Midnight

This is actually a pretty good low budget horror film. It does bear the marks of a regional production (filmed in Pennsylvania), complete with the (mostly) amateurish acting that fans come to expect in such a thing. It does indeed start slow, so people may have a hard time sticking with it, but it's worth it in the end. The story is a familiar one, but is well realized by writer / director John A. Russo (an associate of George A. Romero who'd co-written the classic "Night of the Living Dead"), who adapted his own novel. Tom Savini supplies some typically well done splatter, but certainly the best aspect to the presentation are the very rural settings that give "Midnight" some potent atmosphere.

Melanie Verlin - in the first of only two movie roles - stars as Nancy, who has to live with a policeman stepfather (legendary tough guy and wildman Lawrence Tierney) who's a lecherous alcoholic. After he harasses her, she runs away from home, hooking up with seemingly nice young guys Tom (John Hall) and Hank (Charles Jackson). After they get her involved with their (mild) life of crime, she ends up in the backwoods where she's soon abducted by backward Satan worshipping lunatics. This lovely bunch of people force their victims into too-small cages in preparation for sacrifices to their dark lord.

One thing from this movie that people will likely remember the most is that staggeringly silly theme song that's heard a few times. Otherwise, this is pretty fun to watch. It's always a hoot to see Tierney in action, especially when his less-than-honourable character becomes an unlikely heroic figure. There's some delicious creepiness going on throughout, and Catholicism is a big theme. Nancy isn't an innocent type, but falls back on prayer when things look their bleakest. Verlin is reasonably appealing, but the standouts are obviously the antagonists: David Marchick as portly and bearded Cyrus, Greg Besnak as bald headed Luke, and John Amplas, star of Romero's "Martin", as Abraham. The electronic music score is priceless stuff.

The climactic action has its fair share of tension, but ultimately "Midnight" ends a little too abruptly. But until then it proves to be decent entertainment.

Seven out of 10.

When drunken cop Bert Johnson (Lawrence Tierney) makes sexual advances towards his teenage stepdaughter Nancy (the rather boyish Melanie Verlin), she packs her bags and sets off to see her sister in California, hitching a ride with Tom and Hank (John Hall and Charles Jackson), two college students on their way to Florida (!?!?). After a night camping out under the stars, the trio fall foul of a family of redneck Satanists who are ritually sacrificing young women to try and resurrect their dead mother.

With a screenplay and direction from John A. Russo, writer of seminal horror classic Night of the Living Dead, and make-up effects from genre legend Tom Savini, one might reasonably expect Midnight to deliver the goods in terms of terror and gore, but sadly it fails to deliver on both counts: Russo's script, based on his own novel, suffers from a dreadfully dull first half and the guy is clearly no Romero when calling the shots behind the camera, consistently failing to deliver the requisite chills; Savini also disappoints, his gore FX on this project being far from his best work (I can only presume that he knocked them out on the cheap as a favour to Russo).

It's not all a total loss though: the film's pace picks up considerably once Nancy and pals meet the devil-worshipping backwoods clan (a memorable group consisting of two nutters posing as cops, a demented babe, and a fat guy in dungarees who can't stop laughing), and bonus points are scored for a willingness to tackle the taboo, a few surprisingly brutal deaths, and a cool grind-house vibe achieved through cruddy picture quality and a menacing, lo-fi synthesiser score (the horribly dated theme song, on the other hand, is simply atrocious and only serves to irritate).

5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

This is one of those movies you don't hear about as much as "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" or "The Hills Have Eyes", and that's too bad, because I found this regrettably unknown little horror film from John Russo to be quite entertaining and seriously creepy. Yes, it's very, very low budget - the sound, camerawork, and acting/dialogue are all very sloppy and unpolished, but bear with it. The film takes a little while to start up, but once it does, if you're a true horror fan it will definitely hold your attention. The film's low budget at times makes it seem so realistic that I felt a creepy feeling, it's hard to describe. Even with his limited funds, you can definitely tell that John Russo was trying to make a good, creepy, hardcore horror movie, and he definitely succeeded. The plot basically centers around a girl named Nancy who runs away frome home, hitching a ride with two guys. The trio gets themselves into trouble after robbing a grocery store and find themselves hiding out in the sticks, where the locals have warned them against staying because of several murders that have been committed there lately. What follows is how the teens run afoul of a psychotic family of blood-drinking Satanists who worship their mother's corpse and kidnap and murder young girls to use their blood for a black mass. Again, bear with the somewhat slow first half - what you get in the second half of the movie is well worth the wait. It's well worth the rental or purchase if this type of gory horror is your cup of tea. By the way, the Savini makeups are good, though they do seem to be trimmed somewhat - what a surprise - but the film is still rather gory. It has its share of stabbings, slittings and gunshot wounds to keep the regular gorehound satisfied. All in all, if you're into the "backwoods horror" scene, check out "Midnight", a regular "backwoods massacre"!

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.

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.