The Midnight Hour
1985, US, Directed by Jack Bender
Colour, Running Time: 90 minutes
Satellite Broadcast, Video: 1.33:1, Audio: Mono
It’s Halloween in Pitchford Cove and the high school youngsters are arranging a huge party at an old house to celebrate. After a class presentation by Phil about the history of Halloween in relation to the town a small team of students decide to authenticate their fancy dress costumes by breaking into the witchcraft museum and stealing (sorry, borrowing) some genuine 19th century outfits as worn by various occupiers of the period, including a witch who was burned at the stake as she passed curse upon the place. Stopping off at the nearby cemetery they have the cool idea of reading out an old parchment that they found with the costumes - an incantation for raising the dead. Laughing of their antics they leave the cemetery to prepare for tonight’s party, unaware that their little joke has actually worked and bodies are returning to life along with the awakening of various demonic entities in the form of werewolves and vampires. Later at the party geeky Phil finds himself unable to attract the attentions of the girl of his dreams (she’s more interested in the football-playing beefcakes) and decides to head off home, not realising that the recently disturbed dead are invading the party and causing havoc throughout the town. On his way back he runs into Sandy, a girl he met earlier who also happens to have died thirty years previous (but passable as a living person due to a distinct lack of rotting flesh). Together they become aware that the town is undergoing a chaotic transformation as the dead turn the living into lifeless homicidal shells - Phil and Sandy have to find a way of restoring peace to Pitchford Cove as they rapidly become a minority in a town that’s filling up with ghouls.
The fact that it was made for television shows with a clear lack of gore, violence, and sex, but I’m not one to let those deficiencies hold back my enjoyment of a film - after all, there’s still atmosphere and scares to be had, right? Well, maybe not here. It opens with a nice little set-up as we see the residents of the Cove preparing for Halloween celebrations, going to school, arguing about theft, etc. One of the main problems is the undead creatures - they’re a bit of a joke and are treated as such by the film-makers. The make-up is actually very good but overly emphasised in a Buffy-type sense and therefore not particularly unnerving. It’s not helped by having actors who think they’re comedians playing some of the parts and one corpse especially gets on my nerves with his clumsy antics. There’s also a hopeless werewolf whose attacks on mortals are completely bloodless and without tension. Lee Montgomery was never a very ballsy actor, here playing the lead role as Phil, but he’s a reasonably likeable dude and does the job. His newfound love interest, Sandy, is played by Rosanna Arquette lookalike, Jonna Lee, someone who worked mainly in TV before disappearing off the scene in the early nineties. Shame because she’s both attractive and competent here. The teenage behavioural tendencies are typical of the period and may provide some nostalgic fun for those of us who were there, but on occasions they can induce minor cringes. The film hits rock bottom though when, without explanation or precedence the entire undead cast of the house go into a Thriller-style song and dance number that lasts about five minutes - I’m not kidding: this has to be seen to be believed. It may have been fun to shoot but it’s completely embarrassing to watch - make sure nobody ever catches you viewing this as any remaining street credibility will be evaporated. There are one or two things going for Midnight Hour however. Firstly, it makes great use of fifties/sixties music like The Midnight Hour (obviously), Bad Moon Rising (slightly blasphemous as that track belongs to American Werewolf as far as I’m concerned!), and Sea of Love (by Del Shannon). In addition, once all the jerking around with musical numbers and the like is sorted out, the story temporarily becomes quite interesting as Phil and Sandy cruise through a town crawling with the walking dead, later becoming pursued by hordes as they go back to the house to retrieve certain things they’ll need to restore order. The last third or so of the movie almost make the journey worth bothering with, but not quite (that musical piece trashes it for me), plus the conclusion is a little on the sloppy side. One rather surprising point to note: the competent but pedestrian direction is by Jack Bender, someone who’s since gone on to enthral us with many of the episodes from Lost.
This recording was taken from a satellite broadcast back in the early nineties and reveals what is a noticeably colourful and sharp image. I don’t think this has ever received a sell-through release in the UK, disc or cassette, but Anchor Bay put out a barebones DVD on Region 1 years ago (the film itself was granted with a decent transfer); that disc is quite difficult to find nowadays. In a childish way The Midnight Hour is light entertainment at best, plus there is the slightly eerie segment of the last act to consider, but there is too much silliness to truly recommend seeking this out.