{"id":26758,"date":"2017-10-31T00:31:49","date_gmt":"2017-10-31T04:31:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=26758"},"modified":"2023-11-07T17:04:15","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T22:04:15","slug":"you-have-to-see-this-the-midnight-hour-1985","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2017\/10\/31\/you-have-to-see-this-the-midnight-hour-1985\/","title":{"rendered":"You Have to See This! The Midnight Hour (1985)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Only in 1985 could a movie like \u201cThe Midnight Hour\u201d have been created. This is the decade of Michael Jackson and music videos. This is the decade of MTV. This is the decade where one of the goofiest Halloween movies ever made has a musical number that breaks the fourth wall because\u2026 well, Michael Jackson, and Madonna! Duh. Seriously, it\u2019s a shame that \u201cThe Midnight Hour\u201d has been so hard to find and out of print for such a long time, because it\u2019s such a ridiculous eighties gem that I figured people would be watching it during Halloween parties and laughing their asses off.<\/p>\n

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It is simply one of the most eighties movies ever made. This movie is like Quincy Jones, Dick Clark, MTV, and the kids from \u201cFame\u201d got together to create this weird, often ridiculous monstrosity that is very much a TV movie, but is so menacing, I\u2019m shocked any TV network would play this during primetime. While it\u2019s not entirely a violent movie, it\u2019s also very menacing, even when it\u2019s comical. If I\u2019d seen this movie as a child I definitely would have been up all night scared shitless.<\/p>\n

I had a weak constitution for certain horror movies, even though I loved horror. I digress. \u201cThe Midnight Hour\u201d is just such an eighties blast with its entire premise set on Halloween, featuring a cast of notable eighties stars, all with a villain invoked by the classic trope of a ill read ancient parchment. No matter how much fun you think it is, don\u2019t read from an ancient scroll or book of any kind, please.<\/p>\n

The cast is just a who\u2019s who of eighties stars from Levar Burton, Shari Belafonte, Dedee Pfeiffer, Peter DeLuise, Dick Van Patten, Jonelle Allen, Kurtwood Smith, and there\u2019s even a very young Macaulay Culkin, for good measure.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cThe Midnight Hour\u201d is a horror movie, a comedy movie, a musical, a Halloween movie, and even an inter-generational romance, if you can believe it. All of which is topped off by an excellent soundtrack by folks like Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs, Wilson Pickett, Three Dog Night, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and The Guess Who, just to name a few.<\/p>\n

Set on Halloween night in Pitchford New England, we meet a group of friends who decide to tour a local museum for kicks and learn about the legend of an ancient witch who cursed Pitchford. For fun they steal old artifacts from the attraction including an ancient parchment, and decide to go to the grave of the witch Lucinda Cavender and recite and enchantment. Friend Melissa, as played by Shari Belafonte, is a practicing sorceress who accidentally invokes Lucinda, and unleashes the curse on the town once again.<\/p>\n

Before long everyone in town begins experiencing their own horrific confrontations with various monsters including zombies, vampires, werewolves, and ghosts, and no one is being spared. Oddly enough, the monsters are all being drawn to friend Vinnie\u2019s (LeVar Burton) big Halloween bash that he\u2019s throwing at his house, including Lucinda who is seeking out Melissa. Melissa happens to be her great-great-great-great-granddaughter, and is hell bent on turning her in to one of the undead to help utilize her powers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Without any of the group realizing monsters are crashing the party, with zombies literally making out on the couch, and there\u2019s even a demonic dwarf somewhere. But Lucinda begins knocking off the friends to build her army, sucking their blood. All the while protagonist Phil is wise enough to leave the party early and meets young Sandy, a gorgeous blond girl dressed as a fifties sock hopper. The two form a passionate romance that is immediately interrupted by the havoc that is ensuing around town, including the party where Phil\u2019s friends are being turned in to the undead.<\/p>\n

Before long Phil discovers Sandy is one of the undead, but a good spirit and she teams up with Phil to collect the necessary artifacts to stop Lucinda and bring her back to her grave once and for all. A lot of the twists in the movie are often too convenient to be taken seriously, but the chemistry between Jonna Lee as Sandy and Lee Montgomery as Phil is entertaining, especially the way Lee is capable of portraying the dream girl who is also quite heroic until the very end.<\/p>\n

Director Bender is very good about featuring as many monsters as possible, deriving some really good menace and suggestive violence that skirts the edge of what a TV movie is capable of. In the big scene where Lucinda bites Melissa, there\u2019s a close up of red wine pouring on the ground set to \u201cHow Soon is Now?\u201d While most eighties movies can safely age in to modern times, and some are appreciated for being so dated, \u201cThe Midnight Hour\u201d is almost an endurance test for how much eighties camp you\u2019re willing to put up with. There are the insanely goofy death scenes, some hokey moments intended to be taken as a scare (vampire dentist! Run!), and of course the big dance number.<\/p>\n