Courtesy: Anchor Bay Entertainment/Starz
Anchor Bay Entertainment’s new horror flick The Midnight Game is a surprisingly entertaining work for an indie horror flick. The central point of the movie’s success is its script. One watch of this fright-filled story shows that it’s not just another teen slasher flick. For that matter, there’s barely any blood shed throughout. It will however leave audiences guessing right up to the end. Another reason that horror fans will appreciate The Midnight Game is the acting on the part of the movie’s cast. The cast knows that this movie is an indie flick. And while the cast doesn’t necessarily ham it up per se, each cast member’s acting does come across as lightly poking fun at the whole teen horror sub-genre of the horror realm. Last but not least of all worth mentioning about The Midnight Game is the fact that while it obviously lifts from certain other horror flicks, it doesn’t go so far as to blatantly rip off said movies unlike far too many movies out there regardless of their genre. These three factors each play their own role in the overall success of The Midnight Game. Together, they make this indie horror romp one that any fan of the genre will want to watch at least once now that the movie is officially available in stores and online.
The central point of The Midnight Game’s success lies in the movie’s script. At first glance, one might think that this movie is going to be just another run-of-the-mill gore fest loaded with lots of references to people taking part in satanic rituals. The reality of the movie is that it is anything but. Sure, it is essentially another teen horror flick. But at least it isn’t just another one of the standard gore-filled slasher/evil spirit flicks that are all too common nowadays from the world of horror. Yes, there is some blood shed at points in the movie. And there is one very brief moment of nudity. But both elements have been kept to a minimum. For that reason alone, the movie’s writing staff is deserving of a certain amount of credit. There’s no denying that there is at least some predictability at certain points in the story. But the writing staff makes up for that by throwing in a rather interesting twist ending, which will not be revealed here for the sake of those that haven’t yet seen this frightfully fun teen horror flick. It is a twist though, that will leave audiences wondering and talking. And that it will have that lasting effect is a fitting final testament to the talents of those behind the movie’s script.
The talents of those responsible for crafting the script behind The Midnight Game are definitely worth noting in the overall enjoyment of the movie in whole. The work of those charged with crafting the story’s script goes a long way toward making the movie work. The same can be said of the acting on the part of the movie’s cast. The cast—Renee Olstead (The Secret Life of the American Teenager, 13 Going on 30, Still Standing), Shelby Young (The Social Network, Days of Our Lives, Everybody Hates Chris), Guy Wilson (Little Black Book, Days of Our Lives, The Open Door), Valentina de Angelis (As The World Turns, Gossip Girl, Bereavement), and Spencer Daniels (Star Trek, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, This Is 40)—doesn’t necessarily ham it up. But it’s obvious that the cast members had fun with their roles throughout the movie’s filming. They did take their roles with a certain level of seriousness. But they didn’t take them so seriously that they went over the top. Their acting could be argued to have even been a little bit of a spoof of the teens in every teen-centric horror flick ever released to a point. That’s really what made this aspect work so well. They were just that spot on in their depictions of the stereotypes used in all the other teen horror romps already out there. Audiences will know in watching the cast at work that they are watching a movie. Yet thanks to that acting, audiences will still want to watch what happens to each “teen” next, even going so far as to laugh at their characters at some points. Again, herein lies one more reason that any horror aficionado will want to see this movie if only once. There is still more worth mentioning even after considering both this aspect of the movie and its script.
The script and acting that went into The Midnight Game are both key to the movie’s overall enjoyment and success. Anyone that is familiar with the world of horror will note in watching though, that this movie bears quite the similarity to a number of other horror flicks out there. Those flicks include the likes of: Fear Dot Com, The Ring, Shadow People and others of that ilk. Audiences that give The Midnight Game will see the comparison rather early on and even in the story’s final minutes. The catch is that while the similarity is there, The Midnight Game doesn’t go so far as to directly rip off those works. Despite being loosely related to said movies, it still maintains its own identity against them, thus helping to maintain at least a certain sense of originality. That is the final touch to this movie that makes it one of this year’s more surprising entertaining indie flicks. It’s a movie that any horror aficionado should watch at least once whether this Halloween or any other time of the year.
The Midnight Game is available now on DVD in stores and online. It can be ordered directly online via the official Anchor Bay Entertainment website at http://www.anchorbayent.com/detail.aspx?ProjectId=8e063eb4-72ab-e311-b062-d4ae527c3b65. More information on this and other titles available from Anchor Bay Entertainment is available online at http://www.anchorbayent.com, http://www.facebook.com/AnchorBay, and http://twitter.com/Anchor_Bay. To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment reviews and news, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it. Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment reviews and news in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.
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