AFTER MIDNIGHT (2019) (Umbrella Entertainment DVD Review)

AFTER MIDNIGHT (2019) 

Label: Umbrella Entertainment
Region Code: Region-FREE (NTSC) 
Rating: MA
Duration: 83 Minutes 
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) 
Director: Jeremy Gardner 
Cast: Brea Grant, Jeremy Gardner, Justin Benson, Henry Zebrowski, Ashely Song, Nicole Masciotra, Taylor Zaudtke  

At the start of the film our main character Hank (director Jeremy Gardner, The Battery) is living with the fact that his girlfriend of the last ten years,  Abby (Brea Grant, Beyond the Gates), has seemingly left him. We find him barricaded in the front room of his dilapidated Florida home with a shotgun in hand, sitting on a couch that blocks the front door. directly behind him there's a splintered hole in the door, a remnant of him having fired his shotgun through it, supposedly at some sort of strange creature that's been trying to claw it's way inside his house at night ever since Abby left. His brother Shane (Justin Benson, The Endless) is a local cop, and he chalks it all up a bit of hysteria, dismissing the scratches on the exterior of the front door to a curious black bear, and attributing Hank's monster-talk as hysteria fueled by alcohol and loneliness. Hank is otherwise convinced that there's something strange visiting him at night, but is it all in his head, or is there actually something malevolent living in the tall grass of the everglades that seems to envelope his home?  

After Midnight is an interesting hybrid of a film, on one hand it's a creature feature, on the other it's a surprisingly poignant  meditation on the dissolution of a relationship. Throughout the film there are flashbacks to the earlier stages of his relationship with Abby, the happy couple settling into Hank's ancestral home, drinking wine and listening to mix tapes, but then we see the normal cracks appear in relationships. Abby seems unhappy with Hank's willingness to take their relationship to the next level, she wants kids and he doesn't seem to want that, so it's not the perfect love that hank might be remembering. 

Eventually Abby is back in the picture and the pair make an effort to recover what might not be lost, and the film seemingly drifts away from creature feature it's been establishing, giving credence to the idea that the midnight monster might be a figment of a sad, broken-hearted man. Then comes a surprising heartfelt and touching karaoke performance with a group of friends... and the film returns to the former, and I loved hank's choice of hand-held weapon, it's pretty unique. It's an offbeat and not altogether seamless marriage of seemingly disparate genres but I absolutely loved it, rarely have romance and monsters been so strangely entwined.

Audio/Video: After Midnight (2019) arrives on region-free NTSC formatted DVD from Umbrella Entertainment framed in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1). The lensing of the film looks great, with the cinematography capturing the tall grass exteriors and dilapidated interiors of the house well, colors are well-defined and blacks are acceptable for a standard-definition presentation. Audio on the disc comes by way of English Dolby Digital 5.1, and this being the sort of film that goes from quiet to loud often and I found myself having to crank up the volume and then turn it back down just as quickly. As is often the case with these film-only releases from Umbrella there are no subtitles, and this is certainly a film that would have benefited from a subtitle option. Uneven sound levels aside the music from bands The Parlors, The Hummingbirds and others sounds good, but the quiet-loud-quiet dynamic proved a bit of a chore to manage without subtitles.

There are absolutely no extras on this release, not even a trailer or static start-up menu, once you pop in the disc it begins playing immediately. The single-disc release comes housed in a standard keepcase with a singe-sided sleeve of artwork featuring a cool illustration of the creature, the same artwork is replicated on the disc. 

Jeremy Gardner first popped-up on my radar by directing the indie end-of-the-world film The Battery (2012), which is still a bit of an unsung gem, he then popped-up as an actor in the several films of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Spring, The Endless) and a few more Joe Begos (Mind's Eye, Bliss). He's been operating within that circle of independent filmmakers who I think are all doing great stuff, and After Midnight (2019) shows his own growth as a director. It's not a perfect film, but I do love the intermingling of a sweet love story with a creature-feature, and I am looking forward to whatever his next film ends up being. I sort of hope it's horror but based on what he accomplished with this film he could go in any direction and I would still be there for it. This comes highly recommended, I do hope that Umbrella at some point release both The Battery and After Hours as a double-feature Blu-ray the way they have Joe Begos VFW and Bliss, that would be awesome. 

More Screenshots from the DVD 

DEAD NIGHT (2018) (Dark Sky DVD Review)

DEAD NIGHT (2018)

Label: Dark Sky Films
Region Code: 1
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 82 Minutes 
Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Bradford Baruh
Cast: Barbara Crampton, AJ Bowen, Brea Grant, Sophie Dalah, Joshua Hoffman, Elise Luthman

The generic, and somewhat aptly titled, Dead Night (2018) opens with a prologue set in the 60's with a young couple necking in the woods when they are interrupted by witches wrapped in moldy old bandages, it's not a bad opener at all. It then moves forward to 2015 and introduces us to the Pollack family, with ailing father James (AJ Bowen, The Rites of Spring) who has been diagnosed with early-stage cancer, he and his wife Casey (Brea Grant, Beyond the Gates) along with teen kids Jessica (Sophie Dalah, Satanic) and Jason (Joshua Hoffman) and the daughter's best-friend Becky (Elise Luthman) are driving to a remote cabin in the woods in Oregon, a cabin built above an iron deposit that is said to have miraculous healing properties, the mom has arranged the trip in hopes of staving off her husband's cancer without resorting to traditional treatments. 

Early on we get some shallow family drama as they drive out to the cabin-in-the-woods, the family tension and bonding is decent but not too deep. Once they get to the cabin they quickly establish there's no phone signal or wi-fi and get that out of the way, which is always annoying. While gathering fire wood in the snow-covered forest the father discovers a woman unconscious is the snow. They bring her inside the cabin and she comes around, introducing Herself as Leslie Bison (Barbara Crampton, From Beyond). It's a bit of a mystery what the woman was doing out in the woods alone in the middle of the night, as they make inquiries about what she was up to she begins to act strangely, being both uncomfortably flirtatious and increasingly menacing. Her bizarre demeanor sets the family ill at ease, and as the night wears on things go from strange to outright demonic and witchy in a cabin-in-the-woods horror thriller with a bit too much going on for it's own good. 

It's sort of a bat-shit insane movie, the narrative is fractured by the introduction of a true-crime TV show hosted by Daniel Roebuck (River's Edge) which tells the story of how the mom here is to become known as the "Axe-Mom", seemingly having murdered her whole family on this trip, which can get confusing, and then there's deadite-looking zombies, and a coven of ancient witches who live in the woods and watch TV broadcasts from the future, a strange magical rock and all sorts of weirdness that will keep you from getting a grip on it, but unfortunately the movie doesn't gain any traction, it's just loose and wandering. It's a shame because there's enough half way decent ideas (and a few bad ones) crammed into this for two or three good cabin in the woods flicks, it just can't decide which and tries to be all of them and it doesn't work, and the true-crime TV program throws it off even more. 

The film is well-acted by everyone, I have loved seeing Barbara Crampton's return to horror these past few years, she always great, even if I don't necessarily love all the films. The movie is well-shot and the special effects kindly lean towards old school practical gore with some digital augmentation here and there. The issue is that there's a bit too much going on here for it to come together is a wholly satisfying way, this is not a bad movie, it's just unsatisfying in that it has a bit too much happening and it doesn't ever draw into focus, it's not a recommend but you could do worse that catching this one streaming at some point.   

BEYOND THE GATES (2016) (Blu-ray Review)

BEYOND THE GATES (2016) 

Label: Scream Factory / IFC Midnight
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 82 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo, 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 
Director: Jackson Stewart
Cast: Brea Grant, Chase Williamson, Barbara Crampton, Graham Skipper, Henry LeBlanc, Jesse Merlin, Justin Welborn, Matt Mercer, Sara Malakul Lane

In Beyond The Gates (2016) we have a pair of estranged brothers, Gordon (Graham Skipper, The Mind's Eye) and John (Chase Williamson, John Dies At The End), who reunite to sort through the now closed VHS rental store that was owned by their father Bob (Henry LeBlanc), who disappeared seven months earlier and is now presumed deceased. While rummaging through and packing away the old video cassettes they reminisce and speak of their troubled relationship with dear old dad,  a formerly loving father who turned a bit sour after the death of his wife. 

Dad's office at the shop is locked-up, but when Gordon finds the key they get inside and search for possible clues about their father's last days, they don't find much except for some dusty VHS cassettes and and old VCR board game called "Beyond The Gates", which seems to be the last thing dad watched. For those not in the know, back in the 80s at the height of the VHS boom, there were numerous interactive VHS board games that were part traditional board game, and part VHS-based, you played along and watched the VHS following its commands and prompts. I myself never got to play one, but the idea is sort of carried on nowadays with stuff like the DVD based Scene-It series I suppose.  Anyway this game is a key-based mystery board game, sort of like Clue, and the VHS part of it is hosted by a creepy character named Evelyn, played by 80s horror-enchantress Barbara Crampton (From Beyond)

The brothers call it a night and are joined back at their dad's house by Gordon's girlfriend Margot (Brea Grant, The Devil's Dolls), after dinner the trio gather in the living room and pop in the Beyond The Gates tape and press play, and it soon becomes evident that this game holds the key to the whereabouts of their missing father. Egged-on by the ethereal and creepy prompts of VHS host Evelyn the brothers and Margot venture into the world of Beyond The Gates, with each role of the dice they discover the game-based play has deadly real-life consequences. 

Director Jackson Stewart and co-screenwriter Stephen Scarlata have assembled a fun slice of vintage 80s nostalgia with Beyond The Gates, channeling a love for 80s ephemera with a fun film that has a unique premise, at least one I cannot recall being used, the use of the VHS board game, it kind of made me think of The Gate in that respect, only with a VHS board game in place of a satanic metal album played backwards, with similar gates of hell opening results. Skipper and Williamson are very good as the estranged siblings, Gordon is a bit of a reserved stick-in-the-mud, while John is a bit of a slacker type, they've both struggled with the disappearance of dear old Dad, and the reunion fills in some of the back story, allowing them to air grievances with one another. There's a moderate amount of character building going on, not too much, but more than your average indie-horror film seems to offer up these days.

The inclusion of Barbara Crampton as Evelyn, the host of the VHS game, is an inspired one, the woman is still a stone-cold fox! Ethereal beauty aside, the character is creepy, with her pale white skin, big eyes darkened with eyeshadow, and with a mesmerizing and eerie line delivery, of "do you have the courage to go BEYOND THE GATES!", and "the other world awaits you!". I so wish this was real VHS board game you could buy, there's just never enough Crampton in my life, and what a great movie tie-in that would be, it's hard to imagine that this won't happen, if in fact it has not already! 

Beyond The Gates has some choice moments of practical gore, it's not as blood drenched as the advertising would suggest, but it has it's moments, including a voodoo doll which causes someone's intestines to be pulled from their body like someone spooling spaghetti on a fork, and a head explosion on par with scanners, kudos to the effects team on this one. The lighting and atmosphere of the film at times recalls the Italian gore films of Lucio Fulci, including the physical manifestation of the literal "gates" in the basement, which brought to mind the end scene of Fulci's The Beyond (1981) layered in fog and magenta/purple lighting, some good atmospheric touches. Also, worth mentioning is the cool retro-80s synth score from Wojciech Golczewski (Late Phases, We Are Still Here), the opening main titles theme that plays over a montage of the inner working of a VCR might just be on par with my favorite themes from prime-era Goblin or Fabio Frizzi.  

Audio/Video: Beyond The Gates (2016) arrives on Blu-ray from IFC Midnight and Scream Factory, framed in 2.40 widescreen looking crisp and detailed, colors are strong, skin tones look accurate and the multi-colored lighting looks great in HD. The disc comes with option of DTS-HD MA 2.0 or 5.1, everything sounds crisp and dynamic, the Wojciech Golczewski synth score is particularly good, optional English subtitles are provided. 


Onto the extras we have three commentaries, two from the director and assorted cast and crew (including producer/actress Barbara Crampton), plus a fan commentary with the Junk Food Dinner Podcast crew. There's also 3-min of deleted scenes, a 10-min behind-the-scenes featurette, the premiere Q/A with Stuart Gordon, a 6-min short film, theatrical trailer and a cool retro commercial for the Beyond The Gates board game. The release is a single-disc, comes housed in a standard blue keepcase, the artwork is not reversible but does have artwork on the reverse side, a cool reproduction of the Beyond The Gates board game. 

Special Features
- Audio Commentary with director Jackson Stewart, Jesse Merlin, Brian Sowell, and stephen Scarlata
- Audio Commentary with director Jackson Stewart, Chase Williams, brea Grant, and Graham Skipper 
- Junk Food Dinner Audio Commentary with Kevin Moss, Parker Bowman, and Sean Byron 
- Behind the scenes featurette (11 min) HD 
- Premiere Q/A moderated by Stuart Gordon (17 min) 
- Deleted Scenes (3 min) HD 
- Sex Boss Short Film (6 min) HD
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min) HD
- Retro-style Beyond The Gates Commercial (1 min) HD

I loved the idea of the movie but will say it did fail to completely deliver on the super-cool premise, though it doesn't quite fall flat at the end, it doesn't have a whole lot of fright-factor and lacked the visceral punch I thought it needed. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the journey quite a bit, the 80s nostalgia was awesome, the VHS board game was cool, and the practical gore was satisfying, this is 82-minutes well spent.  For those of us who remember the glorious days of VHS and scouring the shelves of the local rental shops for horror movies, this is a love letter to a time that will always loom large in our horror hearts. 3.5/5

THE DEVIL'S DOLLS (2016) (Blu-ray Review)

THE DEVIL'S DOLLS (2016)  

Label: Scream Factory / IFC Midnight
Release Date: December 6th 2016 
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 85 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.40:1) 
Director: Padraig Reynolds
Cast: Tina Lifford, Yohance Myles, Brandon Johnson, Brea Grant, Christopher Wiehl, Kennedy Brice, Kym Jackson, Samantha Smith 

This half-hard Southern Gothic entry opens strong with a young woman being held captive by a homicidal maniac in a scummy warehouse, she escapes and a foot chase ensues with the killer, Henry Leonard Bale (Matty Ferraro), on her heels with a rather large power drill - this sucker rivals the one from 80s slasher Slumber Party Massacre! She winds up in the front seat of a police cruiser which is in the area, apparently the cops have been searching for her, and while the rookie cop (Graham Skipper, Almost Human) radios for backup the killer just walks up to the cop car and drives that drills full-bore right through his head with a nice red geyser of blood spraying all over the young woman, this is a Peter Jackson's Dead Alive sort of blood-geyser, and it's very nicely done. 

Just as the killer seems about ready to finish the young woman off with the his drill he is gunned down by cop Matt(Christopher Wiehl) who arrives on scene just in the nick of time with his partner Darcy (Kym Jackson). It turns out that Matt's been chasing this serial killer for years, and it now seems that his reign of terror has ended, but as often happens in these low-budget horror flicks it is really just the beginning.

While cleaning-up the crime scene Matt finds a small wooden box in the killer's lair containing several hand-made "worry dolls", sort of voodoo looking stick figures, which he throws into a box in the back of his cruiser. Unfortunately 
Matt's eight year-old daughter Chloe (Kennedy Brice) finds the box in the back of the car and makes off with them, selling them at her mom's antiques and crafts shop. And wouldn't you just know it, the objects are cursed and cause the usually fine folk of the rural Mississippi town to become murderous white-eyed weirdos with bad-skin and mean-tempers. 

I like the idea, the cool promotional artwork, and the basic story has some nice Southern Voodoo sort of promise to it, but the execution is somewhat poor, beginning with a script and overall tone that pitch-shifted way too much for me to stay tuned into it, which is unfortunate because we had a great bloody opening, some nice murder set-pieces, and a decent setting, but what what it boils down to for me is a very bad performance from our main guy, actor Christopher Wiehl seems completely lost in the role, his line deliveries are weird and awkward, and not in a good way. Also, acting aside his character is one of the worst cops ever on film, everyone around him dies, and it is his own inept carelessness that the wooden dolls are even became a problem in the first place. 

Also dragging this down is the weak voodoo element, it had promise but it doesn't really go anywhere, they thrown in an old black voodoo woman (Tina Lifford) who warns him about the dolls early on but her pleas fall on deaf ears, until the seemingly random and motiveless murders happen, he seeks her out and is more willing to accept something supernatural is happening. Technically this is a nice looking film shot in the scope widescreen, the Mississippi views aren't used to their fullest but what we do get is nice, and the special effects work is top-notch, beginning with the bloody driller-killer opening, and my other favorite kills uses a large pair of garden shears, a nicely executed kill for sure, and some cool makeup special effects, but this one just meandered too much from overwrought cop family drama to voodoo-slasher goodness, it's way too uneven.  Not an awful movie, but coming from the director of Rites of Spring (2011), which I liked a lot, I was expecting something better, but this is just okay, a classic one and done watch for me.