in their own way. Especially the clown. Not much else to say about this film. Not all that scary. The acting was actually ok but overall not that good.

A deceptively complex film, played as a simple story of a murderous family using their circus show as cover for killings but featuring several sub-plots with their own story arcs. The siblings squabble, the eldest acting like a truculent teenager as his sister is the favoured child, but come together when the chips are down.

The story makes excellent use of a very limited budget, although this can lead to some slightly jarring jumps in the action. A character from early on possibly uses a fake name, meaning a plot twist was not as clear as it could have been, but the end is satisfying and there is a healthy body count.

The ventriloquist did not work for me. I was uncertain whether to read it as mental illness or genuine supernatural activity, and this was the most obvious nod to earlier films. The wronged girlfriend plot tried to incorporate the ambiguity of abusive relationships but was a little too glib for me. A slight hint of incest between the two most quarrelsome siblings was kept as just that - a hint - without interfering with the plot. A pleasantly 'I wonder if that is true' routine about Hitler gave me one of my few real chuckles, although the film is not without humour.

Most of the budget seems to have gone on blood and imaginative ways to disguise the limited sets. Comparisons to Rob Zombie are inevitable, and it is to the credit of all involved that they achieved this for pocket money prices. Well worth a watch.

Really just a poor man's 'The Devil Rejects' as the plot mimics aforementioned film,deranged murderous family are tracked down by deranged murderous avenger. This is a competent film that is let down by it's low budget origins.And as with every horror film made nowadays,everything is in place for a hoped for sequel. Though I can't see it happening in this case as the DVD has ended up in the chain of Britain's 'Poundland' discount stores.

The majority of the unknown cast do well,no Oscar winners but a level above the usual amateur hour players these films attract. The gore effects are well done and the sets are adequate. Basic story is family of misfits run a travelling circus that happens to actually kill people during the magician's act,thus setting up the vengeful pursuer of one of the victims.

The father apparently kills because he likes it and the rest of his family just help him. But they have their problems too,brother and sister sibling rivalry,the son who plays the clown longs for true love though he is disfigured,the ventriloquist brother who is in two minds with his dummy. The same as all vents in films from 'Dead of Night' to 'Magic' amongst others.

So,therefore not a bad film but I was left rather unmoved because as in the 'The Devil's Rejects' I found all the characters unpleasant and unlikeable. Bad things happen to bad people,so they say, but in this case I just didn't care one way or the other.

Was drawn into seeing 'Theatre of Fear', with a cool poster/cover, an intriguing though far from original premise and as someone with a general appreciation for the genre it fits under. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there (though there are decent to good ones as well), made me though apprehensive.

It is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws present in those films are here, that to me was incredibly disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. 'Theatre of Fear' is really very weak, with its infrequent decent points but with so many huge flaws and doesn't do anywhere near enough with its potential, which was quite a good deal. There is very little good here.

'Theatre of Fear' does have an eerie setting and was expecting far worse acting than what is seen here, it's not great still, somewhat over-the-top in spots, but effort to engage with what they're given to work with can be seen. The chemistry is there too and it is more natural than expected.

Going on to the negatives, the story does feel over-stretched and some of it comes over as vague and under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less unsettled and never gaining momentum. All the characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one be properly intrigued by them. There is still frustrating decision making going on but that aspect is definitely done much worse in other low-budget recent viewings, sorry to go on about this asset but it has become a bugbear of mine and difficult to ignore.

Sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions) and the effects are laughable.

Dialogue can be stilted and rambling while the pace and film drags on forever, apparent from the very start, never recovering that interest is lost fast. The ending has no build-up and just ends ridiculously. Found too many of the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense. Thrills are none, thanks to stodginess and excessive over-familiarity, and found myself never invested in the drama, which tended to be dully paced and statically directed.

A lot of 'Theatre of Fear' has really dull and going nowhere plot elements and often not so convincing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you shocked are far from creative or unsettling. It all feels rather tame.

Nothing freaky or interesting, no development and too derivative, while everything is unimaginative and are more odd than scary, completely failing to show any sense of dread. There is nothing interesting or illuminating with what the film was trying to do and the drama is overwrought with no momentum and a lot of weirdness. The direction is leaden, got the sense their heart was not in it, and the music is ill-fitting. It is very amateurish visually with its low budget being all too clear, too drearily lit and shows no care in the way it's shot. In this regard only the setting stands out in a halfway decent way.

In summary, weak. 3/10 Bethany Cox