This is a movie that starts off with a pedestrian vs auto accident that starts a downward spiral. It is all about bad decisions and who you can trust. The story was really thin without a lot of depth or character development. It wasn't horrible but it wasn't impressive either.
23 Reviews
This isn't Goodfellows
nogodnomasters5 August 2018
Warning: Spoilers
The film follows your classic home break-in formula with bad guy terrorizes home owner, home owner gets upper hand and terrorizes invader, then a fight to the death. Sorry for the plot spoiler if you have never seen a home break-in film.
There are some minor twists from the norm, but really doesn't bring anything unique to the table. I thought the acting and dialog could have been better. Low budget, okay for the genre, but there are far better.
Kill Bill child actor Perla Haney-Jardine as an adult.
Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.
There are some minor twists from the norm, but really doesn't bring anything unique to the table. I thought the acting and dialog could have been better. Low budget, okay for the genre, but there are far better.
Kill Bill child actor Perla Haney-Jardine as an adult.
Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.
VIEWS ON FILM review of Midnighters
burlesonjesse519 March 2018
Warning: Spoilers
A gloomy setting that projects light fog and early morning dew. A hooey story that unfolds like a blandly horrific stage play. A torture scene where some guy's fingers are driven through a chair with hammer and nails. Another torture scene where a girl's face is struck three times and all she does is put a tiny bandage on her forehead (huh?). It's all here in 2017's Midnighters (my latest write-up).
Taking place on New Year's Eve, reckoning itself as poor man's Kubrickian, and distributed by Eagle Films, Midnighters chronicles a couple whose marriage may be on the downslope. Half-drunk and possibly upset with each other, they accidentally drive over a man as he's walking down a desolate road. Being that they're in the middle of nowhere, the husband and wife take the dead body and then later on, try to cover everything up. Unknowns Ward Horton, Dylan McTee, and Alex Essoe round out the cast. Their acting is anywhere between overreaching to just plain middling.
Midnighters has its director (Julius Ramsay) clearly being inspired by 1998's A Simple Plan. "Plan" is a mean and lean drama that leaves you shaken and disturbed. Its varied twists and turns are effective and well, "simple". Midnighters on the other hand, over-complicates itself. It may have "Plan's" similar musical score but it surprisingly harbors a lack of suspense. With its weird plot contrivances and its push for trying to be too clever, Midnighters goes AWOL as thriller-based cinema. It never quite distresses you like it should.
Julius Ramsay's direction is palatable so the biggest culprit for Midnighters has to be its shambolic screenplay (written by Ramsay's brother, Alston Ramsay). Alston creates a film experience where you don't have a clear idea of who the protagonists or the antagonists are. Obviously inexperienced at his craft, Alston seems to literally be making up stuff as he goes along. Oh and he insults the audience by thinking it's a victory for the heroine to escape with $50,000 (that's a nothing amount in today's world).
In conclusion, I've reviewed two films recently with the words "midnight" in their titles. Guess what, Midnight Special and now Midnighters are both pretty lame. Thankfully we have 1978's Midnight Express to fall back on (ha-ha). Rating: 2 stars.
Taking place on New Year's Eve, reckoning itself as poor man's Kubrickian, and distributed by Eagle Films, Midnighters chronicles a couple whose marriage may be on the downslope. Half-drunk and possibly upset with each other, they accidentally drive over a man as he's walking down a desolate road. Being that they're in the middle of nowhere, the husband and wife take the dead body and then later on, try to cover everything up. Unknowns Ward Horton, Dylan McTee, and Alex Essoe round out the cast. Their acting is anywhere between overreaching to just plain middling.
Midnighters has its director (Julius Ramsay) clearly being inspired by 1998's A Simple Plan. "Plan" is a mean and lean drama that leaves you shaken and disturbed. Its varied twists and turns are effective and well, "simple". Midnighters on the other hand, over-complicates itself. It may have "Plan's" similar musical score but it surprisingly harbors a lack of suspense. With its weird plot contrivances and its push for trying to be too clever, Midnighters goes AWOL as thriller-based cinema. It never quite distresses you like it should.
Julius Ramsay's direction is palatable so the biggest culprit for Midnighters has to be its shambolic screenplay (written by Ramsay's brother, Alston Ramsay). Alston creates a film experience where you don't have a clear idea of who the protagonists or the antagonists are. Obviously inexperienced at his craft, Alston seems to literally be making up stuff as he goes along. Oh and he insults the audience by thinking it's a victory for the heroine to escape with $50,000 (that's a nothing amount in today's world).
In conclusion, I've reviewed two films recently with the words "midnight" in their titles. Guess what, Midnight Special and now Midnighters are both pretty lame. Thankfully we have 1978's Midnight Express to fall back on (ha-ha). Rating: 2 stars.
Bgrader with a big B
Gud-er-gud8 March 2018
Its actually pretty amazing, that this crew made a movie with this kind of cinematic quality, when they didnt give two sharts about the story or character development.
Its a clusterfuck of medium-filmmaking, and poor writing - trying to corrolate the few good ideas they have. It could have been made in a day, and then edited into something else.
99% dark mushy out-of-focus scenes, "stolen" shots from other horror movie and classic, and the most unrealistic farfetched, stupid plot for a horror movie in a genre, that HAS to be realistic, to be scary.
English is not my first language, i dont care about grammar much. The only thing that mattered was counterattacking the stupid review from the crew. 9/10, my ass. NOTHING in this movie is remotely interesting and none of the character are believable in any way. Every situation leads to a slap in your own face, and you wonder if you should give up, or what the last 50 minutes.
DONT WAIT FOR THE GOOD ENDING, that saves most shitty horrors/thrillers. It is not there.
99% dark mushy out-of-focus scenes, "stolen" shots from other horror movie and classic, and the most unrealistic farfetched, stupid plot for a horror movie in a genre, that HAS to be realistic, to be scary.
English is not my first language, i dont care about grammar much. The only thing that mattered was counterattacking the stupid review from the crew. 9/10, my ass. NOTHING in this movie is remotely interesting and none of the character are believable in any way. Every situation leads to a slap in your own face, and you wonder if you should give up, or what the last 50 minutes.
DONT WAIT FOR THE GOOD ENDING, that saves most shitty horrors/thrillers. It is not there.
Better than I thought it would be.
lisitsincaleb-481228 May 2019
Saw the movie on Hulu and thought I'd give it a shot. And I must say, the movie is pretty good for the directors first feature. But it's not perfect. The acting can get a bit iffy at times but overall it's decent. All the characters are pretty much unlikable, I don't know if this was on purpose but it was impossible for me to root for a single one of them. Overall, it's a decent thriller.
Decent thriller
deweyc-584221 January 2021
Complete Trash
allenthiede21 November 2018
Horrible acting, horrible script, horrible plot. Watch this movie if you have time to kill and need to fill your WTF quota for the year. Easily in the top five of the worst films I've ever seen, maybe number one. Honestly, it's as bad as The Room but the mood is too dark to be funny. The people that made this should leave this industry immediately and see if they can still get into night school. What is this movie about? WTF?!
A thriller with a Horror after taste.
zoiee26 August 2019
This movie was impressively made and had an unnerving sense of reality to it. Also had a Hitchcock-esque feel to it. Which in my book is a positive note. The actors well and truly outdid themselves and portrayed their characters to a magnificent degree. And being a screenwriting debut from Ramsay this was a solid head note in their careers. All in all it was enjoyable and had me leaving my claw marks of suspense in the leather couch arms. 7/10
Too typical
africe28 May 2019
This low budget B-grade film delivers!
Top_Dawg_Critic3 March 2018
Known for as a film editor, Julius Ramsay makes his directorial debut in this, his first full length film, following his only four TV series - two of which were Walking Dead episodes. And what an outstanding job he did in directing his cameras, and his cast.
He teams up with (his brother) Alston Ramsay's first ever role as writer, and together they create a wonderfully tense, low-budget film noir that benefits greatly from its perfect length, pace, tautness and lack of pretension.
By focusing more on suspense and tension with a perfect touch of gore, the Ramsay brothers have crafted an economical and effective alternative to the many disappointing big-budget entries into this genre.
The primarily novice C-list, and a few B-list actors were surprisingly impressive. The score was perfect. The cinematography on point.
Yes there were a few light plot issues, but still much better writing than some seasoned professional high-paid Hollywood writers.
Aside from that, this film was pretty much flawless - considering its a low budget and B-grade entry level film. Would I see it again and recommend it? Absolutely! A well deserved 8.5 rounded up up a 9/10
He teams up with (his brother) Alston Ramsay's first ever role as writer, and together they create a wonderfully tense, low-budget film noir that benefits greatly from its perfect length, pace, tautness and lack of pretension.
By focusing more on suspense and tension with a perfect touch of gore, the Ramsay brothers have crafted an economical and effective alternative to the many disappointing big-budget entries into this genre.
The primarily novice C-list, and a few B-list actors were surprisingly impressive. The score was perfect. The cinematography on point.
Yes there were a few light plot issues, but still much better writing than some seasoned professional high-paid Hollywood writers.
Aside from that, this film was pretty much flawless - considering its a low budget and B-grade entry level film. Would I see it again and recommend it? Absolutely! A well deserved 8.5 rounded up up a 9/10
A Pleasant Surprise
mistermansfield17 September 2022
I watched this movie without knowing anything about it. I wasn't expecting much as it is a free movie on Youtube. However, when it finished I realised how engrossed I was in it. In fact, I would go as far as to say this is a damned good movie.
The plot is pretty good, too. It begins as a few other other horror movies do - driving home at night and then...BANG...they hit something with their car. This is where it takes an exciting turn away from other films. I really loved the story and the various turns and twists. And they are really well done. In some films, the story seems to be written to accommodate the twists, but in this movie you don't see the twists coming and they blend in so well with the story that they are entirely believable.
I highly recommend this movie to those who want something a little different from their horror / thriller movies.
The plot is pretty good, too. It begins as a few other other horror movies do - driving home at night and then...BANG...they hit something with their car. This is where it takes an exciting turn away from other films. I really loved the story and the various turns and twists. And they are really well done. In some films, the story seems to be written to accommodate the twists, but in this movie you don't see the twists coming and they blend in so well with the story that they are entirely believable.
I highly recommend this movie to those who want something a little different from their horror / thriller movies.
Couldn't Finish
glghou-5465212 February 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Technically, the film (if it wasn't so dark) looked good. But not a single main character is likeable or believable. Poor script, plot, premise, pace, acting, etc. The 2 policemen, tertiary characters, were the best actors. And the "detective" seemed decent but he was playing a charicature of every cocky bad guy. The relationships between every character just seemed forced and fake.. really hated this movie. Nornally I still finish bad movies... not this one.
worth a watch!
ryan_sy8 March 2019
I'm a big fan of alex essoe (starry eyes) and she shines once again. i didn't like her husband or the sisters acting. the antagonist was ok.
good direction, script, and plot twists left me interested. however, the plot thins out towards the latter half of the movie and i had some definite eye-rolling moments.
this movie was a good, slightly higher than average movie
good direction, script, and plot twists left me interested. however, the plot thins out towards the latter half of the movie and i had some definite eye-rolling moments.
this movie was a good, slightly higher than average movie
Time of the day
kosmasp16 April 2021
Actually I am not entirely sure what the title is supposed to mean ... maybe I missed something the title was supposed to tell me. Having said that, the movie has quite a few good moments. And I really like/love/adore Alex Essoe ... but that does not help with certain issues the movie has - be it pacing wise or character wise.
Maybe you don't care about things going up and down and just enjoy the twists - although some of them are not as surprising as the movie might like them to be. Still overall a decent thriller with tension from start to finish, even if it leaves you unsatisfied at times.
Maybe you don't care about things going up and down and just enjoy the twists - although some of them are not as surprising as the movie might like them to be. Still overall a decent thriller with tension from start to finish, even if it leaves you unsatisfied at times.
The picture was too dark.
deexsocalygal10 August 2020
Most of the movie was the dark drive home after everyone said "Happy New Year" & in their dark garage when they got home. The scenes were too dark. I ended up with a headache from straining to see. Also, it was too confusing. Where did the money come from? Why did two guys go to their house? Why did the husband say that her sister wasn't on their side? What did she do wrong? I didn't get it.
Why people are stupid in horror moves?
Meddanny3 August 2020
The Midnighters...can't act. Or write.
RussHog31 December 2020
If you like B-budget suspense thrillers, then this is for you
taraholman-7071127 December 2020
It was definitely better than I expected. I think it's easier to criticize what all the characters are doing/not doing when you already know there is danger ahead. If you're just living life and not expecting all of these things to happen, then you might behave as if everything were normal...
Wow mind blowing
pinkgina18 April 2018
I honestly wasn't expecting a movie this good
armourbreanna30 July 2019
I went into the movie with very low expectations but found myself surprised with nearly every twist! Maybe one or two seemed obvious, but WOW. I did not expect this movie to be so good. Not to mention that the acting was was also incredible.
It's always a great feeling when you find a random horror-thriller that is a seriously awesome story, excellent twists, and amazing actors.
It's always a great feeling when you find a random horror-thriller that is a seriously awesome story, excellent twists, and amazing actors.
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