Melanie Verlin

Lawrence Tierney

John Hall

Charles Jackson

Doris Hackney

John Amplas

Greg Besnak

Jackie Nicoll

John A. Russo

Mike Mazzei

Dan Q. Kennis

Donald Redinger

Samuel M. Sherman

Tom Savini

Raymond Laine

S. William Hinzman

Paul McCollough

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THE TALKY-TAWNY FAWLTY-SALTY FLICKERS PROJECT 2022 🐯 🧂

Video nasty is a colloquial term popularised by the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association (NVALA) in the United Kingdom to refer to a number of films, typically low-budget horror or exploitation films, distributed on video cassette that were criticised for their violent content by the press, social commentators, and various religious organisations in the early 1980s. These video releases were not brought before the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) due to a loophole in film classification laws that allowed videos to bypass the review process. The resulting uncensored video releases led to public debate concerning the availability of these films to children due to the unregulated nature of the market.

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Midnight

Congregational Productions

United States of America

**_A runaway converges with perverse cultists in western PA_**

A 17 year-old girl from Pennsylvania runs away to live with her sister in another state. She’s picked up by two guys in a van, but they run afoul of a weirdo cult in the sticks. 

Shot in 1980 but not released until 1982, “Midnight” was written & directed by the screenwriter of the hallowed “Night of the Living Dead” (1968) and likewise shot in western Pennsylvania. Costing only $75,000, it had half the budget of “Night” and way less if you factor in 13 years of inflation. As such, this is basically a meshing of “Night” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974), just no where near as effective due to the limited resources. For instance, there’s a lot of wooden acting.  

Still, if you don’t mind micro-budget deficiencies and enjoy cult flicks like “Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural” (1973) there’s a lot to appreciate here (although it’s not quite on the level of “Lemora”). Melanie Verlin is okay as Nancy, but the production needed a more captivating lead actress to keep the viewer’s attention. The flick starts well and ends decently but is marred by a tedious mid-section.

Underneath the creepy, sometimes goofy adventure there’s an interesting theme: We live in a fallen world full of broken families, addictions, abuse, lecherous males, racists, unjust hostilities, crime, religionists and deviant groups. Both the cultists and the protagonist find succor in questionable religious beliefs, but the goat-suckers choose a destructive belief system whereas Nancy opts for a flawed-but-generally-healthy theology that enables her to face the serious challenges of life and overcome.  

Ginny Griedel stands out on in the feminine department as Sharon (the woman in the blue dress), as does Michelle Bowser as the adult Cynthia.

Lawrence Tierney plays Nancy’s stepfather. You might remember Tierney from the 1991 Seinfeld episode “The Jacket” in which he played Elaine’s intimidating father.

Russo wrote & produced a more modern version of “Midnight,” released in 2020. It was directed by someone else and still very low-budget. I haven’t seen it, but the trailer makes it look like an improvement over the original.

For a superior horror flick written by Russo, check out the slasher “The Majorettes” (1986), which is still very low-budget but all-around entertaining if you give it a chance.

The movie runs 1 hour, 34 minutes, and was shot in the region of Butler, Pennsylvania, which is a half-hour drive north of Pittsburgh. More specifically, the areas of Kaylor, White Oak Cemetery and Bradys Bend, which are located 7-12 northeast of Butler.

GRADE: C

English

Midnight Theatrical Trailer

Midnight

A Startling & Shocking Adventure - As Three College Students Take a Strange Detour to the Land of the LIVING DEAD!

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