After Midnight

Something Else promises monsters but delivers more demons of the human experience variety, as this sweet and sincere creature feature is far more romantically heartfelt than expected.

As genre hybrids go, After Midnight displays enough nuance and filmmaking savvy to qualify as a success.

For the most part Hank’s heartbreak resonates. By the end of After Midnight, he and the audience both may wonder whether the bogeyman and true love are equally mythical.

It’s not enough just to be offbeat. Defy whatever rules it might, a movie has to find its own beat, and After Midnight still seems to be weighing its options when the final credits roll.

Lopsided in its balance between sentiment and scares, it's a very peculiar genre pic that will make the most sense to those familiar with the films of two of its producers — Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson, whose trippy sci-fi outings like The Endless also balance the fantastic and the intimately human.

Let me start by saying that I enjoyed the movie, and I truly appreciated that very little about this film was even remotely predictable. Having said that, it does also suffer not so much from a low budget but from acting that rarely rises above top-quality community theater levels. I understand that you've got a lead actor (Jeremy Gardner) who is also the writer, co-director, co-editor and I don't know what all. And his co-star (Brea Grant) has lots of experience in smaller roles (based on her imdb page), but I don't think is really up to the task of carrying a major role. But, on to the good stuff. Hank (Gardner) is a bar owner, and frequent user of his bar's product, who lives in a run down old house in rural Georgia. He's an amiable enough guy, but certainly not what one might call a go-getter. Somehow, he's managed to land Abby (Grant), his long-term girlfriend who actually seems to be pretty well in-love with this guy. BUT there's a problem; he is commitment-phobic and eventually, it seems she has had enough and she leaves him. Hank, in his low-key way, is devastated. He drinks more than usual. He spends his days remembering (via flashbacks) the best days of his relationship with Abby. AND, as if this wasn't enough, the poor guy spends his nights on his sofa, which he has back up against his front door. Because, you see, every night a monster comes to his front door and stirs up a bit of a ruckus. He tells his friends, and of course, they are deeply skeptical. But Hank is pretty darn convinced he's got a monster problem. The plot evolves from there, and it does take a couple of unusual twists. Obviously, I don't want to spoil anything. However, I think it's important to note that AFTER MIDNIGHT isn't really a horror movie. Yes, there may be a monster, and Hank does wander into the dark a few times, wielding his shotgun, and at these times, the movie does show its horror roots. But it's really primarily a drama with bits of light comedy thrown in. While the horror elements are not incidental, the tone of the movie 90% of the time is NOT one of a horror movie. It uses the horror elements to explore other themes, which I won't spoil for you. If you're simply interested in a good scare, go elsewhere...this film will not scare you (well, there is one moment...). The film is VERY low budget, but for the most part, Gardner and company do a lot with a little. There is one scene between Hank and Abby, where they have a pretty serious conversation that goes on for at least 10 minutes. They're sitting in the open doorway of the house, looking to the outside. And the scene is done in one long take. No doubt this was an efficient (and cheaper) way to approach the **** it is also quite effective. The feeling of peeping in on a real conversation, rather than watching a film, is pretty strong. (And, to pile on a little bit, this scene might have been actually powerful if the actors were better. Gardner, for example, relies too much on taking a pull from his beer bottle, even though he handles the bottle as though it is empty. If he had simply started the scene with a full bottle and worked his way **** no, he tips the bottle all the way back the first time he goes to it, and then does that every single other time.) There are moments of humor throughout, mostly from supporting characters. And lots of nice atmospheric music provided by a duo calling themselves The Hummingbirds. (And the "Making of" in the extras spends a lot of time with this group's music, if that appeals to you.) So, while hampered by amateurish touches, AFTER MIDNIGHT is still a well-written and fairly tightly-constructed (83 minutes) film that I think is worth watching for its creativity and good writing.

After Midnight is indie-romance mixed with horror and the results are okay. At only 80 minutes long it should fly by, but it groans and stretches depending on who is on screen. The main character and his girlfriend chew the scenery, but the supporting cast is excellent. The monster, a thinly veiled metaphor of fear of commitment, is cool looking but only very briefly seen and ultimately not the point of the film. An okay watch especially if you like talking about and making fun of what you are watching.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Conceptually it is more fascinating than practical. Let's just say the execution does aspire to something more than a run-of-the-mill horror movie, but as is often the case, the creators try to bite off more than they can chew, and end up delivering a pretty average movie. Thankfully it's short.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]