The Midnight Man

The Midnight Man stars horror legends Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and Lin Shaye (Insidious) in this remake of the 2013 Irish horror movie Midnight Man and presumed inspired by The Midnight Game, the 2013 film adapted from the creepypasta of the same name. Our legendary icon's portrayals are not at their best, however it's not the acting that disengages the audience, but rather writer and director Travis Zariwny's bland script. Zariwny successfully creates a few moments of tension throughout but the missed opportunities are too many.

In the well-maintained attic fully furnished with a curious male mannequin and a gun with three bullets, a sealed box containing the pieces needed to play The Midnight Game, is discovered. The cursed pagan game awaits innocent curiosity to thus bring forth a demonic spirit, The Midnight Man-an evil so smart, its strength lies in its savvy to trick players to their demise.

Follow the rules and you will be safe, don't and you will die! Only problem with the 'rules' of this game is that time and time again we observe, the Midnight Man does not like to follow rules as he "does not like to lose."

Decades before in the very mansion Alexandra (Gabrielle Haugh) now resides as caretaker to her declining grandmother Ana (Lin Shaye), The Midnight Game was played with dire consequence. Once again the box is finally opened by Alex and her friend Miles (Grayson Gabriel), who will wager everything for a few hours of trying to stay alive. Although one can't help but wonder "why on earth would anyone would want to play this 'game'?"

Suspend your disbelief as we may for even the best of horror films, but unfortunately The Midnight Man still falls short on scares. Contributed to bland CGI, the monster's lackluster appeal mixed with its obvious Halloween store allure, and The Midnight Man is a bore. The fact that the imminently endangered teens have full sentence conversations with the raspy voiced Midnight Man himself takes away from the suspense at once.

Quite possibly the most absurd aspect of the film happens when in the midst of fighting off The Midnight Man, Alex and Miles find themselves answering a knock on the door by a third friend, Kelly (Emily Haine) who we discover is well versed on the Urban Legend and therefore remains in the house to help her friends. "You can get out now," Alexandra tells Kelly. "I wouldn't desert my friends," she replies. (She probably should have heeded the warning if you catch my drift.)

The Midnight Man is a glossy, commercial looking film that will keep viewers tuned in from start to finish. As a background movie or out of desperation, the film will suffice. The biggest crime though that The Midnight Man has commited is that you will likely not remember much of it after a short time.

I'm a fan of Creepypasta. This movie was straight from a story called "The Midnight Game". The movie did a decent job of explaining how the game is played and sticking to the original Creepypasta storyline. The performance of Ms. Shaye was Excellent. It did get a bit muddled in places, and some bits were added that I think should of either been omitted or explained better. But all in all, one of the better Creepypasta adaptations I've seen.

Today people tend to claim a movie is a masterpiece and cinematic triumph or it is a total disaster, the worst movie I ever watched etc. The Midnight Man imho does not belong in either category, it is a small horror movie with a story-line based on a game that evokes a dark, evil entity and the price of the game is one's life and if one loses the game you get a fine cruel death. (Well, some dark souls could rightfully argue that a cruel death is still a kind of good reward, because, you know, who wants to die a common, total boring death!?)

So, in short, for sure there is nothing new in the western front, but what we get are decent actors (Lin Shaye, Robert Englund, also the young actors do not disappoint) and a good production value with some nice value of gore and splatter and a good, dark atmosphere and a very bad guy.

Yes, this movie is no Oscar material or made to be someday called cvlt, but The Midnight Man is a pro made movie and imo for the aficionado of horror a good snack in-between. My rate 5, maybe a 6.

4 -

I already knew, even before watching it, that this was a pretty bad movie, but I didn't expect it to take itself so seriously since the beginning. And with all that, the acting was kinda crap and the story was one of the most recycled plots of all time. But the main issue with this movie is definitely the horror factor, because believe me, there's basically none : the entity is just lame and keeps talking throughout the film, shutting down any feeling of distress or fear the public could have towards it. Even the jumpscares were the most idiotics I've seen in a long time, definitely lazy and predictable to me, and i'm not even a jumpscare fan.

Easily avoidable, save your time

What is the mark of a good horror movie (hell, a good movie PERIOD)? Does it pull you out of your shitty reality for a while and entertain the crap out of you. That's the formula. In that regard, I have no complaints about "The Midnight Man".

You have Robert Englund and Lin Shaye together again. He is mesmerizing as always and she is creepier than the titular Midnight Man himself. You can't go wrong there.

Are there plot holes and times when the suspension of disbelief wavers a bit? Sure. However, they did such a good job with the atmosphere and effects, generally speaking, that you really don't get too put out by this. At least, I didn't.

I have no reservations about recommending this one. It's worth an hour and a half of your life.