Movie Review: Middle of the Night (2018)
Middle of the Night is a film written and directed by David Scheinbaum. It is about a group of seven people who decide to take part in a TV show that is a reality show that will film them for 30 days in a house. It is called “West Hills”.
The show begins, and they are informed by the host that there are clues to a secret that has been hidden in the house. The also are not allowed to leave the property. There is no contact with the outside world, so no TV, internet, or phones.
What we liked:
– The concept of the film is interesting. The reality show is a pretty good premise. There really aren’t a lot of films that use this as the story, and it was a cool idea.
– The first thing you will notice about this film is that they get right down to business with the killing. In horror, this is definitely welcome. The acting was good. All of the actors and actresses for the main characters did a great job. Most had previous experience, and this is definitely important.
– There were some really nice camera shots, and we appreciated the cinematography in this film, aside from some camera shots from the view of the crew.
– The score was great. This isn’t to be confused with the audio troubles we mention below.
What could have been better:
– There were a lot of noticeable sound issues. Some with voices sounding like they were recorded in a hallway, when they are in a quiet place like a car, and some where footstep sound effects were added that don’t match up to the steps of the person on screen, and some where it would sound like a clomper shoe in a hallway, but the person is wearing sneakers or a boot with a rubber sole. It seems like they just used some default walking sounds or something, or they were unnecessarily added in post-production. This goes for the camera snapshot sounds as well, among others. The sound of the camera where people are doing interviews is of an old film projector. The sound of the dialogue seemed to come from various sources in some scenes. Sometimes even sounding like they were recorded over a phone or something and there is an audible buzzing sound when the people are speaking in some situations. Consistency is key when it comes to sound.
– The video camera effect used by the “crew” from the show on the screen makes it seem like this was filmed in Betamax or VHS. There is a weird white rectangle on the screen. I know they are implying that it’s a video camera, but it is 2018, and they could have gone with just a “REC” in the corner with the camera number to make it easier on the eyes. The frame in the middle of the screen is really distracting. Even making the frame to fit the screen would have been better.
– The names of some of the people in the house are confusing to remember. A few of them end in “y” or “i”. There is Danny, Cari, Kelly, Amy, and Annie. The other three are Lisa, Eric, and Matt. This may seem like it’s not important, but when four out of five girls’ names all end with that letter, it’s harder to keep track of which character is which. The sound very similar, and aren’t always on screen together.
– They get a visit from the cops, and aren’t told anything about any problems in the area, but are then unknowingly, systematically killed off as you would expect. At some point, a guy hits the camera with an axe and the power goes out, which doesn’t make a lot of sense. The police could have maybe told them that there could possibly be a dangerous person in the area.
– There were some other things that just didn’t make sense that would give too much away, but what was the deal with the clues? The host of the show informed them that there was a hidden thing for them to find. They never expanded on this at all after someone found the first one that they already knew the location of, and expanding on this would have made for a great plot point.
– How did the camera crew not see anything? There were nine camera crew people from what was implied, and even though the entire house was being monitored, only some were shown. This was a plot-hole. It was a TV show, after all.
Overall:
Middle of the Night was a great concept with good acting throughout. Some additional time should have been spent reviewing the script, though, and also the final product when it came to sound. This film starts off with the quote: “Here there’s no possibility of doing evil. You live in evil. In the absence of remorse. How could you do evil?” -Jean Genet. This quote doesn’t seem to reference much in this film, though. Keeping it in mind, we couldn’t think of anything it applied to in it. We did enjoy this film, and we definitely still recommend that horror fans watch it, as indie films are exactly that, and all feedback is critical to helping evolve indie filmmakers become mainstream filmmakers. And everyone should support indie horror. It was also writer/director David Scheinbaum’s first effort, and it was a decent one at that. We noticed that there could possibly be a sequel to this, and we are excited to see what comes of it.
